The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

July 16, 2020 

The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que

Huong is born into a Vietnam torn by war, and as her parents and uncles go off to fight in a conflict that is tearing the country apart, she is left in the care of her grandmother in Ha Noi. They survive repeated aerial bombings until eventually they are forced to flee to the countryside.  Huong’s voice set in the last years of the Vietnam War alternates with her grandmother Dieu Lan, who shares the story of her childhood and her family, including her flight to Ha Noi with her five children in 1955 and the many times that she has had to reinvent her life.

The only thing that most of us know about Vietnam is the Vietnam War of the late 1960’s/early 1970’s when the United States as well as other United Nations countries became involved in a conflict to oppose the communist regime of North Vietnam.  But Vietnam is an ancient country, and artifacts have been found that date back to the Paleolithic Age.  Vietnam has a long and turbulent history, and in the 20^th century alone, the Vietnamese people suffered through wars, famine, communist land reform where landowners were forced off their land or killed and their property reorganized as collectives, and reunification that resulted in over a quarter of a million residents of South Vietnam being sent to re-education camps that were nothing more than forced labor camps.  In the novel, Huong notes that many of the governmental crimes against the Vietnamese people have been excluded from their history and are forbidden to be discussed.

Readers who enjoyed In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner, When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe, or Pachinko by Min Jin Lee will enjoy this multi-generational family history of Vietnam.  The author is a poet and it shows in her writing.  However, you should be aware that there are a number of incredibly brutal incidents that make the reader wonder how much one country can be expected to endure.  Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys historical fiction or books about Vietnam.