A review by swilliamsj
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

4.0

I would argue this is the Vietnamese "Beloved" and as a Vietnamese-American it brought so many emotions as I took my time (almost a month) to read through this heavy narrative. I appreciate the focus on a North Vietnamese family, specifically the back and forth narration between Trần Diệu Lan and Hương. The relationships between Vietnamese mothers and their children was handled with so much love and care I was reminded of my own mother and grandmother's experiences growing up and eventually choosing to leave Vietnam. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai weaves nearly 30 years worth of history which is an impressive feat and highly appreciated as I learned a lot about the lives of Vietnamese civilians during French colonization and Japanese occupation. Where the book falls a little flat for me is its messaging around communism and imperialism. I'm not too frustrated with the lack of space given to adressing anything about the American violence because honestly I've heard enough and I think a Vietnamese story can stand on its own without giving to much agency and pages to extrapolating American harm and violence (Hollywood has already done that). However, I do think the portrayals of some pro-communist characters or communist supporters in the novel were a bit flat, lazy, and with a tone of not being "in the right" compared to the centrist characters within the novel. It allows for nuance yes, but tries to "both sides" the issue of the Vietnam War which personally and politically I do not agree with. Still, this was a wonderful story to read about a family grappling with the effects and aftermath of war and reconciliation while seeking strength and hope from the women (and men) around them.