The Mountains Sing

When I first immerse into a book I am no longer I, but ego dissolves away into an eye, absorbed completely into the world of the story, remerging at the end with that snap of the spiritual umbilicus. I use birth imagery here in part because the emotions seem to be akin in a way; the joy that comes of an intensely immersive book whelms that painful separation and summary reintroduction of the I.

The Mountains Sing is just such an immersive book.

Covering four generations, weaving back and forth from the 1930s to the now, The Mountains Sing is a deeply felt, authentic immersion in the lives of ordinary people whose existence has been marked by invasion, occupation, and political upheaval.

Quế Mai employs two narrators, grandmother and granddaughter, and setpieces during specific events in North Vietnam during the middle decades of the twentieth century. The first protagonist is grandmother Trấn Diệu Lan, born in 1920 into a well-to-do farming family of several generations’ standing. The second narrative voice is granddaughter Hủỏng, roughly my own age, growing up during the period of the Vietnam-American War.

Quế Mai states in material accompanying the advanced reading copy that this novel was her attempt to respond to Hollywood movies and novels written by Westerners “who continue to see her country only as a place of war and Vietnamese people as mostly silent extras who, when they do speak, appear simple, naïve, cruel, or opportunistic.”

While she set aside her childhood dreams of being a writer for a long time, in order to earn a living and support her family, Quế Mai found the writer within “always listened to other people in secret, asked what they had gone through and memorized their stories. In my teenage years, I began to travel to the villages of my parents to talk to the elderly, to be able to imagine how life had been for my grandparents, who had either died or been killed. Gradually, thanks to my understanding of Việt Nam’s painful past, my parents and their friends started to share with me the events of their lives. Unknown to me, I was carrying out my real-life research for THE MOUNTAINS SING.”

Quế Mai employs her considerable skill as a poet to throw down the boundaries between past and present, between this world and that. Reading this novel now, as the world shares the uncertainty of the developing pandemic, was a deeply unsettling reminder of just how fragile our infrastructures are. She evokes, with sensory brilliance, life in the northern part of Vietnam before war, and then the new and horrible realities as a result of the social contract being utterly eviscerated.

The unusual structure, the fascinating shifts in mood, the vivid detail given to every character no matter how briefly seen, draw the reader directly into experience, much of it horrific, as a family is torn apart (Hủỏng’s father a soldier, her mother a doctor, one uncle vanished, another killed in the Land Reform period in the mid 1950s, ten years before the ruptures of China’s Cultural Revolution) and then, painfully, slowly, reknits itself.

There is plenty of violence, but the focus is not “war novel.” It’s the story of a family, synecdoche for a nation as it tears itself apart and then works to reweave itself. Quế Mai does not mire the reader in unending misery, though horror is present—the warm colors of the cover are a disturbing reminder of Agent Orange, whose effects are viscerally presented in these pages. She also takes the time to evoke the beauty of the countryside, the simple details of everyday life, the proverbs passed down the generations that enrich life.

Fiction can go places that a history or a biography cannot: the author presents the worst of human behavior, but also its best in demonstrating empathy, kindness, hope, and even forgiveness, told in fluid, vivid prose with passion and the resonance of verisimilitude.

This is one of those books that makes me think of Vergil when he said: Non canimus surdis, respondent omnia silvae, or Not to deaf ears I sing, for the woods echo my singing.

Especially these uneasy days, let us read—talk—celebrate the best of the human spirit striving against the worst of its sins, and come away from this novel resolving not to go there again.

Having grown up during the Vietnam war, I knew little of the history of this country, only seeing the north Vietnamese as the enemy. This beautifully written, multi-generational novel opened my eyes. Que Mai’s beautifully written words grabbed me from the first page and never let go. In dual timeline, through the grandmother’s story and her granddaughter’s, I was brought in to the history of Vietnam, rife with horror, and to this family and how they dealt with unfathomable adversities with grace and love, from WWII through the Vietnam War and beyond. A book not to be missed

I literally went from 3.5 stars to 4 stars in 2.50 minutes. the ending really made justice to the main characters is like at the end of the book everything was redeemed and I have to say I’m so happy about it because I was ready to go on a rampage and not because the story or the book was not good, it was more because the whole book, chapter after chapter the feeling of sadness was very constant, there was no kindness, no love the whole story was very harsh for me because it felt like at that time no one really cares about anyone, it was hurt, pain and sadness at all times.

The Mountains Sing is the story of two generations gran mother and grandaughter Guava and Tran Dieu Lan, both narrating the atrocities they live during the war in Vietnam in different times of their lives and different situations but both really very similar as the damage this war caused was terrible.

While I was reading this book, I kept wondering why the evilness, why the atrocities, why, why, why, but I always ask the same questions whenever a read a book that has Asian characters or goes into depth about Asian History. I know it’s a different culture and a different history but I always find the sadness and the lack of love are very present in these books. The Mountain Sing was not the exception I was very angry at all times, because no matter how much I wanted to see even a little kindness there was none of it, even at 90% we still have that depression permeating around the characters. I wanted to see Guava happy she deserves it and I was still fighting with the book in the last couple of minutes.

What I really like about this story was the strength of these women, they really show how strong they were, and I have to say more than any hero, or any man, these women were fierceness and endure so much pain and terrible situations during their life, they lost many things, their life, their freedom, their family, home and properties they practically were left in the street by the terrible people who were blinded by rage and didn’t stop thinking about the kindness and empathy this family had shown time and time again to their employees.

Injustice, a lot of unnecessary deaths, laws, and reforms that really broke the self-esteem in the entire population, this really made my heartbreak. we don’t live in a perfect world and many stories of our world history are terrible but again the end really made justice. These two amazing women were doing and preaching at all times their kindness and love no matter what and that’s what really made me felt in love at the end with the book. what Tran Dieu Lan did was shocking and the most honorable thing a person can do with so much love and kindness.

