Rating: 
Summary: five-star reading! yey!
Review: A very honest account of the war. You can almost enter the mind of the narrator who seem to suffer severe mental traumas from the war. The language is brilliant! Yeah, it was good. I wanna read it again. I don't say that for all books, you know. Alright! Go Hepsta!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best novels I've ever read.
Review: A very moving and complex, multilayered postmodern novel. I was lucky enough to read it some years ago; a friend in England sent it over, before it appeared in America. (I also write about Vietnam. I sent the author a copy of my novel _1968_, via the Vietnam Writers Union, and he replied cordially through a translator. We didn't fight each other, but we were in the same area about a year apart. Now we exchange Christmas cards.)
Rating:
Summary: A Haunting Classic
Review: Bao Ninh's novel is aptly titled because there's hardly a scene in his episodic book that isn't tinged with sorrow. Many are downright horrific. But Bao Ninh's novel isn't a monument to the dead. Instead it's about the ruined dreams, stained purity, and haunted memories of those who survive. I put my head in my arms and wept when I finished reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Also the sorrow of peace
Review: Bao Ninh's novel is, I assume, like most first novels, largely autobiographical. Like his protagonist, Kien, Ninh was one of ten survivors from his unit of 500 which started the war with him in 1965. This is a tough read, a story with tragedy scoring almost every page. There are no MASH unit antics or Hogan's heros characters here, only unrelenting bleakness, pain, terror, and loss. The Vietnamese began resisting the French occupation in small groups of guerillas before WWII. Stanly Karnow, in his book, Vietnam: A History explains quite explicitly why the Vietnamese did not consider the French occupation as one of the culteral highlights of their history. After the French were expelled by a ragtag army which had opposed the Japanese while the French cooperated with them back in the last good war, the United States subjected the people of Vietnam to our gentle mercies up until 1965 when it became obvious to all that many of the Vietnamese would never accept our installed leadership and artificial partioning of that country when it became obvious back in the late 50s that Uncle Ho was destined to win any free election of the people. However, by the time Lyndon Johnson sent in the first large scale troop deployment, much of the South had already been destroyed, at least in the countryside, by the creation of "strategic hamlets," in actuallity rural prisons, supposedly meant to protect the citizenry. This was a strategy which had failed in Chaing Ki Shek's China years before and was equally successful in Vietnam. Ninh/Kien's story really startes with him and a girl friend, Phoung, almost but not quite consumating their young love while skipping school, then skips back and forth beeen pre-war, post-war and wartime scenes. It is told mostly in flashbacks and stream of consciousness vignettes and is sometimes difficult for the unsophisticated reader to follow. Kien goes from a poor but happy and extremely idealistic young student to warrior and finally back to student and author after ten years of unremiting war, violence and loss. When he comes home to find Phoung still in the same apartment building in which he lived in the old days and still has an apartment, it seems as though he might have realized his dream of happiness. However, near the end of the book we discover the terrible events and betrayals at the beginning of their seperation which make a successful reunion impossible for both. For any who still think war is glory and honor and a test of courage and manhood, Ninh illustrates quite vividly that it is continuing horror, terror, chaos and blind chance which determines who lives and who dies. And sometimes the living envy the dead before the Sorrow of War has played its last chorus. The government of Vietnam opposed the publication of this book, and it is easy to understand why, given the honesty with which life in postwar Hanoi is portrayed. One of the most amazing things about the book is the almost total abscense of bitterness toward the Americans who invaded his country and started the war that destroyed so much of his life. There is also an interesting parallel between the American Vietnam veteran's homecoming after their time "in country" was over, and the Vietnamese soldiers who fought and suffered so long and so greatly for the eventual victory. The sorrow of war is almost overshadowed by the sorrow of his homecoming and all that he had lost as a result of that war. As we continues this new war, Ninh's is a cautionary tale which should be read by anyone rejoicing at the idea the American military might can overcome any foe. Vietnam proved a long time ago that it takes more than superior military equipment and a vastly stronger economy to win a war. Ninh tells us why. wfh
Rating:
Summary: Also the sorrow of peace
