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Thu Hương Dương
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Paradise of the Blind Paperback – 3 October 2002

by Duong Thu Huong (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 118
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Paradise of the Blind is an exquisite portrait of three Vietnamese women struggling to survive in a society where subservience to men is expected and Communist corruption crushes every dream. Through the eyes of Hang, a young woman in her twenties who has grown up amidst the slums and intermittent beauty of Hanoi, we come to know the tragedy of her family as land reform rips apart their village. When her uncle Chinh‘s political loyalties replace family devotion, Hang is torn between her mother‘s appalling self–sacrifice and the bitterness of her aunt who can avenge but not forgive. Only by freeing herself from the past will Hang be able to find dignity –– and a future.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0060505591
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0060505592
  3. Publication date
    3 October 2002
  4. Language
    English
  5. Dimensions
    13.49 x 1.55 x 20.32 cm
  6. Print length
    272 pages
  7. See all details
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Product description

About the Author

Duong Thu Huong is one of Vietnam's most popular writers. She was born in 1947, and at twenty volunteered to lead a Communist Youth Brigade sent to the front during the Vietnam War. During Chinas's 1979 attack on Vietnam, she also became the first woman combatant present on the front lines to chronicle the conflict. A vocal advocate of human rights and democratic political reform, Duong Thu Huong was expelled from the Vietnamese Communist party in 1989 and was imprisoned without trial in 1991 for her political beliefs. Paradise of the Blind is her fourth novel and her fourth novel to be effectively banned by the Vietnamese government. She is also the author of Novel Without a Name, which was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Duong Thu Huong is not allowed to leave Vietnam. She lives and writes in Hanoi.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins US (3 October 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060505591
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060505592
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.49 x 1.55 x 20.32 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 118

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Thu Hương Dương

Thu Hương Dương

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LadyG'Diver
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 September 2017
Verified Purchase
Beautiful novel which has been well translated. Very evocative of scenery and food and the characters come to life wonderfully.
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Cliente de Amazon
4.0 out of 5 stars I recommend this book for those who want to know about Vietnam history from vietnamese perspective
Reviewed in Mexico on 21 December 2016
Verified Purchase
I like this book because it narrates not well known details of the daily life of the people from Vietnam. And it does not focus in the North American-Vietnam war.
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Debora Montagna
5.0 out of 5 stars Viet Nam
Reviewed in Italy on 10 February 2017
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Splendido,
epico,
letto come preparazione ad un viaggio in Viet Nam, dal nord a sud: consigliatissimo, soprattutto se letto in lingua inglese
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David Young
5.0 out of 5 stars sad and insightful
Reviewed in Canada on 14 June 2016
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Essential reading to anyone who wants to understand the north Viet Nam experience. Well written, sad and insightful.
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Dan Cragg
5.0 out of 5 stars A Chess Game With Heaven
Reviewed in the United States on 6 July 2010
Verified Purchase
Just the very title of this book must have troubled the Hanoi politburo hacks but the way PARADISE OF THE BLIND ends frightened them so profoundly they banned it and put its author in jail.

Reading Duong Thu Huong's lyrical novel about life in post-war Vietnam I am reminded of a line from Nguyen Du's classic narrative poem, THE TALE OF KIEU, particularly Kieu's song, "Cruel Fate," which mourns "all women in soul-rending strains." I am also reminded of the resiliency of Vietnamese women, of all women in general, especially those who come from Confucian societies. Well, Duong has taken a leaf from the great poet with PARADISE OF THE BLIND.

Although PARADISE is translated into colloquial modern English (kudos to Phan Huy Duong and Nina McPherson for this), a radical departure from the classic six-eight verse of Nguyen Du, still, the descriptive power of Duong's prose comes through with the "indestructible purity of a countryside at peace" even when she's describing "purple flowers radiant in the middle of the filth...the purest balm and the most overpowering poison of my existence." The metaphor of flowers for people, the yin and yang, the balance of life, conjures a powerful image that is often found in Vietnamese literature and Hang, Duong's heroine and the narrator of this tale, is one of the most compelling of those "flowers." We follow her through this story as she tries to find the balance of her own life. Note that often in Vietnamese literature that balance is only found at great cost to the seeker which Duong reflects on in Chapter Eight, when she writes, "Separation, this ancient pain, perhaps the greatest of all human sadnesses."

Food is another metaphor Duong uses skillfully. Food is the element that connects all the characters in this story, from the middle-aged Russian man on a train to Moscow who gives Hang a piece of fruit, to elaborate banquets hosted by Aunt Tam, Hang's patron and mentor, to the simple fare of Hang's poor, widowed mother.

And over all hangs the oppressive pall of socialist bureaucracy. To us Duong's criticisms sound much less vitriolic than our own so we may be surprised they landed her in jail. But remember, communists have little sense of humor. Remember the "Beggar's Opera," that line that goes, "When you censure the age be cautious and sage lest the courtiers offended should be. If you mention vice or bribe, tis so pat to all the tribe, each cries `That was leveled at me!'" Well, look for Aunt Tam's putdown of her village vice president in Chapter Nine, indisputably an all-time classic. And don't be surprised to find out that Vietnamese people can be very "earthy" when the occasion calls for it.

The reader should bear in mind that Confucianism, with its emphasis on obedience to hierarchy, is much more compatible with Communism than the Western idea of democracy that emphasizes individual choice and action. To us it may not seem an epiphany when Hang decides, against her aunt's dying wish, to sell their home with its altar to their ancestors, and hit out on her own. But by that decision to leave the past where it is Hang not only rebels against the Confucian system but the Communist system as well. No wonder Hanoi doesn't want ideas like this to spread among the Vietnamese people!
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