The Refugees

I know that short story collections are usually a hard sell, but I'm going out on a limb and saying this one will. Viet Thanh Nguyen's THE REFUGEES is a sterling bunch of stories, eight of them, and not a bad one in the whole barrel. And I'm not surprised, because I've already read Nguyen's novel, THE SYMPATHIZER, which won the Pulitzer. Some of these stories were written ten or more years ago, but they already displayed the writing chops that were so evident in the prize-winning novel. And some of them, like "The War Years," with its widow sewing uniforms in a California barrio for a Vietnamese army that will rise again to defeat the Communists; or the former Vietnamese airborne officer who bullies and dominates his divorced son in "Someone Else Besides You," also show the early seeds that became THE SYMPATHIZER. A favorite of mine is "The Americans," which gives us Carver, a black 69 year-old former B-52 pilot who once bombed North Vietnam, back in Vietnam decades later with his Japanese wife to visit their adult daughter who, Carver feels, will never understand how his life has been. In Carver, "now retired, limping out his sixties," Nguyen captures perfectly the helpless, sometimes bitter feeling of growing old, of accelerating months and years, of "time ruthlessly thinning out the once-dense herd of his memories." But Carver still can remember the wonder of his flying years, how - "Almost everything looked more beautiful from a distance, the earth becoming ever more perfect as one ascended and came closer to seeing the world from God's eyes ... the peaks and valleys of geography fading to become strokes of a paintbrush on a divine sphere." Nguyen also artfully conveys the uglier aspects of poverty too, as Carver travels through the Vietnamese countryside and observes - "... tin-roofed shacks with dirt floors, a man pulling up the leg of his shorts to urinate on a wall... the air thick with blasts of soot from passing trucks, the rot of buffalo dung, the fermentation of the local cuisine that he found briny and nauseating." This is wonderful writing. And Nguyen understands, I think, that writing itself is a kind of reaching for immortality, an idea he expresses perfectly in the closing lines of his opening story of refugee ghosts and ghost writers, "Black-eyed Women" - "Stories are just things we fabricate, nothing more. We search for them in a world besides our own, then leave them here to be found, garments shed by ghosts." These are hauntingly beautiful, wise stories, made to be read and remembered. My highest recommendation. - Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

You are in for a real treat! These stories are terrific; well thought out, excellent character development and plot design. How fortunate we all are to have these excellent snapshots by a truly gifted writer!

“For all refugees, everywhere” – Dedication in The Refugees “In a country where possessions counted for everything, we had no belongings except our stories.” Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Refugees Holy moly! What an incredible, emotional and remarkable book! I am honestly having a hard time coming up with the right words for this review – I feel it deserves so much more than my unsophisticated writing skills. Nguyen is an eloquent, perceptive, brilliant writer and storyteller. The eight stories featured in The Refugees are powerful, compassionate, and moving. Every day, hundreds of individuals are displaced and must flee their homes and countries. Many refugees fear for their lives and must leave without notice, leaving everything they love behind. The Refugees deals with their immigrant experiences, and the risks they endure for a chance of a better future and life. Nguyen brilliantly brings his characters’ triumphs and sorrows to life. One particular story, “The Warriors” is about Nguyen’s own family’s experience, “…the story “Warriors” about the child of refugee shopkeepers and what happens to that family, that is drawn very much from my life and the lives of my parents. And it was a very difficult story to write because I think my parents’ lives are worthy of writing about. I don’t think my life is particularly worthy of writing about.” With the current political climate in the United States, there is an urgent need for books such as The Refugees to be written and read by all. Get yourself a copy of this book from the bookstore or borrow it from the library or friend – just make sure you read it! Side note: I was fortunate to meet and hear Viet at the Central Library in Arlington, Virginia. He is extremely funny, smart and genuine - a great human being!

I bought this book along with Nguyen's novel "The Sympathizer" and was bowled over by both. "The Refugees" shows Nguyen to be highly adept at sketching various types of characters and with a sharp eye for the little details of human behavior and everyday life. So many themes are memorably rendered: the terror some Vietnamese citizens felt during the war, the trauma and pain of refugees who fled their home country in boats, the inter-family friction caused when traditional Vietnamese mores bump up against those of America, the ghosts/memories of Vietnamese Americans who are haunted by their pasts. Often, Nguyen's protagonists are wrapped in conflicted feelings and come to a crucial point--a crossroads--where they make a decision that may surprise them as much as us. Excellent work by an author whose work needs to be read and thought about.

