Aimee Phan

There is so much about this novel that I loved, I hardly know where to begin. I was lucky enough to hear Ms. Phan read during my final MFA residency at Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe this summer. I don't recall now if she read from this novel or another, but I knew from that reading that hers was writing I would greatly enjoy (and learn from) and this novel didn't disappoint.

I try not to include spoilers in my reviews because I hate that, so this review is shorter than I might otherwise write. This is a saga of a Vietnamese family and I was instantly drawn in by the strong characters. It was one of those rare novels wherein the characters are so well crafted that in my mind they are living, breathing people and I was really sad to have to let them go at the end of the novel. The language was lovely and the story seamless. It was truly a joy to read, I only wish it had been longer. The only difficulty I had with it was knowing that I was likely mispronouncing names and I wouldn't want that to happen if these were people I actually knew--they felt that real to me. But that says more about my ignorance than the writing.

Bottom line: Absolutely read this.
… (altro)

This novel is a multi-generational and multi-point of view story of a family of Vietnamese immigrants, half of whom go to Paris and half of whom go to Orange County, California, after the fall of Saigon to the communist regime.
When I was in high school I went through a Vietnam war phase and so I have read a ton of stories about the war and the country from an American point of view, but less so from the view of the Vietnamese people. I really enjoyed this opportunity to see the other side.
I liked that although at first the different points of view seemed fractured, that as the book went along it became clear that each of the characters had information that led to a whole at the end. I also thought it was interesting to see the contrast of how France and the U.S. exerted different influences on the different branches of the family.
The only draw back, I think, was that the loose ends seemed to wrap up too neatly at the end. I think the story would have been more powerful if there was a bit more mystery. However, I found this to be an engrossing read that brought me to new and interesting places.… (altro)

The story is compelling (it's a myriad of stories pieced together)--I wanted to know what were the secrets and precursors. At many points, the writing is fluid and beautiful in a clause or in a sentence. But I found the tone and style of writing to be choppy; the movement jerks along. I couldn't pinpoint any technical reasons for this but it has something to do with how writing, rhythm and tone/mood occur and work together. The flashbacks and shifts in perspectives (or characters) were not the reason for the book's jarring feel.

I did find some of the characters' maninpulations farfetched or perhaps it was that so much drama/melodrama and crises happened within one family or the two families connected by marriage. In fact, a set of aunts-uncles and their children on both the Truong and the Vo side could have easily been removed or at least diminished in print to focus and refine the development of the main characters. I would have wanted to have liked at least one character but I didn't although I was neutral, at best, about Cherry.… (altro)