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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm glad this was written. I did not particularly enjoy reading it - maybe it was too brutal or nihilist; maybe the dark humor just wasn't my vibe; maybe I find the various plots disjointed rather than overly-ambitious; maybe I just didn't like any of the characters.
But it was a real, surprising, and interesting Viet-Am voice that dared to write what isn't "acceptable" and what can only be understood by other Viet-Ams. And for that I'm glad it's out there, and so successful.
But it was a real, surprising, and interesting Viet-Am voice that dared to write what isn't "acceptable" and what can only be understood by other Viet-Ams. And for that I'm glad it's out there, and so successful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
the first three-fourths of the book is aggressively lackluster but the final quarter definitively shines. there are some very lucid takes on the vietnam war, refugees, orientalism, etc, but despite that, there are a few glaring shorfalls:
1. the Captain is just not likable, and not for the right reasons. yes we are witness to his moral quandaries and we should thus be able to sympathize (heh) with him, but it's weirdly difficult to do so. i suspect that this is because the Captain lacks the flaws that would make said moral quandaries compelling. the Captain is a perpetual victim of circumstance--yes he kills, yes he breaks hearts, yes he hates his dad but one cannot blame the Captain as an instigator. he is coerced, forced, and encouraged at each turn. i would not go as far to say that the Captain is perfect, but more so that the Captain is more close to perfect than any other character in this book. it does not help that the Captain is portrayed as borderline savant, able to outthink, outwit, and out-ruminate the vast majority of the cast. it is difficult to care for a character who learns nothing from consequence--in the Captain's case, he learns nothing from consequence not because he's morally inept, but instead because there's not much left for him to learn. he is not a flawed man seeking redemption--he is a redeemed man amongst the flawed, stained by his own infallibility.
-on second thought, this may be the point of the Captain's character... he perhaps represents a generation that fell victim to circumstance, like a people caught in the throes of an indifferent sea
2. the three-way friendship between Bon, Man, and the Captain felt unceremoniously flat. the Captain and Bon especially feel more like roommates than blood brothers. we're given so little on Bon and the Captain after they escape Vietnam. they drink. they smoke. they are depressed. sometimes Bon teaches the Captain an unfortunate truth. i just simply did not care about Bon whatsoever. he faded into the background so readily and thoroughly that i did not care if he lived or died. i should care if he lives or dies. i should care if the protagonist's blood brother lives or dies. but i just didn't.
3. there's not much of substance in the communist ideals of the Captain. he is a communist agent, but save for an acerbic comment about capitalism here and there, we don't really know how he feels about communism, how he interprets communism, or in what ways he identifies with communism. for a character that supposedly orbits communism so tightly (why else would he even choose to be a double agent?), we know surprisingly little about this allegiance of his. communism is used more of a plot device rather than a legitimate worldview, a surface level whim to govern how characters act and react. sure, this could be a stylistic choice but there's a level of unexplored richness that is unfortunately lost when the dialectic between communism and capitalism is reduced like so.
the final act of the book is by no means unmoored from these issues, but it is undeniably the most compelling event. i think this is because, in addition to a complete shift in tone, the Captain is stripped and remade in a way that explores his the depths of his character in a way that the rest of the book wanted to do but could not. overall this was a decent read.
1. the Captain is just not likable, and not for the right reasons. yes we are witness to his moral quandaries and we should thus be able to sympathize (heh) with him, but it's weirdly difficult to do so. i suspect that this is because the Captain lacks the flaws that would make said moral quandaries compelling. the Captain is a perpetual victim of circumstance--yes he kills, yes he breaks hearts, yes he hates his dad but one cannot blame the Captain as an instigator. he is coerced, forced, and encouraged at each turn. i would not go as far to say that the Captain is perfect, but more so that the Captain is more close to perfect than any other character in this book. it does not help that the Captain is portrayed as borderline savant, able to outthink, outwit, and out-ruminate the vast majority of the cast. it is difficult to care for a character who learns nothing from consequence--in the Captain's case, he learns nothing from consequence not because he's morally inept, but instead because there's not much left for him to learn. he is not a flawed man seeking redemption--he is a redeemed man amongst the flawed, stained by his own infallibility.
-on second thought, this may be the point of the Captain's character... he perhaps represents a generation that fell victim to circumstance, like a people caught in the throes of an indifferent sea
2. the three-way friendship between Bon, Man, and the Captain felt unceremoniously flat. the Captain and Bon especially feel more like roommates than blood brothers. we're given so little on Bon and the Captain after they escape Vietnam. they drink. they smoke. they are depressed. sometimes Bon teaches the Captain an unfortunate truth. i just simply did not care about Bon whatsoever. he faded into the background so readily and thoroughly that i did not care if he lived or died. i should care if he lives or dies. i should care if the protagonist's blood brother lives or dies. but i just didn't.
3. there's not much of substance in the communist ideals of the Captain. he is a communist agent, but save for an acerbic comment about capitalism here and there, we don't really know how he feels about communism, how he interprets communism, or in what ways he identifies with communism. for a character that supposedly orbits communism so tightly (why else would he even choose to be a double agent?), we know surprisingly little about this allegiance of his. communism is used more of a plot device rather than a legitimate worldview, a surface level whim to govern how characters act and react. sure, this could be a stylistic choice but there's a level of unexplored richness that is unfortunately lost when the dialectic between communism and capitalism is reduced like so.
the final act of the book is by no means unmoored from these issues, but it is undeniably the most compelling event. i think this is because, in addition to a complete shift in tone, the Captain is stripped and remade in a way that explores his the depths of his character in a way that the rest of the book wanted to do but could not. overall this was a decent read.
1. viet thanh nguyen is a powerful storyteller. i found myself emerged in secondhand experiences of racism, pain, and suffering, and as much as I want the book to end, I genuinely enjoy every page of it.
2. everything regarding lana, on the other hand, bothers me. just the way that she is approached through a male gaze, bearing no characteristics at all except for her sexual appeal. is it true that some men of color do not know how to approach intersectionality?
2. everything regarding lana, on the other hand, bothers me. just the way that she is approached through a male gaze, bearing no characteristics at all except for her sexual appeal. is it true that some men of color do not know how to approach intersectionality?
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, War
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
TW for death, torture, sexual assault, extreme injury, infant death, racism, bestiality, gun violence, murder, and graphic imagery.