In fact, he knows her a mere few days before confessing his undying love for her. There is no two ways around it being a love at first sight, sappy, mushy, puppy-kinda-love. So, yes, there is definitely drama, but I feel it was meant to add realism and warmth to an otherwise dry history book. The same goes for the scenes of brutality, torture, rape and war descriptions, while in a different regard.
While those things certainly happened, we are allowed to know some of the victims of such tragedies and therefore feel for them more deeply. Most of the violent, sexual, hateful things portrayed are for illuminations sake only, to portray scenarios that very likely happened, which sparked rebellions and led to the war. There were only a few minor aspects, such as the incident between Mrs. That might give a book a feeling of gratuitous, melodrama when for the most part, it is far from that.
I think the story of Saigon really captured me because of the rich culture, history, and vivid portrayal of the people of An Nam, now turned Viet Nam. The landscapes, scenes and images are so poignantly described as to leave lasting impressions with the reader. Some readers might feel as though no one character is truly the main character of this book, or that the characters are not really relatable enough, however vividly portrayed or described.
It is, indeed, difficult to feel a strong connection to many of the characters in this novel. The characters may feel secondary to the overall story. That very aspect allows me to make this point. Viet Nam is the true main character. Viet Nam is the heart and soul of this book, or is meant to be the primary focus.
The character of Viet Nam itself, as a nation, however complex or flawed, is the character with which we are intended to relate to and to understand.
That is my personal impression after reading this novel. An Nam, later turned Viet Nam, and its people is what makes this book a powerful read. Their many struggles and hardships brings light onto a topic none seem to remember or speak of.
So for the book being so firmly based in history and the authors devotion to enlighten the world on the mysteries surrounding the subject, I greatly appreciated this book. For those things alone, it is worth the read. But I would highly recommend this to readers with slightly stronger stomachs, who are interested in Vietnamese history, and the Vietnam war. I would recommend this for mature readers, however. They technically pay for them.
The scene is brief but fairly detailed. The scene is pretty detailed and extended. He intends to marry her. There are many descriptions of gore, disturbing depictions of violent war scenes, many of the torture scenes are very vivid etc. I am not convinced. But it has other values that make it laudable. The novel has, as its centerpiece, one James Sherman, son of Virginia senator Nathaniel Sherman, and tells the story of his and two other families' interweaving stories, all revolving around Saigon and Vietnam in total.
Sherman falls in love with a Vietnamese girl only to lose her to familial politics; his Western family is all but consumed by the war and various ripple effects of the French and American occupations, and a Vietnamese family suffers its own losses, betrayals and conflicts out of the same factors.
The book starts with a hunting expedition in , in which all three families are present, but as the book progresses through two wars and years of bloody, senseless violence, Sherman sort of takes center stage, right up until the end, with the fall of the city and the much-referenced helicopter evacuation of the embassy.
Grey's strengths in this narrative rely on plot and progression, as well as fidelity to the historical record. Not that I would know anything firsthand, of course, but his depictions of pivotal events and scenes like the French colonial occupation of the early 20th century, the battle at Dien Bien Phu in , or most particularly the fall of Saigon are clearly based off meticulous research, and his imagery largely succeeds in delivering vivid pictures and sensations of the country, both at its most idyllic and most tortured.
His book shines a light on the more sordid and overlooked aspects of our and the West's overall effect on this peasant country that the more mainstream pop culture has tended to overlook. But the novel suffers from ineffective characterization. The Western figures, for example, are either gallingly shallow or outright caricatures Grey throws around the word "coolie" enough to make me cringe, as if his reference to the Japanese Army as the "Imperial Nipponese Army" wasn't bad enough. Sherman "falls in love" with Lan, the Vietnamese woman whose beauty will consume him, but to my eyes, Grey doesn't depict her as anything more than every white man's supposed fantasy about Asian women: she's meek yet strong, delicate yet enduring, and Sherman doesn't seem to discover anything substantial about her character for hundreds of pages, though he does rave about her beauty enough.
Full disclosure: I am a white guy married to a Korean woman who, by any objective standard, is ravishing, although she's as far from "docile" as you can get.