Review: Bao Ninh's novel is, I assume, like most first novels, largely autobiographical. Like his protagonist, Kien, Ninh was one of ten survivors from his unit of 500 which started the war with him in 1965. This is a tough read, a story with tragedy scoring almost every page. There are no MASH unit antics or Hogan's heros characters here, only unrelenting bleakness, pain, terror, and loss. The Vietnamese began resisting the French occupation in small groups of guerillas before WWII. Stanly Karnow, in his book, Vietnam: A History explains quite explicitly why the Vietnamese did not consider the French occupation as one of the culteral highlights of their history. After the French were expelled by a ragtag army which had opposed the Japanese while the French cooperated with them back in the last good war, the United States subjected the people of Vietnam to our gentle mercies up until 1965 when it became obvious to all that many of the Vietnamese would never accept our installed leadership and artificial partioning of that country when it became obvious back in the late 50s that Uncle Ho was destined to win any free election of the people. However, by the time Lyndon Johnson sent in the first large scale troop deployment, much of the South had already been destroyed, at least in the countryside, by the creation of "strategic hamlets," in actuallity rural prisons, supposedly meant to protect the citizenry. This was a strategy which had failed in Chaing Ki Shek's China years before and was equally successful in Vietnam. Ninh/Kien's story really startes with him and a girl friend, Phoung, almost but not quite consumating their young love while skipping school, then skips back and forth beeen pre-war, post-war and wartime scenes. It is told mostly in flashbacks and stream of consciousness vignettes and is sometimes difficult for the unsophisticated reader to follow. Kien goes from a poor but happy and extremely idealistic young student to warrior and finally back to student and author after ten years of unremiting war, violence and loss. When he comes home to find Phoung still in the same apartment building in which he lived in the old days and still has an apartment, it seems as though he might have realized his dream of happiness. However, near the end of the book we discover the terrible events and betrayals at the beginning of their seperation which make a successful reunion impossible for both. For any who still think war is glory and honor and a test of courage and manhood, Ninh illustrates quite vividly that it is continuing horror, terror, chaos and blind chance which determines who lives and who dies. And sometimes the living envy the dead before the Sorrow of War has played its last chorus. The government of Vietnam opposed the publication of this book, and it is easy to understand why, given the honesty with which life in postwar Hanoi is portrayed. One of the most amazing things about the book is the almost total abscense of bitterness toward the Americans who invaded his country and started the war that destroyed so much of his life. There is also an interesting parallel between the American Vietnam veteran's homecoming after their time "in country" was over, and the Vietnamese soldiers who fought and suffered so long and so greatly for the eventual victory. The sorrow of war is almost overshadowed by the sorrow of his homecoming and all that he had lost as a result of that war. As we continues this new war, Ninh's is a cautionary tale which should be read by anyone rejoicing at the idea the American military might can overcome any foe. Vietnam proved a long time ago that it takes more than superior military equipment and a vastly stronger economy to win a war. Ninh tells us why. wfh
Rating: 
Summary: A powerful read!
Review: Bao Ninh's The Sorrow of War is a work of fiction that tells a story about characters that become real to the reader by the time they come to the end of the novel. The Sorrow of War tells a story of a soldier of the North Vietnamese Regular Army. The story begins when this soldier, Kien, is collecting bodies for the Missing in Action Remains-Gathering Team after the war in 1975. He is returning to many places where he fought his enemies and lost many comrades. This triggers many memories for Kien. We are led through many horrific encounters that seem unreal to those of us that have never been in battle. Kien encounters spirits and ghosts both of individuals he once knew and ghosts of strangers he never met. The format of this book is very interesting. Kien is the main character and the reader is taken back and forth between times. Sometimes Kien is writing his memories of the war and we experience his life after the war. Other times we are transported by his writings to the past and into different points during the war. Then at other times we are reading the author of the book, Bao Ninh's, own words and opinions of Kien. This is a work of fiction but the reader can easily extrapolate that the author identifies himself with the character Kien. Passages and chapters within this book can be read independently of each other. The flow of the book is hampered by this at times and at other times it contributes to the chaotic nature of war and its effect on those involved. The purpose of this book seems to be to show the readers the horrors and obviously the sorrows of war. This purpose is not made to prove a point or to sell an ideal. It is to share a horrific experience and to try to achieve some kind of understanding of a war and how it affects people. This book is not for the weak minded or those with weak constitutions. The scenes of death, killing, rape, and dying are vivid and descriptive. The reader is taken back through the years of battle and the years of searching for peace with a soldier named Kien.
