There is so much here that makes zero sense--not the review itself, but the history in this period filled with murder and greed. The author of this piece is now my go-to paradigm for scathing reviews. This is the second I've read ... and I am hooked, line and sinker.
(Maybe the only thing that is semi-rational in this period was the Vietnamese religion of Caodaism, worshipping Victor Hugo. I mean, yeah, I kinda get that one.)
This is the blend of literary, political, and economic analysis I gotta have. Hope this account blows because I need more people to understand that all things are not equal and art can and does serve the interests of the forces that impoverish and immiserate the wretched of the earth.
Have you read The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, or seen the series? It's not as bad as what you describe here but definitely jumped to my mind as an obvious comparison point because it's a story that has surprisingly little sympathy in regard to Vietnamese people, despite its whole popularity being premised on the idea that it's telling the as-yet unseen Vietnamese story. While we certainly don't see any wealthy collaborator families explicitly looking down on the uncultured communists who staff their mansions, the only Vietnamese characters who are treated as having a sympathetic, non-psychotic disposition are the ones hailing from a similar class background who are happy leading similar lives in the United States premised on their own collaboration and implicit superiority.
Of course, high-level bureaucrats in Hanoi have been feasting for decades while children wear rags in the villages. It's only accelerated now that Chinese money is flowing in like never before (and will make French colonialism a mere blip by comparison). Only they don't write books and nobody really cares to dig into that. In short, Thuy may be a shit writer but she is nothing unique if you've spent any amount of time in Vietnam.
A phenomenal review, the spite for reactionary sentiments is evocative of Lenin.
There is so much here that makes zero sense--not the review itself, but the history in this period filled with murder and greed. The author of this piece is now my go-to paradigm for scathing reviews. This is the second I've read ... and I am hooked, line and sinker.
(Maybe the only thing that is semi-rational in this period was the Vietnamese religion of Caodaism, worshipping Victor Hugo. I mean, yeah, I kinda get that one.)
This is the blend of literary, political, and economic analysis I gotta have. Hope this account blows because I need more people to understand that all things are not equal and art can and does serve the interests of the forces that impoverish and immiserate the wretched of the earth.
Have you read The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, or seen the series? It's not as bad as what you describe here but definitely jumped to my mind as an obvious comparison point because it's a story that has surprisingly little sympathy in regard to Vietnamese people, despite its whole popularity being premised on the idea that it's telling the as-yet unseen Vietnamese story. While we certainly don't see any wealthy collaborator families explicitly looking down on the uncultured communists who staff their mansions, the only Vietnamese characters who are treated as having a sympathetic, non-psychotic disposition are the ones hailing from a similar class background who are happy leading similar lives in the United States premised on their own collaboration and implicit superiority.
Of course, high-level bureaucrats in Hanoi have been feasting for decades while children wear rags in the villages. It's only accelerated now that Chinese money is flowing in like never before (and will make French colonialism a mere blip by comparison). Only they don't write books and nobody really cares to dig into that. In short, Thuy may be a shit writer but she is nothing unique if you've spent any amount of time in Vietnam.