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Reflections on a Year of Reading Vietnam Literature

"Catfish and Mandala" by Andrew X. Pham

"House of Stick" by Ly Tran

"The sympathizer" by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Vietnam was the first of the three countries that I have chosen because I don't know that much about Vietnam. I had to move to the US when I was young around the age of 6. At that time I can't say that I know a lot about Vietnam because I only can know more about what Vietnam was through the story that my parents would tell me and my little sister. I didn't even know about the Vietnam War until I got to 5th grade but not much. At that time the only thing that I now know about Vietnam was the basics and the Youtube videos that my parents put on to show me the interesting thing about Vietnam at the time. But after reading books about Vietnamese literature for 20 weeks I have learned that in the past Vietnam had North and South Vietnamese Governments and people are being exiled from one place to another. There was also a time when people in Vietnam also were forced to leave their homes to get more opportunities to get a new life. But the most interesting thing that I found out about the books when I was reading was there are a lot of motorbikes driving outside every day and even now they are still most used in Vietnam. 

The thing that I have learned from the book Catfish and Mandala was to try to find the places that you are born in and also try to adventure into a place that is new to me. The book shows how a young Vietnamese American man is in pursuit of both his adopted homeland and his forsaken fatherland. The book also has taught me to book closely into what is happening around us and try to learn from it. The way that the book taught me to see more about the world around us was that the author was driving a motorbike from the Pacific Rim to Vietnam.

The thing that I have learned from the book House of Sticks was to forgive your family because they would still be the people that will stay and be there for you until the end no matter what they might have done to you. The narrator is the kid of a family where her family doesn't love her as much as her family when they had a new child coming to the family and owning a nail store. But when her family knows that she might be blind they would stop what they are doing and then come to her and help her as much as they can.

The thing that I have learned from the book The Sympathizer was that when a war happens the people that would be the most affected would be the poor people because the book it has shows that the rich don't need to join in the war if they don't want to and also made money from the world. The book also teaches us not to be races when most of the people at this time already know but in the past, the kids or even the grownups don't even know that might be a thing when the war is happening. 

Throughout these 20 weeks of independent reading, I’ve learned that I would prefer to read nonfiction books more than fiction books when it would be about a war or about other countries.  I also have learned that I would like to read more in school then when I would be home where I would be the most comfortable. When I'm home I would be very tired of reading and it takes me a long time to finish reading ten pages in the book when I was in school. I also have find out that when I read a book I don't like place where it would be quiet but a place that has somewhat a lot of people talking.

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Week 20 Blog

"Catfish and Mandala"

Andrew X. Pham

Pages Read: 101-150

summary

In this chapter, Pham prepares his bike the morning after making the decision to leave Saigon. He travels to the town of Vung Tau in the north. There is a beach home owned by the mother of his brother Huy's boyfriend, and she has made it available for him to use. To make sure he gets there safely, Viet, Khuong, and their nephew Nghia ride alongside on a motorcycle. He bids Grandaunt and Grandacle farewell, explaining that he is only leaving to get some rest from Saigon's smoke and pollution. They still don't want him to ride all the way to Hanoi, despite his fake promises to the others.

Critical Analysis

The author Pham had said that when he was traveling with a bunch of motorbike-riding youngsters who ask him questions in English. Most disengage when they find out he is a Viet-kieu, or foreign Vietnamese, upset because he said that "Half of the group peels away, losing interest since I am not a real foreigner." The motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians, and carts pulled by animals are all clogging up the route. They proceed to Vung Tau after a quick halt for lunch. Before the author, his brother, and his nephew leave for home, Viet begs them to go for a short swim at the beach. As Pham locates the residence where he will be living, the housekeeper and his wife assist him in getting settled.

Personal Response

I think that the author in this time would be the best out of all the time have he have been in because he is just enjoying himself. The author have talk about what he have seen and doing through the time what he is going Vung Tau. But I think that the best thing that the author is doing would be to travel and also know what the young generation was doing at that time. When the author was traveling he have saw many thing like the motorbikes, bicycles, pedestrians, and carts pulled by animals are all clogging up the route.

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"The smooth-skinned, sharp-eyed man fires off his singsong pitch in a nasally tenor, the battery-amplified word fire shot out like bullets from Gatling gun.

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 146)

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" Shaking their fists, angry Indonesians in sarongs poor running outfits flip-flopped after their antagonist through office and storage room, disrupting over a hundred inmates and clerks"

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 137)

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"Half of the group peels away, losing interest since I am not a real foreigner."

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 125)

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" a breath we teetered on the crest of the wave looking down to the white trough. Down we plunged. water foamed white, swirling energy."