Does the author offer a realistic picture of the war? I believe he does. The viewpoint of the war is that of an infantry soldier. So the main picture portrayed is limited to that frame of mind. I would presume that an infantryman out in the field and out in the jungle would have seen the horrors that Kien witnessed. Kien was a soldier for over ten years. He lost many fellow soldiers and many individuals both men and women that meant much to him. Kien described battles as seen through his own eyes. He spent a long time in the field. This greatly affected him. This had an enormous impact on his psychological and emotional well-being. Being a soldier in the war became the encompassing identity of Kien. After the war he had nightmares. He could not establish healthy relationships with women or friends. He could not maintain studies at the university. Kien was driven to write about his experiences in the war. This drive to put his experiences on paper was his only productive activity. He was seen as eccentric in his apartment complex. Everyone he met and everyone who came to know him saw him as a product of the war. I believe Bao Ninh offers his readers a realistic look at an individual's experience in an extremely brutal wartime setting.
There is a very important and moving passage within this book. This passage is located on pages 192-193. It holds significant meaning to the book as a whole. I believe Bao Ninh wrote this passage and others like it to show that the war was not in vain. It was not just an exercise in violence and brutality for its own sake. The violence had a purpose. It had to have a purpose or else why did so many honorable people have to die? I marked this passage as I was reading the book and came back to it many times. This was the reason, I believe, that Bao Ninh wrote this book. Wars can be won but good people, martyrs for their cause, are sacrificed for that cause. Sorrow exists after the war. We lived through the war but was it worth it to loose so many people? Do the ones that survived deserve the life they have left? Of course they do. If they do not live the life they were spared the ones that gave their lives gave them in vain. I feel that this is the point that the author was trying to make. There may be victory but there will always be the sorrow of war to accompany that victory.
The Sorrow of War is very different from any other book or movie about Vietnam that I have ever read. This book was written from the few point of a Vietnamese soldier. In most American made movies and novels the Vietnamese soldier is faceless and without depth. They are seen as just pawns of a communist machine. In all of the movies and books that I have experienced these soldiers were rarely if ever given any human qualities. This book gave me a new if somewhat disturbing view of the war in Vietnam. A sense of the different culture that exists in Vietnam is expressed in this book. The Vietnamese characters portrayed in this book were give souls and a conscience, as all human beings possess. This contributed to giving me a new perspective on the experience that the defenders of North Vietnam had. This novel broadened my world. I was shown that love and sorrow are all a part of being Vietnamese. The traditional American made movie or novel about Vietnam fails to show the human side of the struggles that the Vietnamese people both from the north and the south went through. A Vietnamese soldier wrote this novel. He fought in the war and his story is not corrupted by western ideals. American made movies and novels of the war dwell a lot on the inadequacies of the North Vietnamese soldier. The Sorrow of War celebrated the North Vietnamese soldier's endurance and perseverance. It described in detail what the "other side" went through. The role of women was covered in this book. Kien fought alongside and against women during the war. He admired the women soldiers he fought with. He respected them. I have never encountered this aspect of the Vietnamese culture till I read this book and took a history course about Vietnam. Western culture does not regularly portray women as defenders of their homes and warriors for their country. As a woman and as a woman who was a soldier I felt a connection to the women in this story. No one ever told them they could not fight and die for their country. I admired them. I saw the way they were portrayed and realized that in my American culture I would probably never see such heroism. Most of the heroines in this novel were either killed or were raped and yet they were still allowed to be those heroines. I see this as a large difference between The Sorrow of War and American made movies and books. Reading this book has added a new dimension to the Vietnam War for me. I am glad I had the opportunity to see the many sides of the issue.
As I have mentioned before The Sorrow of War is a work of fiction. The story is about war and how it can change a person and a country. Some scenes in the book may seem a bit too unrealistic at times. I did not feel that the battle scenes and the death scenes were too unrealistic. War can be even more horrific than any words can describe at times. One could even assume some of the combat scenes could have been even more horrible to the reader and the author held back. What I found to be a bit too unrealistic about the book and its storyline were all of the narrow escapes. Kien was a very lucky soldier to have survived all of the combat illness, and injuries he endured. That luck was what I found to be a bit too unrealistic. The contrast between the acts of human kindness and the acts of human depredation at times seemed too unrealistic. I found myself not sure if a new character that was introduced would try to kill Kien or try to share their rice with him. I enjoy reading military fiction and am not foreign to a bit of blood and gore in the written word. I can see how all of the brutal details of combat would seem unrealistic to certain readers. What I found to more unrealistic within the story were all of the ghosts and spirits. I realize and respect the fact that other cultures view the non-physical world in different ways. This aspect of the story gave it an unrealistic twist for me. Spirits and ghost are not an everyday part of my world and my culture so it was hard for me identify with this aspect of Kien's humanity. I respected his outlook about ghosts and spirits but did not connect with the realization of them. They are not real to me so that brought an unrealistic aspect to the story.
