Written by A.C.
Picture Below: Author with Book
Information:
Author: Viet Thanh Nguyen/ Genre: Fiction/ Published: February 7, 2017
Summary (contains spoilers):
Pacific waves crash against weakly pinned plaster boards, corroding the lettering paint. This is the beginning of the end, a voyage across borders only to encounter stricter barriers, all to reach a land of opportunity. They say the ocean reflects hope, yet it only carries insurmountable lives, some coping with lost ghosts, some yearning to achieve the unachievable, and some learning to embrace youthful dreams. Across the tragedy, is a generational loss of culture, New Saigon, is too “new” to ever be Vietnam and too “Saigon” ever to satiate America. The children of New Saigon are either too foreign or too familiar. Each facet draws water from the Pacific Ocean, where the East sun rises to the humid, warm climate of Vietnam and where the West sun welcomes cool mist mornings in California. Each washed fresh cotton shirt and discolored polyester blouse drys in the sun, seeking warm refuge.
English words line the bold and red colors across white and blue posters listed on window sills and various centers. They teach words such as “fish sauce, myths, and supreme,” words that do not exist in the Vietnamese dictionary. Gradually, the ghosts that have traveled oceans to arrive in America opt for checkered flannels and Levi jeans instead of sewed silk fabrics. Skyscrapers, corporate buildings, and rushing taxis replace the churning wind of bicycles whooshing by and the familiar smog of motorcycles. Then, smelling the salty breeze of the ocean is a distant memory from the wooden peer and wet clothes dry with the scent of fabric softener and not of overused hose water. Eating frozen lasagna and processed cheese is what they call the American Dream, longing for the life before, but living the life after. The land of opportunity brought the green card that made the refugees, citizens, but not quite American.
While struggling to reach the cusp of assimilation, the boat that delivered the future of Vietnam to America did not leave the west coast harbor. Gently rocking on the soft waves of the beach, waiting for the passengers who achieved dream after dream to come back to the motherland to return to the life that was left behind. To leave a refugee status for full citizenship listed as Vietnamese. This time the voyage back is on a plane and not by boat, this time crossing borders is not determined by waning hopes and dreams, this time leaving a country meant filing for the last plane ticket because refuge has been found.
How the Book Relates to the Modern World:
Viet Thanh Nguyen contextualizes the coping mechanisms, struggles, and identity crises of Vietnamese refugees. Through his reflection on refugees navigating the nuances of security, opportunity, and guilt, Nguyen demonstrates the truly complex lives of refugees and asylum seekers. His powerful novel is one of many that represent the complexity of immigrants and modern warfare displacement today. When so much of today’s humanity lies within the understanding of what “refugee” and “displaced” truly mean, Nguyen’s beautiful novel resonates to expose a more candid photo of human struggle.
Why the Book should be Read in Schools:
Nguen distracts his audience away from the white saviorism that dilutes the cultural barrier each character within each short story encounters. Through, The Refugees, Viet Thanh Nguyen exposes depth in typical immigrant stories, a meaning in these stories that portray refugees, that educate on not only Vietnamese history but also empathy. Each short story encounters a new nuance, a new perspective on what has been made into one-dimensional lives. Without exaggerating or underrepresenting immigrant struggles, Nguyen is able to convey immensely resonating passages about refugees. His literature will not only enrich classrooms with literature that extends beyond typical grammatical sentences, but it will also enrapture students into the truly multifaceted maze of refugees.
Rating:
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen embraces topics of sorrow and loss with a beautiful deliverance of literature that will bring tears and amazement.
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