Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin (Non-Classics) (1994), Paperback, 272 pages
Description
Now, at last, comes the first Vietnamese novel ever translated and published in North America. Duong Thu Huong is Vietnam's most beloved and outspoken novelist. In Paradise of the Blind she has created a devastating portrait of three women fighting to maintain their dignity in a society that expects ever greater sacrifices from them. Paradise of the Blind is a rich, sensuous journey through a Vietnam never seen before. In images of astonishing grace and power, and through her unforgettable gallery of women, Duong Thu Huong dazzles the reader with her ability to evoke the colors, the foods, the smells, and the age-old rituals of her country. At the center of the novel is Hang, a young woman forced to grow up too fast in the slums of Hanoi and the turbulence of modern Vietnam. Duong Thu Huong brilliantly captures Hang's rebellion against her mother and the loneliness of her search for self. There is Hang's mother, who watches, powerless, as her life is shattered by a fanatical political campaign led by her own brother. And there is the mysterious Aunt Tam, who has accumulated wealth and bitterness in equal parts and seeks to pass on both to her niece, Hang. The intoxicating beauty of the Vietnamese countryside, the hunger, the pride, the endurance of ordinary Vietnamese people confronted with the hypocrisy and corruption that surround them - all are here in this moving and lyrical novel. With the publication of Paradise of the Blind comes the introduction of a world-class storyteller whose extraordinary sensitivity and courage have captivated a generation of Vietnamese readers.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member deebee1
Duong Thu Huong's writings are banned in Vietnam, and this novel, her fourth, gives us an idea why. Paradise of the Blind is a portrait of three women who struggle to realize their dreams under a regime that denies the individual's pursuit of personal happiness, corrodes family ties and values,
In less capable hands, this story would have seemed like a script for a telenovela, but Huong is a wonderful writer and while there is more than enough misery to go around, the story never sounds contrived or untrue, because everything is so close to the ground. I've read some books on the Vietnam war, seen my share of films including those by the great Joris Ivens, have Vietnamese friends and colleagues, and travel regularly to this country, so I have some appreciation for the story's context. Based on what I know, I feel the country in this book. The author portrays customs, traditions so deeply ingrained that not even the regime could suppress them, strong family values, community spirit, hard work, (exquisite) food and the preparation of food which highlights its centrality in the Vietnamese way of life. Apart from being a political commentary, this book succeeds as well as a cultural and social commentary. A very worthwhile read.
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erases time-honored cultural practices and traditions, and oppresses the will through repression and corruption. Hang is a young woman who is torn between love for her poor, widowed mother and loyalty to her rich, domineering aunt who has devoted her life to fighting what she perceived as injustices perpetuated by the Communist regime through the abuses of its petty cadres. Both elder women devote their lives to sheer backbreaking labour to vie for Hang's love by regaining what they lost in the sweeping and merciless changes that the new government demanded. Misplaced devotion to family ties complicates the situation, when an uncle returning from the war himself becomes an official. All this has unfortunate consequences on Hang, and she is forced to go to Russia as a factory worker where she unavoidably realizes the extent of her country's political leaders' excesses, more than she would have learned of back home. She carries a heavy burden. In less capable hands, this story would have seemed like a script for a telenovela, but Huong is a wonderful writer and while there is more than enough misery to go around, the story never sounds contrived or untrue, because everything is so close to the ground. I've read some books on the Vietnam war, seen my share of films including those by the great Joris Ivens, have Vietnamese friends and colleagues, and travel regularly to this country, so I have some appreciation for the story's context. Based on what I know, I feel the country in this book. The author portrays customs, traditions so deeply ingrained that not even the regime could suppress them, strong family values, community spirit, hard work, (exquisite) food and the preparation of food which highlights its centrality in the Vietnamese way of life. Apart from being a political commentary, this book succeeds as well as a cultural and social commentary. A very worthwhile read.
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LibraryThing member amerynth
Duong Thu Huong's "Paradise of the Blind" was the first Vietnamese novel ever published in the United States. Huong's work was banned in her own country due to its political content and she has been imprisoned there as well.
