Finally finished another book for the SEAReadingChallenge! This book is from Vietnam and it's the first non-fiction book that I've read for the challenge. Last Night I Dreamed Of Peace is a diary written by a young (27 when she died, only slightly older than me!) Vietnamese doctor as she worked in the front lines during the Vietnam War.I think this is my favourite book of the challenge so far! Dang Thuy Tram is an introspective woman and she writes extremely movingly about what she sees and experiences. It's an extremely good reminder that there are two sides to every story, and that even on the 'wrong' side (Dang Thuy Tram is from North Vietnam), there are people who truly believe in what they're fighting for.
But the thing about the book that occasionally annoyed me (and this is no fault of the translators) is how naive Dang Thuy Tram is. Apart from the fact that she doesn't ever change her view of the communist party or the other side (she comes close in the beginning but seems to double down on her beliefs after), the number of 'pure love' relationships she has is... staggering. I'm pretty sure that some of those guys are in love with her, but she basically denies everything. And while that was fine with me in the beginning, the fact that her mindset never change got a little annoying towards the end of the book. I was expecting her to grow but she didn't.
Still, I managed to suppress these feelings for the most part, and I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. If you want to see another facet of the Vietnam war, you have to pick this up.
I am drawn to books about Vietnam because of my dad (he served time there as an American soldier, fighting in the war). He spent a relatively short amount of time there in the span of his life, but it made an impression on him (war will do that to a person). My mom had the chance to visit this past year. She loved her time there.
ReplyDeleteI think this would be something I would really like, given the history and the role Dang Thuy Tram played during that time period. I am glad you liked it.
I hope you manage to find a copy! I think you'll enjoy this one(:
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