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 117)

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" the glimmering heat, the narrow rods swarm with headlights of motorbikes and bright beam wildly fingering the asphalt arteries."

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 103)

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Week 19 Blog

"Catfish and Mandala"

Andrew X. Pham

Pages Read: 51-100

summary

In this chapter, Pham mentions about going back to his former Saigon neighborhood. He claims that Granduncle always offers him a hot cup of Vietnamese coffee while he is visiting his relatives. Although he spills it in the toilet because it is too sweet for him to drink, he is aware that it is a luxury that they can't really afford. As an option, he gets some tea and rises to the roof. The scene as he looks down into the alley makes him think of his childhood bedroom back in Vietnam. Six by eight feet, nestled into the landing between stories, was its small size. In his own words, he said that he saw, smelled, and listened to the alley-world outside from the windowsill, my favorite reading position.

Critical Analysis

The author Pham had said that “From the windowsill, my favorite reading spot, I watched, smelled, and listened to the alley-world outside” and also had discusses about going back to his former Saigon neighborhood. He claims that his Granduncle always offers him a hot cup of Vietnamese coffee while he is visiting his relatives. Although he pours it in the toilet because it is too sweet for him to drink, he is aware that it is a luxury that they can't really afford. As an alternative, he gets some tea and ascends to the roof. The scene as he looks down into the alley makes him think of his childhood bedroom back in Vietnam. Six by eight feet, nestled into the landing between stories, was its meager size. He claims that I viewed, smelled, and listened to the outside alley world from my favorite reading place the windowsill.

Personal Response

I think that the author is a person who would prefer to just relax and want to just sit a his favorite places at the windowsill. The narrator seem to be the person who that don't want to go to battle or fight with other people. The author have shown that he is somewhat a emotional person and a person who can't get through the past as easy and remember what he have done when he was little. I also think that the narrator is like almost everyone that have know the word old or age of time people would just stand or sit in places and remember about the old time and what was gone and what have gotten new to the world.

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“From the windowsill, my favorite reading spot, I watched, smelled, and listened to the alley-world outside”

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 95)

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"the bartender, a shriveled man with the pinched face of someone bitten a hundred times, lugs a basket of live, two foot long cobras to the table."

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 83)

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"everyone just angles, points, drives directly toward his destination, pretending it is an all or nothing gamble. People glare at one another and fight for maneuvering space."

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 75)

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" he pause, eyeing me again, probably thinking I am one of those lost soul he's heard about"

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 63)

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" who had bribed the prison guards to keep her husband alive, making sure he had the little food and medicine he need to survive the jungle."

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 59)

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Week 18 Blog

"Catfish and Mandala"

Andrew X. Pham

Pages Read: 1-50

summary

While at a hot spring, Pham meets Tyle, a man from the United States. Pham responds that he is from the Bay Area in California when Tyle asks where he is from. Then Tyle asks as to his "true" origin. The author realizes that he has always disliked this subject, so he uses a fake before telling Tyle that he was born in Vietnam. When Tyle pays Pham a visit at his campsite in the evening, they cross paths once more. Tyle asks him whether he's been back to Vietnam as they drink a bottle of tequila. In response, Pham says he hasn't but will go eventually. Many Vietnamese-Americans, some of whom have returned to taunt their former opponents with their newfound money, he writes, but he considers going back since they are lost.

Critical Analysis

The author and Tyle enjoy a bottle of tequila and talk about how they are feeling at the time, letting all the things that they were hiding before, and Tyle asks him if he's been back to Vietnam. The narrator said that "It is a bow of acknowledgment, a bow of humility, the only way I can tell him I know of his loss, his suffering." The line above has showed how much anguish the narrator and Tyle was suffering at the time. In response, Pham says he hasn't but will go eventually. Many Vietnamese-Americans have returned, he says, some to tease their former adversaries with their newfound fortune, but he believes that at the moment, returning would be the most crucial thing to do because he believes that they are lost through grief.

Personal Response

I think that the author is a good person and he also have help the person that have went through the same thing as he did. The narrator have also have try to help Tyle through the pain by using tequila where it let the person to forgot what they were feeling before and feel more in a positive side for a short period of time. When they were drinking they told each other what they had kept inside of them for a long time and didn't know where or who to talk to at the time. But when they did they said it out loud to each other so they could lift the weight that they were having.

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" I explode with laughter, roaring my appreciation to the wet sky. A sharp sensation of being alive suffuses me, tickling, tingling.

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 44)

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" I discover, is an act of stupidity or an act of divine belief. It is intense stretches of isolation punctuated with flashes of pure terror"

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 33)

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" If we live with you, no girl will marry you. No girl will support us. We know it's different here"

Andrew X. Pham "Catfish and Mandala" (pg 27)