That doesn't mean the novel is simply a political statement. In fact, it
What I really liked about the book was the look at Vietnamese culture and the impact Communism had on the country. I gave the book a middling rating mainly because it lacks an emotional core that would have made the novel more powerful. It is perhaps, by design-- perhaps you need to put your emotions away to survive as this family did-- but it made it hard to truly connect with the characters.
Overall, an interesting book that I'm glad to have read.
That doesn't mean the novel is simply a political statement. In fact, it
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feels more like a personal story. The novel tells the story of Hang, a worker who is forced into "exported labor" in Russia. She travels by train to visit a hated uncle, and reminisces about her family's story. Communism's impact is thread running through her family's struggle to survive.What I really liked about the book was the look at Vietnamese culture and the impact Communism had on the country. I gave the book a middling rating mainly because it lacks an emotional core that would have made the novel more powerful. It is perhaps, by design-- perhaps you need to put your emotions away to survive as this family did-- but it made it hard to truly connect with the characters.
Overall, an interesting book that I'm glad to have read.
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LibraryThing member Kristelh
This book, written by a Vietnamese Woman and translated to English by Phan Huy Duong and Nina McPerson, is set in Vietnam and Russia after the Vietnam War with the U.S. and tells the story of Hang, her mother and her paternal aunt and through them tells the story of Vietnam after the war and the
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emergence of communism. This story starts in Russia where Hang is working as an exported worker in a textile plant and is told in a series of flashbacks in Hangs life. We see Hang as a young girl with her single parent mother wondering about her father. She meets her paternal aunt. Later she meets her maternal uncle and his family. Hang's mother is at first devoted to her daughter but then becomes devoted to her brother's children and spends all she has in her life for them. At the same time, the paternal aunt devotes all her life to becoming rich and pursuing her hatred of Hang's uncle. If it wasn't for this paternal aunt, Hang would have nothing. I really liked the writing (or translated) writing. It was easy to read, yet very descriptive of the land and culture. I liked learning about Vietnam through this women's writing. She wrote under communism. She was also an active member of the communist party but wrote under a libereration of the writer. A freedom to write about the country rather than political claptrap. I have read other books about communism and books of communism in Asian culture and I just don't get it. It seems so obsurd. I can only think that things must have been so bad to allow people to make such crazy political decisions that seem so harmful. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading women authors of different languages and cultures. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
Growing up in Vietnam during the communist 70s and 80s, young Hang is used to hardships. Her cadre maternal uncle has her father's family classified as landlords (for owning a small paddy). Her father is sent away. Hang is raised alone, by her mother with her paternal aunt's help. Her paternal Aunt
Hang manages to get to college, but then needs to drop out to help her mother. In this novel we hear many stories of the typical Vietnamese and how they struggle through this time period of uncertainty.
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Tam can never forgive Hang's father for sending her brother away, most likely to his death. Tam can barely tolerate how Hang's mother continually helps her brother, despite the fact that he ruined her own family's lives. She feeds his kids when he is struggling, even though Hang then suffers lack of food. She sells the inheritance jewelry Tam gave for Hang. Her brother even says her work as a maker and vendor of vermicelli means she is not a real proper peasant. Hang manages to get to college, but then needs to drop out to help her mother. In this novel we hear many stories of the typical Vietnamese and how they struggle through this time period of uncertainty.
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LibraryThing member japaul22
This is a first person narration by a young Vietnamese girl, Hang, living in the 1980s who is an "exported worker" to a Russian textile factory. She is called by her Uncle, who used to be a local leader in the Vietnamese communist party, to visit him. On her train ride there, she revisits her life
Apparently, Huong's books were all banned in Vietnam for their political content and were first translated into English in 1993. Huong was even imprisoned in the 1990s for her outspokenness. Because I knew these things before reading the book, I was expecting it to be more politically damning than it was (I was thinking of Wild Swans by Jung Chang). Instead, I found this to be a book about the life of one typical family. It was definitely impacted by political upheaval and that comes through, but it wasn't the focus of the book. I actually found more insight into the daily life of the Vietnamese through the excellent descriptions of food and cultural celebrations and traditions.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, though it wasn't quite as memorable or radical as I hoped it might be.
