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Title: The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood by Kien Nguyen ISBN: 0-316-28461-0 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 08 April, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.73 (44 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The best book I've read all year -- a must read for all!
Comment: It's very hard to believe that this incredibly riveting book was written by a dentist in New York, as therapy for his bad dreams about his childhood as an Amerasian growing up during the Vietnam War . . . What can I say about this true story? From page 1, it's mesmerizing. His writing is spare, yet beautifully descriptive. He walks us through incredible scenes of his childhood in a way that makes us believe that we are really there, seeing the war through his child's eyes. I'm buying copies of this book to give to my friends, relatives, and colleagues. I stayed up all night to read this book, and I cried.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Moving, Haunting, Disturbing, but Worthy Read
Comment: Once in awhile, a really good book that comes along to haunt me for days. This is the case with Kien Nguyen's memoir "The Unwanted." The book is very sad, dark, and disturbing from beginning to end. The only thing that prevents me from falling into an abyss of despair is a glimmer of hope in the final chapter of the book when his family was boarding an airplane to leave Vietnam. It is not an easy read. But it is a worthy read; it is one of the best books I have read about Vietnam. His book reminds me of Jung Chang's monumental work "The Wild Swans" and Nien Cheng's haunting memoir "Life and Death in Shanghai." It reminds me of an extraordinarily well-written and moving article on the Wall Street Journal published in 1999 to mark the 20 years anniversary of the fall of Pol Pot in Cambodia... The book also reminds me of my own experience last year walking through the prison cells and death chambers at the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp which was left intact as it was at the end of WWII... As I was standing there, I had flashbacks of my own experience in a Communist prison. All of these experiences force me think about the meanings of Fascism, Communism, human mistreatment, and human dignity. Kien Nguyen's memoir also reminds me of my own best friends in first grade - Amerasian twin brothers... Kien Nguyen's book has provided me an answer. Having been jailed at a prison in Kien Nguyen's hometown and having left Vietnam through the ODP program, I was particularly impressed with his accurate descriptions of the prison, the building, the people, and the troubles one had to go through in order to leave Vietnam. I have a great admiration for Kien who has the courage to write this book that really captures the essence of life in Vietnam during those years. His book is an excellent that will keep you awake at night turning the pages. I like it so much that I order one copy for my home library so in case later my children ask me about Vietnam... "The Unwanted" gets five stars and "Two Thumbs Up" recommendation from me!!!
Rating: 5
Summary: Beyond description!
Comment: This is one of the most amazing memoirs that I have ever had the pleasure to read. I was touched by each obstacle that came in Kien's way and experienced feelings I rarely feel when reading a book. I devoured it in 4 days and it left me wanting more. It provoked thoughts in me that would have never entered my mind while continually reminding me how strong the human will can be. One of my favorite things about reading this book was they way Kien writes objectively, giving you possible other points of view of actions happening to and around him. He helps you, the reader, to consider other ways of interpreting the events, reminding you of how far he has come from those events.
I will recommend this to everyone I know!
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Title: The Tapestries: A Novel by Kien Nguyen ISBN: 0316735604 Publisher: Back Bay Books Pub. Date: 15 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family by Duong Van Mai Elliott ISBN: 0195137876 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: The Gangster We Are All Looking for by Le Thi Diem Thuy ISBN: 0375400184 Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Catfish and Mandala: A 2 Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham ISBN: 0312267177 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The House on Dream Street : Memoir of an American Woman in Vietnam by Dana Sachs ISBN: 1565122917 Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Pub. Date: 08 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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