I was one of The Sympathizer’s earliest readers and biggest fans, but this collection of short stories does not contain the same power. A couple of his stories are reminiscent of those in Violet Kupersmith’s The Frangipani Hotel, also recollections of Vietnamese customs and culture. But while Nguyen's writing is beautiful, the story endings tend to disappoint, not unlike the stories of Ha Jin. In this uneven collection, Fatherland and I’d Love You to Want Me stand out, both of which uncover the pain of family relationships.

I don't think that I got my monies worth from this book because of its brevity, and the fact, that I felt left hanging at the end of each of the short stories portrayed. Nevertheless, it was an excellent compilation of very believable, real life stories of the refugees and those that were left behind from split families. I had two tours of duty in Viet Nam as "tee wee" and "Di wee" so in many ways the stories had a very special meaning for me and I felt a great deal of empathy for those persons and families that were portrayed. I think each story could have easily been the subject of a full scale novel and I hope the author will consider this in the future. I enjoyed the Sympathizer by the same author and was hoping for another novel along the same subject lines. Especially poignant was the story of the fashionable woman who attempted to "shake down" the small business owners in the community for cash contributions for continued military actions in Viet Nam. Overall a great story, and I take back my first sentence, it was a lot of bang for the buck !

A timely collection of stories about people who came to the U.S. as refugees or immigrants and had to adapt and build new lives. The author's enlightened perspective goes beyond the traumatic and often violent experiences that go with becoming a refugee--something we can witness on the daily news everyday--and takes on the longer-enduring question of what happens when those fleeing their homes succeed in stage one and move on to stage two--becoming a new person and building a new life in the land of refuge. For most of Viet Thanh Nguyen's characters in these largely melancholy eight stories, the adapting process is never over completely. Likewise, the connection to the old country is never completely broken. As the historic context here is mostly Viet-Nam where the war period is conveniently and officially forgotten by the victorious government in Hanoi with the aim of re-engagement with the relatively prosperous Viet Que (the famous boat people refugees 0f the 1970s), it is particularly difficult to become completely transplanted--at least for the older generation. These are insightful and beautifully written stories that will get under your skin and make you think a bit more about the refugees and immigrants who increasingly interact with everyone's lives in this country. If you are as touched by this writing as I was, you might be ready to take on two other wonderful books addressing the same subjects of alienation and adaptation: Tahar Benjelloun's "Leaving Tangier" and Andre Aciman's "Harvard Square." They, along with Viet Thanh Nguyen to be sure, make you wonder seriously whether you would have the fortitude and perseverance to leave the homeland and begin a difficult new life elsewhere.

Nguyen follows up his instant classic The Sympathizer with an equally impressive collection of short stories in The Refugees. With heartrending and tender emotion, he captures the struggles and hopes of an unforgettable array of immigrant and native characters of Vietnamese heritage. Each finely-crafted piece carries a subtle power and beauty in the dignity and quiet resilience of the characters as they face the hardships of loss, regret, failure, and alienation in either their home country or their adopted America. Through the wounded memories and life-altering experiences of both courageous men and women, Nguyen generates great empathy for their individual plights. The revelations they encounter are touching and poignant, oftentimes packing a force that breaks your heart. The graceful texture of Nguyen’s language and the vividness of his images and details harness the near perfection of this volume. With his two stellar works of fiction, Nguyen has quickly and deservedly earned his claim among the giants of contemporary literature. I can hardly wait for his next project.

The author explores all sides of the refugee experience - the reasons for escape, the journey itself - the arrival and the usual disillusion and (sort of) acceptance - even to aspects of the return once possible. This collection of stories is as moving as truth. The tales are as true as truth might be.

Goed boek, maar ja , wat verwacht je van een Pulitzer prijs winnaar? ;)

An outstanding collection of stories by Viet Nguyen, who was himself a refugee as a young child. Nguyen won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, The Sympathizer, which is fascinating and brilliant. I like these stories even better: they are powerful, humane, and thoughtful.

印刷の質がひどくて声も出ません。新しく購入したのに毎回見るとまたイヤな気持ちを思い出します。

après avoir lu "the sympathizer" et "the committed", j'ai cherché d'autre livre du même auteur. Viet Tanh Nguyen a un don d'écriture, à découvrir absolument.