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in flashbacks. She remembers her relationship with her mother from childhood through the present. Her mother (the sister of the uncle I mentioned) had a relationship with a young man who was not approved of by her communist brother and they were never married, though he is Hang's father. She also has an Aunt Tam, her father's sister, who is single and lavishes all of her earnings on Hang, the only descendant of her family. Apparently, Huong's books were all banned in Vietnam for their political content and were first translated into English in 1993. Huong was even imprisoned in the 1990s for her outspokenness. Because I knew these things before reading the book, I was expecting it to be more politically damning than it was (I was thinking of Wild Swans by Jung Chang). Instead, I found this to be a book about the life of one typical family. It was definitely impacted by political upheaval and that comes through, but it wasn't the focus of the book. I actually found more insight into the daily life of the Vietnamese through the excellent descriptions of food and cultural celebrations and traditions.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, though it wasn't quite as memorable or radical as I hoped it might be.
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LibraryThing member ott
I have confused this one with [Beyond Illusions]. This was my first of [[Duong Thu Huong]]'s books and I remember one image starkly: the young woman travelling on a train into Russia. I recall themes of family, and confusion and self-discovery.
LibraryThing member oapostrophe
Young Hang spends her early years not knowing anything about her father. Her mother won't tell her. The story begins with Hang as a young woman being summoned to Moscow by her uncle Chinh. The story jumps back and forth in time revealing the difficult relationships in her family that resulted from
An incredibly moving story, filled with emotion. Hang learns of her father, and his disappearance. She becomes close to her Aunt Tam, who works herself night and day to provide for Hang. There is great sacrifice made by the women in the story, and also great strength and resilience. The horror of how governments can treat their people is made quite clear. Details of place are rich, i could see the rice paddies, hear the blind neighbor singing, smell the spices, taste the crispy meats and teas.
Hard to put down.
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the government policies of that time. She finds herself caught up in traditions that don't always make sense. Expectations due to the order of birth. An incredibly moving story, filled with emotion. Hang learns of her father, and his disappearance. She becomes close to her Aunt Tam, who works herself night and day to provide for Hang. There is great sacrifice made by the women in the story, and also great strength and resilience. The horror of how governments can treat their people is made quite clear. Details of place are rich, i could see the rice paddies, hear the blind neighbor singing, smell the spices, taste the crispy meats and teas.
Hard to put down.
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LibraryThing member Eamonn12
The book was first published in Vietnamese in Hanoi in 1991 and the credits tell me that it is a work of fiction and that any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. I will allow there must be some transpositions, creative imaginings and
I didn’t know that Vietnam had to export its young people to work in Russian factories, living in dormitories and enduring a dreary work-rest-sleep-work-rest-sleep existence, rather like HG Well’s sad little hero Mr Polly in Victorian England. In ‘exchange’, it seems, Vietnam got help with ‘reconstruction’. Anyway that is the life of Hang, the heroine of this novel ‘Paradise of the Blind’, who narrates her story while travelling to Moscow o see her sick uncle, a middle-ranking communist official. He has not been much concerned about her or her mother in the past, so Hang resents being forced to make the long journey to Moscow because of her mother’s deep commitment to preserving family ties. This feeling for ‘family’ and loyalty to one’s family group comes across strongly throughout the book. Most of the book is in the form of her recollections while she is travelling and brings us back to Hang’s childhood in her small Vietnamese home village.
As a book, it sprawls a bit. We see everything through the eyes of Hang and therefore it could be that we get an unfair view of the other people in the book. However, one senses truth everywhere in the book. The absurdities of the campaign against the ‘Landlord Class’, most of whom were landlords in the most miniscule way, are clearly described. The absurdities of ‘communal ownership’ are also treated, and the many ways in which vendettas and old scores were settled under the guise of ‘progress’ are described, not in a detailed analysis but, as it were, in passing, giving the impression that there was nothing remakable about the various cruelties and that they were simply a part of the whole post-war communist experience. Which indeed they were.
This is one of those books that one might say ‘writes itself’, without much in the way of crafting from the writer itself. But this view is always unjust to writers who have gone through the mill of social hell. Yes, the narrative does get a bit tedious here and there (the long descritions of food and meals, for instance) and repetitive. But, given the ordeals of Hang and her neighbours, these faults are a small price to pay for sharing them with her and being reminded how fortunate we are, any of us living in the much-maligned ‘democratic free world’.