I do have some criticism on the way the author chose to organize his novel. Sometimes the reader can become a little lost in the words. I am not sure if this was the author's intent or not. This is a translation so that must be taken into consideration. The writing at times is haphazard and leads off into tangents without a climax or a resolution. This style could hinder certain types of readers. I found it both frustrating at times and stimulating at other times. The reader never knows what will happen next or even what time the characters will be portrayed in. The storyline jumps around in setting and in time. This helps add to the madness and frenzied nature of the theme of the book, war. Others may see this as taking away from the story but I feel it adds to its intensity.
This book had a huge impact on me as a reader and as a student of the Vietnam War. This book gave me a more human look at the Vietnam War. I imagine that it gave other readers a dehumanizing look at the war. Reading this book put a face on the other side of the conflict. Reading this book made sights, smells and sounds about war come alive for me. After reading this book I have sought other works in the same genre. The Sorrow of War is a hugely significant work in my mind. It is a depressing book that rips away any hope and yet it still brings the reader forward hoping for something more for the characters. As a future teacher of history and a student of the human condition I hope for an opportunity to be able to share this book with further generations. The American side of the Vietnam War will never be forgotten but we need to make sure that the Vietnamese side of the American War is also never forgotten.
Rating: 
Summary: The Sorrow and Horror of War Indeed
Review: Despite containing harrowing scenes of the war with the Americans (and others) during the 1960s and '70s there is something strangley dispassionate about this novel and maybe that's one of its points. The desensitising of Kien, the main character, leaves a stark imprint of the horror of this particular war. Kien writes about the grotesque, tragic and shocking to exorcise the demons within and to honour those he has lost. The rememberance of lost friends and comrades is perhaps one of the most telling points of the book. The book lacks a strong narrative. The reader is thrown from post-war, to pre-war to mid-war at random and many sequences seem to be dreams of dreams (is the mute girl in the attic really there or is she the author's spiritual muse who only appears when he is drunk and delirious). There are two narrators: The first and main one is Kien who writes his life story to exorcise the demons of war. The second is someone who picks up the manuscript, after Kien has fled his apartment toward the end of the novel. This book would probably sit well as an anti-war novel but making an ideological point doesn't seem to be the author's main thrust. It is simply a very intimate portrayal of love and loss and the confusion, fear, terror and insanity of war.
Rating: 
Summary: Over-Rated
Review: Having read the rave reviews of this book I felt that I was doing myself an injustice by not picking up a copy. I particularly liked "The Quiet Amerian" (TQA) which has been similarly reviewed. My disappointment was palpable. Instead of being presented with a strong story that unfolds throughout the pages like in TQA, you get an incoherant rabble. I would press on with all the other faults of the book but I really don't think it warrants that much of my time. Be warned, if you don't like books that have no continuous storyline, then don't get this. The reviewers who think this book is a master-piece are just so full of their own self-importance that they cannot see child like writing when it sits in front of them.
Rating:
Summary: Over-Rated
Review: Having read the rave reviews of this book I felt that I was doing myself an injustice by not picking up a copy. I particularly liked "The Quiet Amerian" (TQA) which has been similarly reviewed. My disappointment was palpable. Instead of being presented with a strong story that unfolds throughout the pages like in TQA, you get an incoherant rabble. I would press on with all the other faults of the book but I really don't think it warrants that much of my time. Be warned, if you don't like books that have no continuous storyline, then don't get this. The reviewers who think this book is a master-piece are just so full of their own self-importance that they cannot see child like writing when it sits in front of them.
Rating:
Summary: Unreadable!
Review: I am not a Vietnam expert but I have a pretty good background in it. I have read a lot of fiction and non-fiction dealing with the war and I was quite intrigued by this book. A well reviewed biographical novel from the NVA side of the war seemed like a must read. Twice I have read good reviews for this book and twice I have tried to read it and twice I have found it unreadable. Maybe its just the translation, but I just could not get into this book. I found it almost a ramble and just too much of a stream of conciousness. I see here there are many positive reviews for the book. But I must say again two times I have tried to read it and two times I found it unreadable. Maybe the third times the charm?
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