Reviews - Góry śpiewają

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3.33k reviews for:

Góry śpiewają

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

4.35 AVERAGE

honnkqq's review against another edition

4.0

a really beautiful story with good characters!!!! unfortunately i could noooot stand the writing style sometimes

athirah_idrus's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

After reading countless war-themed books like War and Peace and even local fiction centering stories of colonial Malaya, I thought I’d sworn off reading anything remotely close to colonial conflicts. The genocide in Gaza alone felt suffocating, and this coming from a faraway bystander like me. With updates from those still living in wartorn countries like Bisan, these constant reminders put me off reading fiction of similar nature. But alas, my curiosity got the better of me when I saw this book at the library. I had heard of The Mountains Sing before, but other than the Vietnam War, I knew little else. As a fellow Southeast Asian, I was intrigued to dig deeper about the infamous Vietnam War.

For such a bleak background, this book was very easy to get into. At first, I worried if I got desensitized to the violence after pages and pages of gore committed by evil men. However, I soon felt relief, realizing that this was due to the author’s seamless and beautiful writing. Descriptions of war still terrified me. Going through lines in the book, I felt the visceral pain, I cowered with fear alongside the main characters, Tran Dieu Lan and her grandchild Huong, as they sought for safe shelters in between attacks by colonial powers and the infighting between North and South Vietnamese soldiers.

When people in power fight, most often due to greed and lust for control, it is the regular public who suffer. This was clearly depicted through three generations of the Tran family, as they survived the war with the Americans and Japanese and the cruel application of Land Reform imposed by the Communist power which was growing in power in the North.

Ironically, what I loved about the book was the humanity amidst the violent setting. The quiet strength, kindness and empathy evident in many Vietnamese people even when they had a lot to lose gave hope to me that it was not all bleak. I loved Tran and admired her strength as a mother, woman, employer and a person. Despite her initial lavish upbringing, like the embodiment of a real princess, she exuded courage, resilience and kindness, even when everything was taken away from her. She was not only book smart, she was also made to thrive in the streets as she learned to capitalize on opportunities, without tramping on other people.

Highly recommend this book to those who want to see what it might have been like on the ground, and what it felt like when you’re deprived of your basic rights to live peacefully.