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repositionings in any novel but I do not believe that in this book any resemblances to any persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. This is a book ‘you couldn’t make up’ from imagination. The truth will out and in this novel it does come out, whatever safety guises are in place.I didn’t know that Vietnam had to export its young people to work in Russian factories, living in dormitories and enduring a dreary work-rest-sleep-work-rest-sleep existence, rather like HG Well’s sad little hero Mr Polly in Victorian England. In ‘exchange’, it seems, Vietnam got help with ‘reconstruction’. Anyway that is the life of Hang, the heroine of this novel ‘Paradise of the Blind’, who narrates her story while travelling to Moscow o see her sick uncle, a middle-ranking communist official. He has not been much concerned about her or her mother in the past, so Hang resents being forced to make the long journey to Moscow because of her mother’s deep commitment to preserving family ties. This feeling for ‘family’ and loyalty to one’s family group comes across strongly throughout the book. Most of the book is in the form of her recollections while she is travelling and brings us back to Hang’s childhood in her small Vietnamese home village.
As a book, it sprawls a bit. We see everything through the eyes of Hang and therefore it could be that we get an unfair view of the other people in the book. However, one senses truth everywhere in the book. The absurdities of the campaign against the ‘Landlord Class’, most of whom were landlords in the most miniscule way, are clearly described. The absurdities of ‘communal ownership’ are also treated, and the many ways in which vendettas and old scores were settled under the guise of ‘progress’ are described, not in a detailed analysis but, as it were, in passing, giving the impression that there was nothing remakable about the various cruelties and that they were simply a part of the whole post-war communist experience. Which indeed they were.
This is one of those books that one might say ‘writes itself’, without much in the way of crafting from the writer itself. But this view is always unjust to writers who have gone through the mill of social hell. Yes, the narrative does get a bit tedious here and there (the long descritions of food and meals, for instance) and repetitive. But, given the ordeals of Hang and her neighbours, these faults are a small price to pay for sharing them with her and being reminded how fortunate we are, any of us living in the much-maligned ‘democratic free world’.
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LibraryThing member greeniezona
You know the kind of book you buy because you know it will be good, but then you side-eye it on your shelves because you also know it will be devastating, and you are just so seldom in the mood for devastating? Yeah, that was this book. I finally took it off the shelves and read it because it was
Summoned by telegram to help her ailing uncle, Hang spends most of her time on the train reminiscing over her childhood. Now a textile worker in Russia, Hang grew up without a father in the slums of Hanoi, Vietnam. But she remains connected to her mother's rural home village by her Aunt Tam, who has attached herself to Hang as the only continuation of her family line.
Hang's entire life is shaped by something that happened years before she was born. Her mother's brother, Uncle Chinh, came back from war as an official in charge of land reform. Hang's mother has married someone in the landowner class, and in the upheaval of land reform her father is exiled, Aunt Tam loses everything, and Hang's mother eventually flees to Hanoi. While Hang's father dies in exile (after a brief reappearance during which he fathers Hang), Hang, her mother, Aunt Tam, and Uncle Chinh remain both bound together and torn apart by their shared history, their dedication to shar4ed blood, and the failures of Vietnam's experiments in Communism.
By turns beautiful and heartbreaking. So glad I finally read it.
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from this month's region for the Read the World 21 challenge, which I am grateful for. I ended up really loving this book, even as I spent most of it wanting to strangle one of the main characters.Summoned by telegram to help her ailing uncle, Hang spends most of her time on the train reminiscing over her childhood. Now a textile worker in Russia, Hang grew up without a father in the slums of Hanoi, Vietnam. But she remains connected to her mother's rural home village by her Aunt Tam, who has attached herself to Hang as the only continuation of her family line.
