Books- recommended reading

Books pertaining to Food and Cooking, Art, Religion, History, Culture Shock and Dos and Don’ts are in their respective file.

Many publishers print books specific to their field: i.e. the Army Publishers have books about the army. They have small print runs. If you have a special interest it may be useful to check their print shops. There are usually book shops near the printer which sell their wares. Often different ministries print materials pertaining to their field. Check their websites also.

 AMERICAN WAR

About Face
David Hackworth & Julie Sherman (1989)

Born on the Fourth of July
Ron Kovic (1976)

Dispatches
Michael Herr (1977)
A chilling account of a journalist in the south

Fire in the Lake
The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam
Frances FitzGerald (1972)

The Pentagon Papers
The Defense Department History
of United States Decisionmaking on Vietnam (1971)

Sideshow
Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia
William Shawcross (1979)

A Bright Shining Lie
Sheehan, Neil
Picador Pan Books, 1990

A Vietcong Memoir
Truong Nhu Tang
Vintage Books, 1986

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places
(books 1 and 2)
Hayslip Le Ly
Pan Books, 1994

The Sorrow of War
Bao Ninh
(1991) Vintage, 1998

www.vietnamlit.org Vietnamese writers bios and introduction of new books 

FICTION

Going After Cacciato
Tim O’Brien (1978)

A Rumor of War
Philip Caputo (1977)

The Things They Carried
Tim O’Brien (1990)

Light of the Capital (The)
Lockhart, Greg and Monique
Three Modern Vietnamese Classics
Oxford In Asia 1996

To Swim in our Own Pond, Ta Ve Ta Tam Ao Ta
Tran, Ngoc Dung
Shen’s Books, 1998

Two Cakes Fit for a King
Nguyen Nguyet Cam and Dana Sachs: editors

Hanoi Adieu
Perkins, Mandaley
Harper Collins, 2005
Written from the diaries of a French colonial soldier.

The Sacred Willow
Four generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family
Elliot, Duong Van Mai
Oxford University Press, 1999

Against the Flood
The Ma Van Khanh
Curbstone Press, 2000

Crossing the River
Nguyen Huy Thiep and Dana Sachs (editor)

Daughters of the River Huong
Uyen Nicole Duong

The General Retires and Other Stories
Nguyen Huy Thiep
Oxford University Press, 1993

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Butler, Robert Olen
The Vietnamese-American view

Lover
Duras, Marguerite
(1984) Pantheon, 1998

Paradise of the Blind
Duong Thu Huong

The Quiet American
Greene, Graham
(1955)  Penguin, 1991

The Red Mist
Ho Anh Thai, translated by Nguyen Quy Duc and Wayne Karlin
VK Van Hoa 2004

Spring Essence
Ho Xuan Huong, John Balaban

The Sorrow of War
Bao Ninh
(1991) Vintage, 1998

The Stars, the Earth, the River
(short stories)
Le Minh Khue
Curbstone Press, 1997

The Stone Boy and Other Stories
Thich Nhat Hanh

Tale of Kieu
Nguyen Du
The most famous novel in Vietnam

Through Viet Nam’s Eyes
Van Minh
VN News Agency, 2000 collection of stories