The Colors of April, edited by Quan Manh Ha and Cab Tran; Fiction on the Vietnam War’s Legacy 50 Years Later; Multiple Authors
This book is comprised of 28 short stories. Each of the stories touched a different part of my heart and mind, as it most surely did the same for each of the authors putting pen to paper for this book. They are all Vietnamese authors currently residing in Vietnam. Their writing represents the feelings, experiences and effects of the war upon all those who were involved, regardless of which side they were on or whether or not they remained or escaped.
It was hard to read, and it took me a very long time because, as an American, I had many conflicting thoughts and feelings. Why were we there? What did we accomplish? Was it positive for the people of Vietnam? Were they better off before or afterwards? How do they feel now? Did those who escaped yearn to return? Could they recapture their past? Are they still the enemy? This book tells that story.
All of the stories felt like they hearkened back to the days before the war, when life was simpler. To me, as I experienced the writing, their skies seemed bluer, their sun seemed brighter, their landscape seemed more beautiful and the people seemed gentler and kinder, but who was at fault for all of the perceived changes? Who was the real enemy? Was everyone involved merely furthering their own interests. Each author, regardless of the subject, whether it was about orphans, sexual exploitation, boat people, politics, tourism, etc., seemed to be yearning to return to a way of life that is now and forever out of reach. Time and circumstances have moved on.
I believe this is a very important book for everyone to read, but especially students learning about the history of America and Vietnam during the more than two decades of the war. Perhaps with knowledge, it will be possible to stop the fighting; perhaps when all is said and done, we will realize that we do not have to be enemies, that we can put down our weapons and work together. Do you think that is a real possibility? For me, that was the message of “Echoes”, by Van Xuong. My favorite story, however, was “A Vietnamese Arriere-Boutique, by Kevin D. Pham, because it seemed to emphasize the ability to go back in time, to rethink about what was, to change our mind about what will be, to review the circumstances then and now, to try and understand what was wrong and what was right, what was lost, what was found, what was freely given up, and what can never be restored. It seemed to acknowledge the ability to deal with the heartache, the shame, the guilt, the ignorance, the misinterpretations and misunderstandings that everyone had, and still has to face so long as there was the willingness to do so. I felt as if the message of this short story was that we could overcome the obstacles to rethinking about everything that happened, the causes and effects, and then learn we could learn from it and move forward, but we would have to have the right to think freely. By retreating into the privacy of our own minds we could find that place to think freely, without the rear of judgment or ridicule, punishment or rejection. In the locked room of our minds, no one can interrupt or contradict our right to think about what happened and we can decide to change our minds about the decisions and choices that were made.
Having lived through this era, the book really reached me. The horrors of that war, the loss and the protests were front and center of my young life. Americans did not want to go there and fight in a war that was not ours, under circumstances we could not control, in a place with which we had no experience, with a kind of warfare we didn’t understand. Drug addiction, wanton death, rampant mental illness and so much misery were the byproducts for so many on all sides.
Although this book is not really about the Vietnamese people who escaped to America and elsewhere, who may or may not be happy, it really made me rethink even more about the terrible loss of life and lifestyle for those who were in Vietnam and experienced the war, firsthand, the soldiers, the citizens, the enemies and the allies. In the end, I felt as if a happy people were forced to be unhappy because some people resented their happiness or wanted it for themselves. Everyone’s lives were altered and ruined in some way. Was it simply jealousy and greed that motivated so much hardship, destruction and death?