Hang's entire life is shaped by something that happened years before she was born. Her mother's brother, Uncle Chinh, came back from war as an official in charge of land reform. Hang's mother has married someone in the landowner class, and in the upheaval of land reform her father is exiled, Aunt Tam loses everything, and Hang's mother eventually flees to Hanoi. While Hang's father dies in exile (after a brief reappearance during which he fathers Hang), Hang, her mother, Aunt Tam, and Uncle Chinh remain both bound together and torn apart by their shared history, their dedication to shar4ed blood, and the failures of Vietnam's experiments in Communism.
By turns beautiful and heartbreaking. So glad I finally read it.
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LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Hang, a Vietnamese woman, came of age in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Hang never knew her father, a teacher driven into exile during the land reform era by a local Communist party leader who was also his brother-in-law. Hang’s Aunt Tam, her father’s sister, lavishes affection on her young
This novel depicts a beautiful but broken country. A great loneliness permeates the novel. Hang’s mother and her Aunt Tam pull her in different directions, trying to force her to choose between the two sides of her family. As she tries to do her duty to both families, Hang’s isolation grows, yet she is still young enough to dream of a different future.
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niece as the sole member of her generation to carry on the family line. Hang’s mother increasingly devotes her meager resources to support her party member brother and his family. Hang embodies the tension between the two sides of her family.This novel depicts a beautiful but broken country. A great loneliness permeates the novel. Hang’s mother and her Aunt Tam pull her in different directions, trying to force her to choose between the two sides of her family. As she tries to do her duty to both families, Hang’s isolation grows, yet she is still young enough to dream of a different future.
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LibraryThing member burritapal
The Communist party of North Vietnam in the 20th century destroyed families and disrupted whole communities. In the 1950s, anybody who had a house, any land, the smallest noodle shack, was denounced and forced to give up all their possessions, and shunned and shamed. Madame Que, the protagonist's
Vegans will be grossed out by many parts of this book:
Page 139
"She had made one of my favorite soups: a mixture of lily buds, puree of a crab, and crab eggs. The eggs floated like clouds of spun gold in the middle of the lily buds, translucent from the cooking."
P.140
" 'Perfect. The women can start cutting up the scallions and the parsley. We're going to make an unforgettable tripe stew out of this,' another man chimed in. 'Oh, yeah, like the last time, for old Toan's memorial service. It's still stank of excrement,' someone shot back. The father spoke now. 'You are bitter, aren't you? I told you: I was drunk, and so I let the Cuu Brothers help me. That was fatal. Everyone knows they'll eat just about anything.' "
P.141
"Next to the kitchen door, a young man was shaving the butchered pig. His razor glinted in the beam of the lamp. Another young man with just the shadow of a mustache--he couldn't have been more than 17 or 18--Doused the pig with buckets of boiling water, dumping them over it at regular intervals. The blade of the first man's razor followed the rhythm of each Cascade of water and the pig's black bristles sheared off to reveal the naked whiteness of its skin."
P.176-177
"I obeyed, taking the plate of blood custard from him and putting it down on the tray. The dish looked good: the blood had congealed into a thick gelatin; there wasn't a trace of liquid at The rim; and the surface was sprinkled with fine strips of duck liver, crushed garlic, and peanuts grilled to a perfect golden brown."
Aunt Tam scolding Madame Que for starving Hang to buy medicine for her diabetic brother:
P.187
"In the end, everything comes to light in this world. The needle always emerges from the haystack. Do you think you can hide human actions, day in and day out, as they are revealed to others? Even from my village, I know about your life, see the price you pay. I don't reproach you. We all turn to family. After all, blood runs thick. And this love I feel for my brother, how could I deny it to others? But I want you to understand something clearly: your brother is my family's mortal enemy. He killed my brother. I forbid you to use my money to feed him."
Hang's despair over her mother's love for her brother, at the expense of love for her, and her trying to make sense of human life:
P.190
"I saw my mother, at that moment, grasping her knees to her chest in the middle of an empty house. I felt the tears trickled down my cheeks, one by one. That's the way it is. There's no dignity on this Earth for those who live and breathe in misery. I hadn't lost again."
P.199
"He shook my hand, kissed my head, and quickly crossed the street. Never look back, I thought, even for a second. No happiness can hold; every life, every dream, has its unraveling."
