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On Fri, Jul 23, 2021 at 1:25 PM David Biggs <biggsbiggs@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear VSG-
Happy summer! I wonder if any of you have favorite authors describing such "noir" topics as crime, urban decay, environmental pollution and vice? Haydon Cherry's Down and Out in Saigon is a very welcome addition to the anglophone scholarly literature on noirish topics in the "thanh pho," and very adoring shout outs to VSG stalwart books like Kimberly Kay Hoang's Dealing with Desire, Erik Harms' Saigon's Edge (still enjoying my Pham Ngu Lao backpacker edition), Anne Marie Leshkowich's Essential Trade (re traders of Ben Thanh market) and Hue Tam Ho-Tai's truly "noir" history with a murder (!): Passion, Betrayal, and Revolution in Colonial Saigon.
I know there are many more, but I would especially love to tap the VSG collective hive-mind for references to other literatures/essays/films - Vietnamese, Francophone, Chinese, Russian, the wide-ranging variety of out of print books from the 1960s-70s, books by writers in the Vietnamese diaspora, and works of fiction and journalism. I am interested in Vietnamese-language works, post-colonial, post-75, writing on Chinese communities, and I'm professionally interested in sewers, canals, swamps and sinking waterfronts.
Hoping for a fun thread and good summer reading to "travel" to Saigon, also heartfelt wishes for friends everywhere but especially in HCMC to stay well and safe,
David
--
David Biggs
Professor of History
Department of History, UC Riverside
900 University Avenue
Riverside CA 92521
USA
pronouns: he/him/his
From: Vsg <vsg-bounces@mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Hiep Duc
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2021 11:43 PM
To: David Biggs <biggsbiggs@gmail.com>; vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] HCMC/Saigon/Cholon noir? Readings on the megacity's dark spaces
Hi David,
You may find Binh Nguyen Loc “Những bước lang thang”, a collection of reminiscences of Saigon in the 1950 and 1960s, especially areas of Bến Nghé, Ông Lãnh, Xóm Củi.. canals interesting. The style is similar to Pham Cong Luan reminiscence in his recent books you mentioned. But Binh Nguyen Loc realist description of many areas of Saigon is sometimes macabre, confrontational mixed with good old days feelings.
Hiep
On Jul 24, 2021, at 6:12 PM, Hue-Tam Tai <hhtai@fas.harvard.edu> wrote:
You might consider including Claire Edington's Beyond the Asylum and Allison Truitt's Dreaming of Money. Leon Le's film Song Lang is set in the underworld of pawnbrokers and their enforcers.
Hue-Tam
On Sat, Jul 24, 2021 at 4:56 PM vanluong@chass.utoronto.ca <vanluong@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Hi David,
1. Cù Mai Công's 4 volumes "Sài Gòn by Night" deserve to be on the list,
as they are about the darker sides of the city at night. The author is a
Tuổi Trẻ reporter.
Cù Mai Công has recently published a book on "Ông Tạ" area (Sài Gòn
một thời;: "Dân Ông Tạ đó"), where he has lived
for a long time. I have not been able to get hold of it due to the
pandemic, and I do not know whether it also deals with the darker sides of
Saigon. But it is well received in the media.
2. Phạm Công Luận has published 5 volumes on Saigon.
3. There is also a book on Chợ Lớn, Nguyễn Đình's
"Chuyện nhỏ ở Chợ Lớn". However, it does not
deal with the darker sides of Chợ Lớn.
4. Nguyễn Đức Hiệp's Sài Gòn Chợ Lớn’:
Đời sống xã hội và chính trị qua tư liệu báo chí (1925-1945) has a chapter on tệ nạn xã hội, as well as on the trial on the "rue Barbier" case.
Hy
Hy Luong
University of Toronto
From: Vsg <vsg-bounces@mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Oscar Salemink
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2021 12:17 PM
To: vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] HCMC/Saigon/Cholon noir? Readings on the megacity's dark spaces
Hi David,
You don’t want to overlook Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, or (in French) Marguerite Duras’s L’amant (The Lover).
All best,
Oscar Salemink
Professor
University of Copenhagen
Department of Anthropology
Øster Farimagsgade 5, Entrance E, office 16.0.24
1353 Copenhagen K
Denmark
From: Vsg <vsg-bounces@mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Jack Sidnell
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2021 4:20 PM
To: vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] HCMC/Saigon/Cholon noir? Readings on the megacity's dark spaces
Another film that fits the bill is Trần Thanh Huy’s Ròm from 2019.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B2m
Jack Sidnell
U. Toronto
From: Vsg <vsg-bounces@mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Stephen Gosch
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2021 1:12 PM
To: Small, Ivan (Anthropology) <ivansmall@ccsu.edu>
Cc: vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] HCMC/Saigon/Cholon noir? Readings on the megacity's dark spaces
Hello Friends,
Marguerite Duras's The Sea Wall (1950) is a fictionalized account of her mother's failed attempt to turn back the waters of the Gulf of Thailand in order to grow rice near the shore. Set in the 1920s. Interesting on many other "noir" issues, as well.
Regards,
Stephen S. Gosch
From: Vsg <vsg-bounces@mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of frank.proschan@yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2021 3:27 PM
To: 'David Biggs' <biggsbiggs@gmail.com>; 'vsg' <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] HCMC/Saigon/Cholon noir? Readings on the megacity's dark spaces
Marnais, Philip. 1967. Saigon after dark. New York: MacFadden-Bartell Book.
(one of a series from MacFadden-Bartell: https://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/keyword/Philip+Marnais.html
From: Vsg <vsg-bounces@mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of David Biggs
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2021 10:24 AM
To: vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] HCMC/Saigon/Cholon noir? Readings on the megacity's dark spaces
As a post-script, thanks to those who have already written to me and a note to say to any who have suggestions about good "thanh pho" reads, in a week or so I will compile what I have gathered into a post for the list. For ex., one new find that I am especially excited to read on "thanh pho" stories is a 3-volume work by Phạm Công Luận. https://tuoitre.vn/pham-cong-luan-toi-viet-de-sau-nay-con-toi-doc-ve-sai-gon-1040965.htm.
Best,
David
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