The central character of this novel is embroiled in many aspects of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, slipping uneasily from one role to another. There are descriptive passages of great power and convincing interior monologues that reflect the ambivalence of his position. This is a novel about duality: political, national, emotional, racial, religious and cultural and the reader is never allowed to forget it. Only in the last section of the book did I feel that the author's grip on his subject was weakening and that may be explained by the fact that a sequel has since been published.
One constant is the narrator's sardonic contempt for America, often illustrated by smartarse asides that I can't resist quoting: "Journalists need editors; editors need beatings".... "...the most dangerous animal in the world, a white man in a suit" ... "Happiness, for Americans, is a zero-sum game".
I enjoyed this book very much indeed, though in future I'll always feel awkward in Vietnamese restaurants.
No comments:
Post a Comment