P.202-203
"There was something sinister about this tranquility, and order of this existence. It was the peace of a swamp, a far cry from our storms and squalls. Russian culture had bred too many broken dreams, all that was left was the pure, thin air of ideals, too poor to sustain human life, or its need for creativity and fulfillment. These calm, resigned faces seem engraved with no more than the memory of a culture that had once contributed milestones to the history of civilization."
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mother, us married to a teacher, who is denounced. Hang's father leaves the village, and we never see him again. In fact, you will miss Hang's conception if you're not paying attention. Hang's Aunt Tam, her father's sister, maintains a lifelong love, defence, and reverence for him, and hates Madame Que for not keeping his memory alive for Hang. Madame Que, on the other hand, reveres her brother, a minor official in the Communist party, and the instigator of the denouncements of Hang's father and sister, and the consequent destruction of their lives. But Aunt Tam, really the central character, works her fingers to the Bone and rebuilds her life, while the petty Communist official lives a life of deprivation and hypocrisy. Hang is denied a father, and has a troubled relationship with her mother, which eventually totally crumbles. This book is a chronicle of what beauty, energy, spirit, and inspiration lies in the Earth, and how Humans can miss the whole beauty and happiness this life offers them, believing that happiness lies in material success, the esteem of whatever group is currently in power, and false pride. Vegans will be grossed out by many parts of this book:
Page 139
"She had made one of my favorite soups: a mixture of lily buds, puree of a crab, and crab eggs. The eggs floated like clouds of spun gold in the middle of the lily buds, translucent from the cooking."
P.140
" 'Perfect. The women can start cutting up the scallions and the parsley. We're going to make an unforgettable tripe stew out of this,' another man chimed in. 'Oh, yeah, like the last time, for old Toan's memorial service. It's still stank of excrement,' someone shot back. The father spoke now. 'You are bitter, aren't you? I told you: I was drunk, and so I let the Cuu Brothers help me. That was fatal. Everyone knows they'll eat just about anything.' "
P.141
"Next to the kitchen door, a young man was shaving the butchered pig. His razor glinted in the beam of the lamp. Another young man with just the shadow of a mustache--he couldn't have been more than 17 or 18--Doused the pig with buckets of boiling water, dumping them over it at regular intervals. The blade of the first man's razor followed the rhythm of each Cascade of water and the pig's black bristles sheared off to reveal the naked whiteness of its skin."
P.176-177
"I obeyed, taking the plate of blood custard from him and putting it down on the tray. The dish looked good: the blood had congealed into a thick gelatin; there wasn't a trace of liquid at The rim; and the surface was sprinkled with fine strips of duck liver, crushed garlic, and peanuts grilled to a perfect golden brown."
Aunt Tam scolding Madame Que for starving Hang to buy medicine for her diabetic brother:
P.187
"In the end, everything comes to light in this world. The needle always emerges from the haystack. Do you think you can hide human actions, day in and day out, as they are revealed to others? Even from my village, I know about your life, see the price you pay. I don't reproach you. We all turn to family. After all, blood runs thick. And this love I feel for my brother, how could I deny it to others? But I want you to understand something clearly: your brother is my family's mortal enemy. He killed my brother. I forbid you to use my money to feed him."
Hang's despair over her mother's love for her brother, at the expense of love for her, and her trying to make sense of human life:
P.190
"I saw my mother, at that moment, grasping her knees to her chest in the middle of an empty house. I felt the tears trickled down my cheeks, one by one. That's the way it is. There's no dignity on this Earth for those who live and breathe in misery. I hadn't lost again."
P.199
"He shook my hand, kissed my head, and quickly crossed the street. Never look back, I thought, even for a second. No happiness can hold; every life, every dream, has its unraveling."
P.202-203
"There was something sinister about this tranquility, and order of this existence. It was the peace of a swamp, a far cry from our storms and squalls. Russian culture had bred too many broken dreams, all that was left was the pure, thin air of ideals, too poor to sustain human life, or its need for creativity and fulfillment. These calm, resigned faces seem engraved with no more than the memory of a culture that had once contributed milestones to the history of civilization."
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Awards
Language
Original language
Vietnamese
Original publication date
1988
Physical description
272 p.; 7.6 inches
ISBN
0140236201 / 9780140236200