Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by richardbakare
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
5.0
Viet Thanh won me over with his Pulitzer Prize winning work, “The Sympathizer.” I’ve been greatly anticipating reading this collection of short stories for many reasons. One, it was another work by Viet Thanh, that I knew would be beautifully crafted. Two, short stories are perhaps my favorite format of story telling. To me, they reflect best the way we really know most people. Small vignettes into the lives of others; rarely the complete beginning, middle, and end. Third, the Vietnamese Refugee experience is particularly of interest to me because it is the story of my wife and her family’s journey to America.
It’s Viet Thanh’s writing style that really makes these stories come to life. To write in one’s own voice, perspective, and experience is hard enough. Ask anyone who has ever tried. To be able to do it wonderfully and engagingly is why the reader seeks books. It really speaks to Viet Thanh’s talent that he can write in so many disparate voices, illustrate life from varying perspectives, and take us through a myriad of experiences.
This collection reminds me of Hemingway’s “Bagombo Snuff Box” book of short stories. Like Hemingway, you can see the painstaking attention to detail in every line and in the intentionality of the spaces in-between; everything left unsaid. Even more, Viet Thanh starts and stops at moments in the lives of the characters much like the moments where there is a break in the storm. A brief glimpse of the sky and sun, before the canvass of life is covered again in clouds. He is by far one my favorite contemporary writers.
It’s Viet Thanh’s writing style that really makes these stories come to life. To write in one’s own voice, perspective, and experience is hard enough. Ask anyone who has ever tried. To be able to do it wonderfully and engagingly is why the reader seeks books. It really speaks to Viet Thanh’s talent that he can write in so many disparate voices, illustrate life from varying perspectives, and take us through a myriad of experiences.
This collection reminds me of Hemingway’s “Bagombo Snuff Box” book of short stories. Like Hemingway, you can see the painstaking attention to detail in every line and in the intentionality of the spaces in-between; everything left unsaid. Even more, Viet Thanh starts and stops at moments in the lives of the characters much like the moments where there is a break in the storm. A brief glimpse of the sky and sun, before the canvass of life is covered again in clouds. He is by far one my favorite contemporary writers.