The Sorrow Of War
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"'A magnificent achievement...takes its place alongside the greatest war novel of the century, All Quiet on the Western Front' Independent"
--This text refers to the
Mass Market Paperback
edition.
Book Description
'All Quiet on the Western Front for our era' New Statesman
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Deeply moving account of war beginning as one of the few survivors of a Vietnamese unit looks for the bodies of dead comrades in the Jungle of Lost Souls - haunted by those who have died. And yet there are other ghosts - those who have lived but are carrying mental and emotional anguish, numbness and hopelessness.
Surely one of the greatest war novels to come out of a century of war, and should be essential reading for political leaders who think construction is as easy as destruction. A book that moves you to tears but somehow makes you more alive, and a tribute in a way to the resilience of the Vietnamese people in the face of barely imaginable horror.
Surely one of the greatest war novels to come out of a century of war, and should be essential reading for political leaders who think construction is as easy as destruction. A book that moves you to tears but somehow makes you more alive, and a tribute in a way to the resilience of the Vietnamese people in the face of barely imaginable horror.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is, quite simply, one of the most moving books I have ever read. Of the 500 original members of his brigade who went off to war against America, Bao Ninh was one of only 10 who survived. That puts in perspective the, relatively speaking, minor losses on the American side (55,000 killed, as against an estimated 2-3 million Vietnamese who lost their lives). Despite the unbelievable sacrifices and losses on his side, this is not a book of rancour - indeed the Americans hardly figure in it at all. It is a book about the sorrow and loss of war, and the often futile attempt of survivors to put their lives back together again afterwards. For Bao, who was away for ten years of fighting (again, in contrast to most American soldiers, whose tours of duty generally lasted only a year or two), it is about the loss of his youth, and the loss of love. Most of all, it is about the attempt to somehow exorcise the demons and nightmares through the act of writing (which as Primo Levi proved, after a lifetime of post-Holocaust writing, is still not always possible). Achingly beautiful.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This novel is both a remarkable work of literature (most importantly the translation is of an unusually high quality) and an account of the misery of war by someone who had clearly experienced it first-hand. The author is not interested in ideological self-justification (perhaps that is not necessary, given the nature of the onslaught suffered by this small nation), and it is indeed a novel written in sorrow and not in anger. If someone were only to read two books on Vietnam and the related conflict in Cambodia, I would suggest this one and The Gate, a harrowing factual account by someone who against all odds came out of one of Pol Pot's death camps alive.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"Those were the days when all of us were young, very pure, very...
Other reviewers have coupled this book with Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried (Flamingo) and I would agree that both are essential reads in order to understand the Vietnam War... Read more
Published 16 months ago by John P. Jones III
'The Sorrow of War' - quite simply, a masterpiece
When someone eventually finds the money to make the film, I hope I'm still around to be involved.
But to the book itself: simply a masterpiece. Read more
But to the book itself: simply a masterpiece. Read more
Published 21 months ago by roger worrod
A vietnam war classic
There are so few accounts of the Vietnam war from the North Vietnamese side but this novel will go down as a classic. Read more
Published 23 months ago by H. Rogers
The Greatest Book Ever Written
Out of Orwell, Kafka, Celine, Bukowski, Algren, Mishima and Kundera one man stands head and tail above them all; Bao Ninh. Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2009 by Dr. Delvis Memphistopheles
Moving account from 'the other side'
A very moving account of the Vietnam war told from the North Vietnamese side. It showed how awful war is and the totally destructive effect on people. A very good read.
Published on 6 Feb 2009 by K. Waters
A human being's duty on this earth is to live, not to kill
In his novel in a novel Bao Ninh gives us a rare insight into the war scene of those who beat the Americans and their allies in Vietnam. Read more
Published on 4 May 2008 by Luc REYNAERT
Disturbing
The structure of this book is highly appropriate to the content; chronology (and reliable narrator/Author) are thrown out of the window, mirroring the confusion and desolation of... Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2006 by R. Smith
Most moving story ever written
Having visited Vietnam I was impressed with the way the author wrote truthfully about the war and the impact upon the individual. Read more
Published on 25 July 2001
A view from the other side
This is a great piece of work. It is gentle at times while horrific at others. It provides an alternative perspective with integrity and insight in the telling of the other side's... Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2000
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