A review by corbsalice
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

adventurous challenging emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this story and I thought it was really interesting! That being said I’m very uncomfortable with the way the Americans and southern fighters were talked about in such a nuanced and compassionate lens, but the communists were portrayed and obvious monsters and villains. I obviously understand that there was real turmoil in the country following the war and I’m not acting like the party didn’t commit atrocities. But if the author could write about the southerners rape of a northern woman and still find a way to discuss their side in a nuanced way but couldn’t find a way to do that about the poor working class communists in the land reform, something’s just off? 

Looking through the reviews this has already been harped on by actual Vietnamese people who definitely explain it better than I can but it was something that continuously made me very wary throughout the book, and in my opinion, explained why maybe this is the authors first book written in English.

Also didn’t love the writing style but that’s okay it was an easy read and I overall enjoyed it.
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