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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Neither an easy read nor a fast read. It took me two tries to really crack it open. The academic language can be tough to go through at times, but definitely worth the read for anyone interested in wars and their lingering impact.
This book turned out to be a lot different than I was expecting. I had read Nguyen's short story collection _The Refugees_ about a year ago and liked his writing. I was expecting this book, based on the title, to be a set of personal reflections. It is that to some extent, but it is written in a far more "traditionally academic" style than I had anticipated.
Over the course of the book, Nguyen develops related concepts of "just remembering" and "just forgetting," considering how we as individuals and a society can try to relate to traumatic historical events in a way that does justice to those involved. A key aspect of this process is the recognition of both the humanity and inhumanity within ourselves and within others. Nguyen draws out a progression, wherein we first recognize the humanity within ourselves, then recognize the humanity within others and the inhumanity within ourselves, and finally also recognize the inhumanity in others (moving beyond patronizing them as eternal perfect victims). This was an interesting framework and one that I've continued to think about. Having recently watched the Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War, I definitely had some personal sense of this--in the early parts of the movie it was easy to idealize the North Vietnamese communists, but as events unfolded this became less and less tenable, and in the end we are really left with "no heroes." I also appreciated Nguyen's discussion of capitalist power over memory and forgetting, and the idea of "memory industries."
All that said, the writing style did get in my way as a reader. Nguyen is constantly referring to so-and-so's concept of X; while I realize that he is just trying to give proper credit, it's not very meaningful to me as a reader not already familiar with most of the other writers he mentions. (Perhaps I'm not really the target audience.) Pushing more of that stuff to the endnotes would have helped me. I also felt that he often quoted "catchy phrases" from other authors that didn't really add anything to the discussion for me. My favorite parts of the book were his discussions of his personal experiences visiting war-related sites in Vietnam and Cambodia. He has a strong authorial voice, as you would expect from a talented fiction writer, and I wish he would have used it more rather than (often) obscuring it behind a dry academic style.
Over the course of the book, Nguyen develops related concepts of "just remembering" and "just forgetting," considering how we as individuals and a society can try to relate to traumatic historical events in a way that does justice to those involved. A key aspect of this process is the recognition of both the humanity and inhumanity within ourselves and within others. Nguyen draws out a progression, wherein we first recognize the humanity within ourselves, then recognize the humanity within others and the inhumanity within ourselves, and finally also recognize the inhumanity in others (moving beyond patronizing them as eternal perfect victims). This was an interesting framework and one that I've continued to think about. Having recently watched the Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War, I definitely had some personal sense of this--in the early parts of the movie it was easy to idealize the North Vietnamese communists, but as events unfolded this became less and less tenable, and in the end we are really left with "no heroes." I also appreciated Nguyen's discussion of capitalist power over memory and forgetting, and the idea of "memory industries."
All that said, the writing style did get in my way as a reader. Nguyen is constantly referring to so-and-so's concept of X; while I realize that he is just trying to give proper credit, it's not very meaningful to me as a reader not already familiar with most of the other writers he mentions. (Perhaps I'm not really the target audience.) Pushing more of that stuff to the endnotes would have helped me. I also felt that he often quoted "catchy phrases" from other authors that didn't really add anything to the discussion for me. My favorite parts of the book were his discussions of his personal experiences visiting war-related sites in Vietnam and Cambodia. He has a strong authorial voice, as you would expect from a talented fiction writer, and I wish he would have used it more rather than (often) obscuring it behind a dry academic style.
Took me too long to read, but very good—incredibly well-researched, thoughtful, & scholarly. Contains lots of good resources for further exploration, as well as many insightful reflections on the role of art/artists in working against war & for peace. My main critique is that it got a bit repetitious.
I found this book beautifully written. Very thought provoking and lots of depth in his theorizing
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
A very interesting reflection on memory, forgetting, war, and society.
A bit challenging to follow at times, but came together well overall.
A bit challenging to follow at times, but came together well overall.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Honestly this felt more like a thesis paper than a novel. Y'know, let's make this a compliment sandwich.
The Good: It covered a very thought provoking topic that I enjoyed being covered- the ethics of memory. Whose memory is more important, are all memories equal. Good stuff. Important stuff.