Overall it was a good painful read, too much sadness, and too real for my taste but as I said I’m glad the author gave us a kinder ending. I know real life can be thought but we can also find miracles and magic and that’s what we need to keep spreading to remember our true nature.

The story shows a country, torn apart after decades of war through showing feelings of family, justice and the reality of war.

A brilliant, eye-opening story of the Vietnam War from the perspective of the Vietnamese. I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t really know my history, but of course I learned about this particular war in school through the lens of how it effected Americans. A fascinating and often heartbreaking account of how war effects people, shapes a country, and has ripple effects through time. Very inspiring as well, because despite the difficulty faced by the family at the center of the story, they always overcame their troubles, used them to become stronger people, and flourished.

This is a book to be experienced. The words come together like an epic poem telling a remarkable story of loyalty to family, country, and history. It’s a multi-generational story of hardship and triumph over almost insurmountable odds. A grandmother’s tale of ultimate sacrifices in order to ensure the survival of her family. A granddaughter who struggles to understand why her mother is as she is. I listened to the audiobook with rapt attention, read by Quyen Ngo in a most lyrical voice, as I easily envisioned the setting, the voices, and the emotion as she told me the story of a broken Viet Nam. And as an American, I realized for the first time how hard it must have been for the other side of that war, the part we really don’t think about when we sit and read the news stories that may not tell the whole story. I felt for the regular, law-abiding citizens who just wanted to live their lives but watched as many other countries vied for a piece of their homeland. Sometimes they turned against each other in their quest to survive. This book was an eye-opener for me. But despite sometimes being hard to read, I loved this book so much that not only have I bought the audiobook, I will be getting the print version as well just so that I can see the words on the page. This is one of those once-in-a- lifetime books that you want to remember, that pull you in with the beauty of the phrases, then completely immerses you with the cadence of the story. I can’t recommend this book enough, and it has taken it’s place in my heart as one of my all-time favorite books.

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is a very poignant family saga. The writing is rich with details of a land and culture that I know so little about. My brother was there in the early 70s and never would share about what he saw. War changes people, land, and country. I listened to this on audio and it is beautifully performed. #FiveStar #mustread #family #mustlisten #Beautifullywritten

I first came across Nguyen Phan Que Mai when she hosted The American Historical Fiction Facebook Club for a week to introduce The Mountains Sing, her first novel written in English. Administrator Kari Bovee interviewed Nguyen.
” I researched for this novel my whole life: first by listening to the elderly Vietnamese people. A lot of Vietnamese history is untold (due to censorship reasons) and I wanted to document it. I spent a lot of time at my parents’ villages talking to people about their personal experiences. I interviewed countless people who fought on different sides of the war. I grounded my research through reading fiction and non-fiction books, watching movies and documentaries as well as visiting museums, libraries, special document archives…”~Nguyen Phan Que Mai
I was quite charmed by Nguyen and I ordered her novel from Algonquin Books.

Through her fictional family, the author takes us into the history of Vietnam across the 20th c. Tragic and heartbreaking losses pile one upon another. At the heart of the story is a woman of infinite courage and resilience who, against all odds, gathers her scattered family home.

“The challenges faced by Vietnamese people throughout history are as tall as the tallest mountain…” Grandma tells her granddaughter Huong. “The war might destroy our houses, but it can’t extinguish our spirit.”

Grandma is an educated, progressive thinker who is horrified by the extremists and their propaganda. Born to an enlightened land-owning family, under Land Reform she and her children flee for their lives. On the road, Grandma finds places to shelter her children, vowing she will return once she establishes a safe haven.

For Huong and her Grandma, books offer companionship, escape, and enlightenment. From American books Huong learns that Americans were “just like us,” people who loved their families and worked hard to earn their food. To understand why the Japanese were so brutal toward her people, Grandma turned to books. “The more I read, the more I became afraid of wars. Wars have the power to turn graceful and cultured people into monsters.” She has seen how citizens were “nothing but leaves that would fall in the thousands or millions in the surge of a single storm.”

The novel’s family are North Vietnamese. This perspective will shake some American readers with references to “American imperialism” and America’s Southern Regime.

“I had hated the American and their allies so much before that day. I hated them for dropping bombs on our people, killing innocent civilians,” Uncle Dat tells Huong. But after witnessing the massacre of teenaged American soldiers who were bathing and playing in a stream, Dat’s hatred turned toward war.

After hearing her uncle’s war experiences, Huong thinks, “Somehow I was sure that if people were willing to read each other, and see the light of other cultures, there would be no war on earth.”

Nature can also save. The rice plants “rustling their tiny, green hands,” the perfume of a rice straw bed, the song of a bird.

The Mountain Sings is the name of a bird whose song can reach heaven and return the souls of the dead through its song. Huong’s father and uncle had heard these birds traveling to the front lines, and her father carved a wood bird which her uncle gives her.

It is a lovely image, centering the novel. The novel is a song, an ode to the memory of the millions who died, and a bridge that connects our cultural gap.

Growing up during the Vietnam war and being surrounded by the US opinions pro or con, it was very eye opening to read a different perspective. That of a north Vietnamese family and how it impacted them.

When I read this book, I was right away transported to the dense highlands and the lush tropical lowlands of Vietnam. Nguyen’s writing enveloped me into the lives of the characters who have experienced harrowing struggles and sufferings, as well as surviving triumphantly against all odds. This is an engrossing story told in the eyes of two generations of a family who have lived through horrific cruelty and hate brought upon by war. Inspired by real life events, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai told a very engaging narrative in her debut novel that I more than highly recommend.