Sorry, honey! Don't beat me up. For example, when Lan loses a bracelet in the Perfumed River of Hanoi, Sherman manages to wade into the water and retrieve it.
What a Galahad! And as if that weren't enough, he uses his Herculean achievement as an opportunity to rave to her about the ardor that led him to such a stunning success in cringe-worthy adolescent diction: Joseph felt the familiar breathless sensation constrict his throat, and he took hold of her hand suddenly and pressed it to his lips: "I did it because I love you, Lan!
I love you very much. I knew the moment I saw you praying at the tomb--you're so pure and good, so beautiful. I want to be with you always--to protect you and take care of you.
I never want to leave your side. To his surprise, she said nothing; he thought he felt her body tremble once, then she detached her hand gently from his grasp and half turned away to steady herself with one hand against the larch tree. In every movie or novel with an East Meets West Vietnam romantic scene. This kind of pubescent rhapsodizing isn't much better than what Grey serves up with other aspects of his characters.
Joseph debates his hawkish father and brother spouting lines that sound like George Lucas wrote them, and even the Vietnamese characters lapse into heavy exposition in places. But the story itself is enough to keep one engrossed. We get the brutal French exploitation of Ammanese workers. We get a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the removal of South Vietnamese President Diem in a CIA- and State Department-supported coup, as well as the power struggle between Diem and his brother. We see the appalling self-mutilation of militant Dao Va Lat and his subsequent activism and eventual incarceration, and begin to understand the fervor with which the Vietnamese fought their occupation a bit more clearly.
We see the tunnels of the Viet Cong and bear witness to their methods; we march with GIs and bear witness to theirs.
We see American intel and Vietnamese interrogation side by side torture, betrayal, spying, bitter recriminations, murder, et al , with predictably chilling results, and this juxtaposition, coming on top of such deep and informed historical perspective, makes it impossible not to see the war through the eyes of the Vietnamese first and foremost.
Doubtless this was the author's effect. Not a stunning observation I'm making here, I know, but I still wind up in the odd debate over the U. Grey doesn't come off as biased or judgmental, but his thesis if this novel could be said to have one seems, to me, indisputable: American never really knew what the hell it was doing in Vietnam because it didn't know Vietnam. The broad historical tapestry upon which Grey weaves his characters' stories is what really makes the book worth reading, and as proxies for the country itself, you really want to see what happens to these characters.
Most of it is bad. But then, if we're shooting for realism when it comes to Indochina in the 20th century, what else should we expect? Saigon is one of those books that has the ability to change the way you view something. I was a child during the Vietnam War so my memories are mostly what was on the nightly news and what the adults around me said.
So, to understand more of the history, especially the history from the Vietnam perspective was enlightening. The story of Joseph Sherman and his family was compelling and the characters were well written and relate-able. Both the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese were written in Saigon is one of those books that has the ability to change the way you view something.
Both the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese were written in ways that were sympathetic and terrible, portraying both the goodness of humanity and its evil. It was easy to fall into either loving or hating characters.
Saigon is a huge book over pages so it took some commitment to read. It covers the colonial period from until the end of the Vietnam War with detailed history told through the eyes of the characters.
Like some other large books view spoiler [ the author has the tendency to kill off major characters right and left, leaving only a few in the end, hide spoiler ] which is to be expected when covering such a span of years. I particularly enjoyed the development of Joseph from his idealistic youth to his realistic and yet genuine seniority.
I picked up this book as it was recommended reading for travelers to Vietnam and the reading was definitely enhanced by understanding the geography and having met the people of Vietnam, most of whom are too young to have any war memories at all. In truth, I wasn't looking for a book about the war, but I suppose it's impossible to include Vietnam's history in the midth Century without it. Saigon provided not only a retelling of the war, but a deep dive into the many years that led to the tragedy of so many lives lost.
Grey did a great job of writing an epic tale. I'll probably put more of his novels on my to-read list. Second read, and still captivating. This long, full book follows the life of one US citizen from age 15 until somewhere in his 60s. His life story is inextricably tangled up with the history of what has become the nation of Vietnam, and so his story provides the author with a perfect way to tell that tragic story.
