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A review by rencordings
The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives by Viet Thanh Nguyen
4.0
What an incredibly neat collection. Viet Thanh Nguyen did an amazing job curating these pieces from such diverse writers - people from different walks of life, different circumstances, and different beginnings and presents literally around the world.
Even though the name of the collection has the word "refugee" repeated twice, there are no two pieces that read the same. Every writer has their own beginning, their journey logistically vastly different from each other's, and even the way they perceive their current identity differs from each other though not drastically but nuanced enough to affirm the reader that no refugee experience is the same. At the same time, I can still see the connection that ties these pieces together, the oftentimes maddening musing about identity that fuels them. From the similarities in their treatment by the new host country, to the conflicted, simultaneous detachment from and attachment to their previous life and current life. These writers are physically so far apart yet their spiritual world echoes one another so vividly.
This poignant collection reaffirms gently but certainly the complexity of the refugee story - that despite propaganda perpetuated by empires, there's no one single cookie-cutter refugee story. And the least one can do is understand that each person carries with them a whole life worth of stories.
Even though the name of the collection has the word "refugee" repeated twice, there are no two pieces that read the same. Every writer has their own beginning, their journey logistically vastly different from each other's, and even the way they perceive their current identity differs from each other though not drastically but nuanced enough to affirm the reader that no refugee experience is the same. At the same time, I can still see the connection that ties these pieces together, the oftentimes maddening musing about identity that fuels them. From the similarities in their treatment by the new host country, to the conflicted, simultaneous detachment from and attachment to their previous life and current life. These writers are physically so far apart yet their spiritual world echoes one another so vividly.
This poignant collection reaffirms gently but certainly the complexity of the refugee story - that despite propaganda perpetuated by empires, there's no one single cookie-cutter refugee story. And the least one can do is understand that each person carries with them a whole life worth of stories.