The Bad: Extremely repetitive. There is like 300 pages of reading in the book, and all the new information takes place within 50 pages.
The Good: He takes the perspective of all sides of tragedies. He looks at the victims and the perpetrators of injustice. It was cool to see all sides of every story.
The Bad: He makes in depth references to SO MANY pieces of art. He probably mentions at least 20 different movies, paintings, etc. And I only knew Full Metal Jacket. And I feel like the way to better understand the full impact of what he was talking about was to be aware of every artwork he referenced. It was like I was missing in on an inside joke. Or to better put it with the thesis comparison- like he wrote this paper for a professor he knew for 4 years and knew just what to say for a glowing review.
The Good: He doesn't just focus on Vietnam, he talks a lot about the Cambodian genocide and other atrocities, fully giving attention to other areas of the world with a special focus on Vietnam.
The Bad: Also, he uses a lot of high English. Super fancy. I thought I had a wide vocabulary, but I needed a dictionary for every other page, damn.
The Neutral: He was a Vietnamese refuge when he was very young. It would've been cool for him to incorporate his experiences more.
The Good: It covered a very thought provoking topic that I enjoyed being covered- the ethics of memory. Whose memory is more important, are all memories equal. Good stuff. Important stuff.
The Bad: Extremely repetitive. There is like 300 pages of reading in the book, and all the new information takes place within 50 pages.
The Good: He takes the perspective of all sides of tragedies. He looks at the victims and the perpetrators of injustice. It was cool to see all sides of every story.
The Bad: He makes in depth references to SO MANY pieces of art. He probably mentions at least 20 different movies, paintings, etc. And I only knew Full Metal Jacket. And I feel like the way to better understand the full impact of what he was talking about was to be aware of every artwork he referenced. It was like I was missing in on an inside joke. Or to better put it with the thesis comparison- like he wrote this paper for a professor he knew for 4 years and knew just what to say for a glowing review.
The Good: He doesn't just focus on Vietnam, he talks a lot about the Cambodian genocide and other atrocities, fully giving attention to other areas of the world with a special focus on Vietnam.
The Bad: Also, he uses a lot of high English. Super fancy. I thought I had a wide vocabulary, but I needed a dictionary for every other page, damn.
The Neutral: He was a Vietnamese refuge when he was very young. It would've been cool for him to incorporate his experiences more.
An amazing discourse on war and memory. A plea for understanding the humanity and inhumanity of others as well as ourselves and cosmopolitan education. Thoughtful and provocative. Not an easy read but definitely worthwhile.
informative
One way to overcome one's own grief and to haul oneself out of the morass of memory is to remember others, to see oneself in relationship to others...
Difficult language covering difficult themes with difficult conclusions to grasp. I'm glad I read the book but need time to digest it. The takeaway that sticks with me most for now is the ethical imperative to remember the inhumanity of one's victims as well as their humanity.
Difficult language covering difficult themes with difficult conclusions to grasp. I'm glad I read the book but need time to digest it. The takeaway that sticks with me most for now is the ethical imperative to remember the inhumanity of one's victims as well as their humanity.
This book is a compelling blend of theory, stories, memoir and process. Published in 2016, it's clear how urgent it was then and the importance of memory work. War happens twice.
Living in this dystopian of forever wars powered by historical revisionism, "Nothing Ever Dies" reminds us of the importance of narrative. Nguyen breaks down each side's complicity and the blurriness of friend and foe, resulting in a sharp critique necessary for thinking.
Writing with a personal connection and as a refugee, he brings in essential questions of the ideologies of identity and belonging within the legacies of war amongst cosmopolitan liberalism. Nguyen resists the temptation of victimhood and the model minority myth while not shying away from embracing the taboo: radical forgiveness.
Living in this dystopian of forever wars powered by historical revisionism, "Nothing Ever Dies" reminds us of the importance of narrative. Nguyen breaks down each side's complicity and the blurriness of friend and foe, resulting in a sharp critique necessary for thinking.
Writing with a personal connection and as a refugee, he brings in essential questions of the ideologies of identity and belonging within the legacies of war amongst cosmopolitan liberalism. Nguyen resists the temptation of victimhood and the model minority myth while not shying away from embracing the taboo: radical forgiveness.