I probably first read this book in the s when Vietnam still loomed large in my life; since then, as that shameful chapter in my nation's history has receded from memory, I have come Second read, and still captivating.
I probably first read this book in the s when Vietnam still loomed large in my life; since then, as that shameful chapter in my nation's history has receded from memory, I have come to appreciate how much the course of my life was determined by my responses to US actions in Asia.
Rereading the book, while refreshing this awareness, also gave me a chance to enjoy the author's fluent story-telling -- something I fear I missed during the first read. For those of us who lived through the Vietnam war years and who had friends who didn't there is still pain and embarrassment, but Grey's narrative helps me understand the inevitability of the US's involvement, and our tendency to repeat the same mistakes.
I can't help thinking that if a new generation of US decision makers read and understood this book, we might be able to become a nation helping humanity evolve away from warfare. Nov 27, David rated it liked it. Unfortunately, you cannot do without the first half of the book either, but the pace increases and the unfolding historic events start taking a more important role over the characters. With it, the book becomes more legible even if the author could in my opinion have done with a few tips and pointers from Zinsser's "On Writing Well" , ent 3.
With it, the book becomes more legible even if the author could in my opinion have done with a few tips and pointers from Zinsser's "On Writing Well" , entertaining, informative, impressive, shocking, and overall good. In the end, it felt like a narrative version of Netflix "The Vietnam War" documentary.
I really enjoyed this book. A great story with a historical background. Just the kind of book I like. I first stumbled onto this book by accident; as I was writing a paper on the US involvement in Vietnam and the Viet-Minh, I kept reading excerpts from different chapters within the book. The writing struck me as beautiful and captivating, so I bit the bullet and bought this page novella. Anthony Grey did not disappoint.
Each person I first stumbled onto this book by accident; as I was writing a paper on the US involvement in Vietnam and the Viet-Minh, I kept reading excerpts from different chapters within the book. Each person, whether American, French or Vietnamese, has a story to tell that is both heartbreaking, morally wrong, righteous and complex.
In some ways it helped me understand the ludacricy in trying to choose sides of who was right, and who was wrong, within the Vietnam conflict -- and on a broader context, the intricacies of what makes people move to action. While he can write beautifully descriptive passages on the Viet jungle and the palaces within Saigon, so will he describe the casual and indifferent starvation of the Northern Vietnamese.
It struck me deeply every time Grey decided to discuss or depict a tragedy. But like any good writer, he knows how to balance. Not everything is heart wrenching, and not everything is mundane. Much like real life, Anthony Grey manages to strike the fine line of casual reality, and the dramatic telling of an epic novel. I recommend this book to anyone. Just be aware it is quite long and very dense.
But otherwise a fantastic and emotional read. Feb 02, Jonathan rated it it was amazing. Taking on a book of this length was an endeavor I was not sure would pay off, but Anthony Grey did not disappoint in producing a wonderful narrative covering 50 years of Vietnam's turbulent history.
Grey tells the story of Joseph Sherman, an American of privilege, and his relationship with Indochina, stretching from to the climax of the Vietnam conflict in The story of Joesph's life, and the people and events that shape it, seems effortlessly mixed with the historical events and cultu Taking on a book of this length was an endeavor I was not sure would pay off, but Anthony Grey did not disappoint in producing a wonderful narrative covering 50 years of Vietnam's turbulent history.
The story of Joesph's life, and the people and events that shape it, seems effortlessly mixed with the historical events and cultural nuances of Vietnam. Having dutifully done his research, Grey provides great detail throughout the piece, luring you into Joseph's captivating world with intrigue, passion, and thrills. With such a wide scope of events and characters to work with, it is not entirely surprising that some things may have been more difficult to establish; chief among these being any real ability to develop an emotional connection for anyone beyond Joseph.
