Publishers Weekly's Review of "The Diary"

"Quang X.Pham" <quang@qxpham.com>

date Jun 1, 2007 6:32 AM

subject [Vsg] Publishers Weekly's Review of "The Diary"

Since March 2005, when the last Vietnam Center's Triennial Conference was held in Lubbock, I have heard so much about the"Vietnamese Anne Frank" diary. I had missed the Whitehurst brothers at TTU since their presentation took place on the last dayof that conference as I was heading to the airport.

Here's the first review of the English version of the diary by the late Viet Cong doctor as translated by a reeducated South Vietnamese man and his bestselling Viet kieu author son, and introduced by a Pulitzer Prize-winning antiwar journalist. It's thefifth review down and has been posted on Amazon and elsewhere. I am sure there will be more glowing reviews than this one.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6446279.html?nid=3336

Nguyen Qui Duc <DNguyen@kqed.org>

date Jun 1, 2007 11:45 AM

subject RE: [Vsg] Publishers Weekly's Review of "The Diary"

Thanks, Quang, for forwarding this.

Serendipity: tonight I had dinner Tuoi Tre journalist Truong Uyen Ly - who worked hard to find the South Vietnamese soldier and translator, Nguyen Trung Hieu, who convinced Frederic Whitehurst to hang on to the diary. She talked to him over thephone for a year, and went to Calfornia to meet him even when he warned her about a possible bad reception from the local Viet Kieu community. After her trip to various parts of the U.S. and her earlier report trips in Quang Ngai, she put together a book of Whitehurst writing and letters in translation, along with her reports and essays as a young Vietnamese from the north who wanted to learn more about the war. The book also included articles by members of both the Whitehurst and Dang families, providing biographical details as well as perspective on their susbequent meetings .

I was just given the book tonight so of course I can't say anything about it, but I was happy to meet a young journalist who talked passionately about her craft and her profession, aware and frank about of the conditions and limitations of the media in Viet Nam, and also quite willing to learn about the Viet Kieu community. Truong Uyen Ly also reported from Lebanon and Iraq for Tuoi Tre.

Here's an interview with her: http://www.dantri.com.vn/nhipsongtre/2006/6/124274.vip

It is called "Bi Mat Cuoc Doi Nguoi My Lam "Song Lai" Dang Thuy Tram va Cuoc Di Tim Nguyen Trung Hieu tren dat My" (by) Frederic Whitehurst & "a group of authors" (nhom tac gia).

The one I have is a second printing, 2006, from Cong ty Van hoa Truyen Thong Vo Thi, and Nha Xuat Ban Van Hoa Dan Toc.

Nguyen Q Duc

Ha Noi

Wynn William Wilcox <wilcoxww@potsdam.edu>

date Jun 1, 2007 1:14 PM

subject Re: [Vsg] Publishers Weekly's Review of "The Diary"

Dear All,

Publisher's weekly says the following about the diary:

"Unfortunately, the writing, composed largely of breathless questions and

exclamations, is monotonous at times, somewhat diminishing the book's

power."

I can't help but comment that this critique seems way off base to me. I

could imagine potentially valid criticisms of the book, but none miss the

mark as completely as calling it "monotonous." I can think of few things

that are further away from boring than Dang Thuy Tram's diary. Even just

for consistency's sake, I have a hard time understanding how lots of

quotations or exclamations make a work monotonous.

Moreover, it seems odd or ironic to fault a woman who was caring for ill

patients while escaping enemy fire for writing a dull diary.

I just found this review amusing.

All the best,

Wynn

Hue-Tam Ho Tai <hhtai@fas.harvard.edu>

date Jun 1, 2007 1:24 PM

subject Re: [Vsg] Publishers Weekly's Review of "The Diary"

Yes, I absolutely echo Wynn here. The great thing about Dang Thuy Tram's diary is that it was not written for someone else, let alone the American market. It is a diary, not a work of fiction. Samuel Pepys has his own longueurs, too! Here is an exclamation point.

"Hoang t. Dieu-Hien" <dieuhien@u.washington.edu>

date Jun 2, 2007 9:19 AM

subject Re: [Vsg] Publishers Weekly's Review of "The Diary"

I have not read the translation so cannot comment on its language use. However, to criticize the language of the diary as thePublishers Weekly did would be equivalent to saying that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is so filled with improper English as to "diminishing the book's power."

The one big difference, of course, is that Huckleberry Finn is a novel written for an audience.

Hien

Return to top of page