THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN: Post-War Fiction by Vietnamese and American Writers

by Wayne; Le Minh Khue & Truong Vu--Eds. Karlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 1995

A superb collection by American and Vietnamese veterans of the Vietnam War--what they called the American War: 39 stories that deal with survival--wartime and every day thereafter, when one must survive not merely bullets and mines, but depression, alcoholism, failed marriages, and continual fear. Karlin, a novelist (Us, 1993, etc.) and coeditor of a 1973 collection of fiction by Vietnam veterans, Free Fire Zone, writes that ""the best way to read the anthology is straight through, as you would a novel."" As such, the narrative alternates between the American point of view, in reprinted pieces by Thom Jones, Tim O'Brien, and others, and the Vietnamese side, in stories by well-known Vietnamese authors, many of whom appear for the first time in English translation. In the end, both sides of the tragedy are admirably conveyed. ""There was a time we would have killed each other,"" writes George Evans in a prose poem woven throughout the volume. Now, writing together, former enemies begin to heal old wounds.

Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1995

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 393

Publisher: Curbstone

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995

Categories: FICTION