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jhermaine's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
knithug's review against another edition
4.0
Ugh, just lost my big long review mid-type. Short version here now that I am ticked off:
-Liked this book a lot. Well written book about an interesting topic and person.
-Enjoyed learning more about Vietnam war in this manner; much more sticky in my brain from this story than what I may have been "taught" about it in school.
-Touched by Kim's personal journey. Innocence, pain, strength, struggle, forgiveness.
-Really made me think about the difference of the experience of "life" for people in different places and times. A view of the world that only includes your own experience is woefully inadequate.
-As a parent, was horrified to think about having to try to protect and provide from my kids in the war/poverty/political situation this family had. The feeling of helplessness when Kim was so badly burned. Knowing you can't do a lot and having to still try anyway. Inspiring.
-Also inspiring, the sprinkling throughout Kim's life of people in other countries who wanted to help her, and were able to make a difference.
-This book made me realize even more the need to be critical of what you read. Kim was frequently interviewed, but her Communist-placed "minders" made her say things that weren't even remotely true, like she was in school when they really had not allowed her back to her schooling. Also some misinformation about her got published early (that her brothers died too but really it was her cousins) and then kept being repeated in media.
-Finally, Kim's story was a reminder to me to DO. I struggle with action, and saw in Kim's life that there were several times she formulated a plan and carried it off and it had huge impact on the course of her life. Plus for her, it was usually some action in the midst of war or oppression, where the consequences could be huge and bad, and she still did it... in comparison, if she can take action as she has, I think I can bring myself to decide if I need to get a new job, and/or drag myself into the bathroom to wash my face at night.
-Liked this book a lot. Well written book about an interesting topic and person.
-Enjoyed learning more about Vietnam war in this manner; much more sticky in my brain from this story than what I may have been "taught" about it in school.
-Touched by Kim's personal journey. Innocence, pain, strength, struggle, forgiveness.
-Really made me think about the difference of the experience of "life" for people in different places and times. A view of the world that only includes your own experience is woefully inadequate.
-As a parent, was horrified to think about having to try to protect and provide from my kids in the war/poverty/political situation this family had. The feeling of helplessness when Kim was so badly burned. Knowing you can't do a lot and having to still try anyway. Inspiring.
-Also inspiring, the sprinkling throughout Kim's life of people in other countries who wanted to help her, and were able to make a difference.
-This book made me realize even more the need to be critical of what you read. Kim was frequently interviewed, but her Communist-placed "minders" made her say things that weren't even remotely true, like she was in school when they really had not allowed her back to her schooling. Also some misinformation about her got published early (that her brothers died too but really it was her cousins) and then kept being repeated in media.
-Finally, Kim's story was a reminder to me to DO. I struggle with action, and saw in Kim's life that there were several times she formulated a plan and carried it off and it had huge impact on the course of her life. Plus for her, it was usually some action in the midst of war or oppression, where the consequences could be huge and bad, and she still did it... in comparison, if she can take action as she has, I think I can bring myself to decide if I need to get a new job, and/or drag myself into the bathroom to wash my face at night.
madsalads01's review against another edition
4.0
An incredibly interesting and saddening story. Provides a great deal of history on Vietnam, and the political climate from the Vietnam War to today.
aorth's review against another edition
3.0
Writing style was iffy in some places, but I loved the history around Southeast Asia and the various communist and socialist movements around the world. Pretty interesting how all the communist/socialist countries had such a tight fraternity! Also, crazy that wherever they go, even abroad in Germany, they have to be accompanied by "minders"...
akross's review against another edition
4.0
A must-read for those who lived through the Vietnam/American War, but even more so for those who came after. There are millions of Kim Phucs in the world today, and our greatest tragedy is that we consistently ignore and fail to learn from our past.
I left a star off for the choppy writing style that was awkward at best, distracting at worst.
I left a star off for the choppy writing style that was awkward at best, distracting at worst.
_majareads's review against another edition
4.0
This was a rich, sensitive, and empathetic tribute to a woman who has undergone a profound degree of physical and emotional trauma. Kim Phuc was nine years old when a napalm bomb was dropped on her hometown of Trảng Bàng in 1972, severely burning her and killing two of her cousins. The tragedy was depicted in a Pulitzer prize-winning photograph that has since become an enduring symbol of the horrors of war.
It is not lost on me that Kim's story is told by another Asian woman, reversing a centuries-old stereotype painting people of colour, and especially women of colour, as "voiceless" and reliant on white men to tell their stories. Chong is an admirably capable biographer, deftly switching between concise, clear historical recounting and beautiful prose. Biographical works are the most difficult genre for me to read--this 340-page book, for instance, took me over a month to finish--and I am grateful to Chong for keeping me engaged with this story. Yet it was not primarily the biography's author that kept me reading, but its subject.
June 6 was the 50th anniversary of the taking of the titular photograph. I had already started this book at that time, but an op-ed Kim wrote for the New York Times that was published on that date pushed me to finish it. I harbour distaste towards the glorification of resilience mainly because I've seen that narrative play out in current-day news stories too often as a license for those in positions of power to shake their heads, say "that's so sad," and move on with their lives. I was refreshed--almost startled--to find that such a narrative did not appear in this book. Kim is a vibrantly human heroine, not a victim to be pitied and objectified as another "teachable moment" for the West. Yes, her injuries, depression, and abuse are discussed with honesty. But much more is made of her love for her family and friends, her courage, and her strength of character.
It is not lost on me that Kim's story is told by another Asian woman, reversing a centuries-old stereotype painting people of colour, and especially women of colour, as "voiceless" and reliant on white men to tell their stories. Chong is an admirably capable biographer, deftly switching between concise, clear historical recounting and beautiful prose. Biographical works are the most difficult genre for me to read--this 340-page book, for instance, took me over a month to finish--and I am grateful to Chong for keeping me engaged with this story. Yet it was not primarily the biography's author that kept me reading, but its subject.
June 6 was the 50th anniversary of the taking of the titular photograph. I had already started this book at that time, but an op-ed Kim wrote for the New York Times that was published on that date pushed me to finish it. I harbour distaste towards the glorification of resilience mainly because I've seen that narrative play out in current-day news stories too often as a license for those in positions of power to shake their heads, say "that's so sad," and move on with their lives. I was refreshed--almost startled--to find that such a narrative did not appear in this book. Kim is a vibrantly human heroine, not a victim to be pitied and objectified as another "teachable moment" for the West. Yes, her injuries, depression, and abuse are discussed with honesty. But much more is made of her love for her family and friends, her courage, and her strength of character.
hannah_em's review against another edition
4.0
The author is a great storyteller - she connects Kim's life with a well comprised history of the Vietnam war.