At times the antihero, and, more often than not, just a man doing what he thinks best despite how flawed , Joseph is an overall good companion to have on this literary journey. The other characters, while meaningful to him, can be seemingly less meaningful to the reader or, at least to me. The string of large scale conflicts, twist and turns, romances, drama, and surprising fates leads one to see parallels between Saigon: An Epic Novel of Vietnam and other works, such as A Game of Thrones.
View 1 comment. It centres around young American Joseph Sherman from when he visits French Indo-China for the first time to his last visit at the end of the Vietnam war. As traveller, soldier and reporter he is uniquely placed to reflect the key political, military and social changes and challenges that faced Vietnam as it moved towards independence.
Essentially an adventure story, with the required romance thrown in, this book cannot claim to be great literary fiction. The characters sometimes verge on caricature, the plot is often contrived and the coincidences too frequent, but if you enjoy a complex and compelling tale, but one where you can effortlessly absorb historical fact at the same time, then this one is for you. If you prefer rather more subtle writing, then perhaps not.
May 11, Lorin Cary rated it it was amazing. At first I thought that including the word "epic" in the title was a bit much. But the story is epic in fact. In a Virginia Senator visits Vietnam, then a French colony, with his family.
Joseph, then 15, falls in love with the country and it marks him for life. We basically follow him, a French family. The novel is divided into 8 parts which chronicle the quest for independence and the maturation of Joseph.
At times it At first I thought that including the word "epic" in the title was a bit much. At times it felt that the coincidental convergence of stories was a bit forced, and in a few spots the tale stumbled forward and then dipped into backstory. It becomes predictable that paths will cross, yet the author does a fine job of weaving together the strands and making them plausible. Ultimately a fine read. Got to know Joseph well. Originally published early s.
Apr 17, H. Since Saigon the city, not the novel is part of my "coming of age" DNA, I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, I couldn't get beyond the first 50 or so pages; neither the characters nor the story pulled me in. The characters seemed mere vessels for expounding the history and culture of Vietnam. Those topics were well researched and interesting, but not what I was looking for in a novel. There just wasn't enough there to keep me reading.
Also, I'm not a big fan of novels written in the omniscient viewpoint, which Grey used. View all 3 comments. As someone who grew up in the 60's and 70's, I had snippets and impressions of the complicated relationship between the US and Viet Nam. I love a historical fiction novel like this. When moments strike me I Google personalities or events included in the book and found often in this case that they relate to real people and occurrences, skillfully woven into the narrative, wrapped up in a compelling fictional story.
I learned much from this book, about the complications of diplomacy and politics, greed and a desire for freedom. I am committed to reading more novels by this impressive author. This novel was utterly fascinating, and I learned far more about Viet Nam, its people, and our own convoluted politics than I thought I would. Both my husband and I had friends, relatives, who were there at different times, and even though they would come back with stories of what was going on the rich detail in this novel help make what they had told us make much more sense.
Well worth the read. I'm ready for a Nam visit!!! I loved how alive this place came for me after only negative connotation associated with it. I loved the historical aspects of the story. You really see how time sped up in the real world thru the telling of this story. Culture and way of live changed so drastically in such a short span of time.
I never got a true sense of the main character. Great read over all! Dec 27, Glenna Pritchett rated it it was amazing Shelves: recommend-to-friends , historical-fiction. I have read some superb books in , and Saigon is one of the best. Maybe I can come back later and do it justice.
For right now I'll make do with this: you should read it. Really, you should. Mar 13, Skip Hatchel rated it it was amazing. Must read Must read for anyone interested in the history, culture or people of Vietnam. This novel carefully threads a tragic story of family with equally tragic historical facts into a brilliant work of literature.
Enjoyed the historical perspective of Vietnam from , but the corny romance with one unbelievable coincidence after another makes it impossible for me to recommend. There are nonfiction books that are more interesting and shorter. The marvelous story of a person involved in major Vietnam conflicts.
A beautiful voyage through the time. Aug 21, Betty Botner rated it really liked it. Saigon Good read. Story depicts much of the history of Vietnam between French colonization and U.
S involvement. Highly recommend if interested in Asian affairs. Well researched and a compelling read. You come away with a better understanding of the rich culture and ancient history, as well as the tenacity, of the Vietnamese people.
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