Thi Nguyễn

in Loạt Soạt

Revisiting the Delicious Satirical Society of 'Số Đỏ' by Vũ Trọng Phụng

Published in 1938, Dumb Luck, or Số Đỏ, remains one of Vietnam's most popular and controversial novels. Vũ Trọng Phụng was fined by the French colonial administration in Hanoi in 1932 for his stark po...

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

Examining the Role of Shame in Building a National Identity via Vietnam's Thinkers

“Shame, rather than pride, can be the basis for national identity… individuals may be motivated to move their country in a desirable direction when national shame outweighs pride.”

Paul Christiansen

in Literature

5 Books by Vietnamese Authors Centered on Strong Female Protagonists

Literature, more than any other art form, allows people an intimate vantage point from which to witness the experiences, emotions, and thoughts of individuals drastically different from themselves. Bo...

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

In 'Water: A Chronicle,' Nguyễn Ngọc Tư Wades Into the Mekong via Vignettes

“When you’ve lived to a certain age, you don’t ask whether or not something is true, you ask which truth it is.”

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

Social Commentary, Empathy in Nguyễn Quang Thân's Short Story Collection

Nguyễn Quang Thân passed away on March 4, 2017, several weeks before I moved to Saigon. So of course I never met him, but I feel like I know him. My first introduction was via An Insignificant Family,...

in Loạt Soạt

A World of Riveting Medically Inspired Magic in Vanessa Le's YA Debut

Captured by Butchers, the “blackmarket bogey men who deal in rare goods,” Nhika Suonyasan is caged and auctioned off to the city’s elite. A figure in a fox mask attempting to purchase her is outbid by...

in Loạt Soạt

'The Mountain in the Sea' Is a Meditation on Myths, Monsters, and the Mind

“A myth,” said existentialist psychologist Rollo May, “is a way of making sense in a senseless world.” Humans need myths and legends to survive. And they need us to survive too; it’s how we’ve learned...

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

Khải Đơn's Poetry Debut Won't Shy Away From the Mekong Delta's Untold Complexities

Environmental devastation, irresponsible development, economic imperilment, social ills, war legacies and the abandonment of cultural traditions and connections: these multifaceted, interconnected rea...

in Literature

Viet Thanh Nguyen Memoir 'A Man of Two Faces' Releases Today

A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, a History, a Memorial, the new book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen arrives from Grove City Press on October 3. 

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

'The Chosen and the Beautiful,' a Queer, Magical, Asian American Gatsby Remix

“The Great Gatsby, but with an Asian American narrator and some of the characters are queer and there’s magic.” This is a fine elevator explanation for The Chosen and the Beautiful.

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

A Memoir Ruminates on Saigon in the Now and via Childhood Memories

Born in Saigon in 1977, Tuan Phan and his parents left for America via boat in 1986. Remembering Water includes depictions of the voyage including lengthy stops in refugee camps followed by acclimatio...

Michael Tatarski

in Loạt Soạt

A Study of the Mekong Through Stories Told on the River

Much like humanity, great systems of the natural world rely on connectivity to thrive.

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

Thuận’s Novel 'Chinatown' Targets the Tedium of Migration

Vĩnh, born in Hanoi to a Vietnamese mother who studied in the Soviet Union and teaches English in France, and an ethnically Chinese father raised in Hanoi but now working in Chợ Lớn, dreams of the day...

in Loạt Soạt

Once Derided, 'Lục Xì' Is a Trail-Blazing Lesson in Nuanced Sympathy

Lục Xì is a reportage written by Vũ Trọng Phụng in the first volume of Tương Lai newspaper in 1937. In the series, Phụng describes his experiences visiting the dispensary (nhà lục xì) where prostitute...

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

Saigoneer Bookshelf: Ocean Vuong Asks Questions in 'Time Is a Mother'

Fame and poetry rarely go together.

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

Saigoneer Bookshelf: The Instruction Manual of Phillips H92X Offers Something for Everyone

Engaging plot or strong characters? Fantastic escapism or insightful depictions of the real world? A sweeping epic across generations and nations, or a deep examination of a brief moment in time? What...

in Loạt Soạt

Heartfelt, Queer and Wickedly Witty: How Poetry Collection 'Come Clean' Sparks Joy

Joshua Nguyen lists himself as many things on his Instagram bio — a writer, a PhD student, a boba snob. He received his MFA from the University of Mississippi, where he is currently studying for ...

Michael Tatarski

in Loạt Soạt

A Wildly Original Intermingling of Tales From Vietnam, Past and Present

In the Saigoneer office — which I haven't actually seen in person for months — a common concern is the prevalence of the war in literature about Vietnam. Even among younger writers, particul...

in Loạt Soạt

Saigoneer Bookshelf: In Poetry Collection 'OM,' Đặng Thân Embraces Human Turmoil

At the heart of Đặng Thân's poetry collection, OM [Other Moments], is the poetics of dichotomy: beauty and brutality, light and darkness, hope and despair, nihilism and existentialism.

in Loạt Soạt

Saigoneer Bookshelf: Finding Hong in Gangster Noir Thriller ‘Dragonfish’

For those of us who have read countless books by Vietnamese authors and members of the diaspora, the novel Dragonfish is not just one more installment of ethnic literature or postwar fiction.

Paul Christiansen

in Loạt Soạt

'The Mountains Sing,' a Quintessential Vietnamese Novel, Written in Memories

As American bombers roared over the horizon preparing to drop fire and misery, air raid sirens screeched and people throughout Hanoi scrambled to find safety.

Thi Nguyen

in Literature

On Reading Thi Bui's Illustrated Memoir 'The Best We Could Do' in Saigon

One of my favorite pastimes during summer holidays was reading through the textbooks for my next school year. History textbooks were the most interesting and fun to read: they were like the Harry Pott...

Michael Tatarski

in Literature

How Mekong Review Aims to Connect Southeast Asia Through Literature

First published in late 2015, The Mekong Review has quickly garnered a sterling reputation in a region short on quality print publications. Minh Bui Jones, its founder and editor, talks to Saigoneer a...