Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War

"All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory. Exploring how this troubled memory works in Vietnam, the United States, Laos, Cambodia, and South Korea, the book deals specifically with the Vietnam War and also war in general. He reveals how war is a part of our identity, as individuals and as citizens of nations armed to the teeth. Venturing through literature, film, monuments, memorials, museums, and landscapes of the Vietnam War, he argues that an alternative to nationalism and war exists in art, created by artists who adhere to no nation but the imagination."--Provided by publisher.

User reviews

LibraryThing member muddyboy

This is a great book about the perspectives of war, immigration and the dominance of American culture. Since the author is a Vietnamese American citizen the war in Viet Nam is a primary focus. Might I point out that in Viet Nam they call it the American War. This is the essence of the thesis that

America with its powerful media forces including television and movies are the chief interpreters of wars to the rest of the world. All countries selectively forget cruel things they did in the past and play up the stories that portray themselves in a good light offering excuses for their atrocities.(No movies on the My Lai massacre) A very informative and thought provoking book.

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LibraryThing member Ken-Me-Old-Mate

I have broken my rule about not giving ratings to books that I don't finish.

I never finished this book and not due to any fault of the book. It is a truly dense, passionate book that I just could not give myself to at that time. It is serious and not shallow or superficial. It forces you to

concentrate of what is being said. If you do not give it your full attention than you cannot follow what is happening in the page. To me it felt like a full on essay about the war and its effects on both Vietnam and the world. About how the American really lost that war but have won it every day since.

It is full of things that you don’t know but should. Like the The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in the Washington that lists every name of every American fallen soldier. It is 150 yards long. If the Vietnamese did something similar their wall would be 9 miles long. Information like that is devastating not only because of the scale of it but also because it is unknown.

I am sorry Viet Thanh Nguyen I feel that I could not do justice to what you have given us and in that I feel a lesser person.

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LibraryThing member kcshankd

An attempt at grappling with a multi-generational ripple of war. Recursive, not a cogent argument but series of scathing observations trying and failing to make any sense of it.

Repeatedly brought to mind my dad. He came home, packed his war away in a box and shoved it in the closet, refusing to let

it define him. He had that choice, and took it. I remember as a boy having to carefully wake him up after school (he worked nights), if you shook him awake he would drag you under the bed, seeking cover in those waking moments.

We didn't get any smarter, continuing further ripples in other ponds since.

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