The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

I read this while I was on a recent trip to Vietnam, and while it is fiction, it is based on the author's family story, and I suspect it is not a unique situation, where in a civil war, people have no choice but to choose sides, and that relatives inevitably end up on opposite sides of the conflict. This is a multigenerational family saga set in war-torn Vietnam and told through the eyes of Hương and her grandmother, Trần Diệu Lan. Hương grows up in a country traumatized by the long war, and together with her grandmother, desperately waits for the return of those who have set out to fight: her parents, her uncles and an aunt. As Trần Diệu Lan fights for survival - while at the same time trying to protect her grandchild as best as she can - she remembers her own story more than three decades ago, when she and her six children had to flee from her village to escape certain death. This gives a human face and a story to the 3 million Vietnamese who were killed in the war, half of them civilians. The Americans chose bombing civilian targets over ground offensives almost every time, and by the end of the war were no longer protecting their own soldiers either. This story helps to better conceptualize what those choices meant for people on the ground, as well as the lasting effect of those traumas.

My Son, Quảng Nam, Vietnam

Between the 4th and 13th centuries a unique culture which owed its spiritual origins to Indian Hinduism developed on the coast of contemporary Viet Nam. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower-temples located in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom for most of its existence.

The property is located in the mountainous border Duy Xuyen District of Quang Nam Province, in central Viet Nam. It is situated within an elevated geological basin surrounded by a ring of mountains, which provides the watershed for the sacred Thu Bon river. The source of the Thu Bon river is here and it flows past the monuments, out of the basin, and through the historic heartland of the Champa Kingdom, draining into the South China Sea at its mouth near the ancient port city of Hoi An. The location gives the sites its strategic significance as it is also easily defensible.

The tower temples were constructed over ten centuries of continuous development in what was the heart of the ancestral homeland of the ruling Dua Clan which unified the Cham clans and established the kingdom of Champapura (Sanskrit for City of the Cham people) in 192 CE. During the 4th to 13th centuries CE this unique culture, on the coast of contemporary Viet Nam, owed its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of the Indian sub-continent. Under this influence many temples were built to the Hindu divinities such as Krishna and Vishnu, but above all Shiva. Although Mahayan Buddhist penetrated the Cham culture, probably from the 4thcentury CE, and became strongly established in the north of the kingdom, Shivite Hinduism remained the established state religion.

Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow

My spouse and I listened to this exhaustive history of the Vietnam War. Stanley Karnow was a journalist for a lot of reputable news organizations throughout the lead up to our involvement in Vietnam and well beyond the conclusion, and he examines in minute detail the history of Vietnam before the French colonized it, and then the history of what happened when France was there--which leaves no doubt as to why the Vietnamese would want out from under the French, who then proceeded to get the US involved by providing aid, and finally boots of the ground soldiers. Every single assessment of the South Vietnam government was that it was corrupt and incompetent, without the will to defeat the nationalist movement from the north, and unable to hold any appeal to the people. Every US president understood clearly that we would not be able to defeat the North Vietnamese Army nor the Viet Cong. They understood that bombing was not going to work, and they knew they were in a no win situation. And yet. Onward they went, unable to step away, unable to admit what they had seen from the very beginning, and all those soldiers, most of them barely out of high school, who went blindly into that war. This should be required reading for anyone in the upper echelon's of government who thinks they can solve a problem with brute force, mostly alone, but mixed in with some lying and cheating and hoping they won't remember that part. It is a sad story with a sad start, a sad middle, and a sad ending.

Sum - Lò Bánh Mì Điện, Hoi An, Vietnam

This was it. THis was the best banh mi we have had. Our guide recommended it (even in this tourist town, you can find good street food), and we were so happy with it. The bread was perfect, the fillings flavorful, and the pickles and the heat level were very good. Yes, it is a cart, but the choices available were excellent, and the price, as was true of all the Vietnamese food for Vietnamese people (ie. not tourists) was $1.25. We did struggle some with the issue of fresh vegetables and the water being felt by all we talked to to be unsafe, at least for us. So we were uber cautious at the front end of the trip, but allowed a little bit of leeway at the end, when we were soon to be headed home and able to recuperate from whatever might ail us. Happy to report there were no such repercussions.

Smoke and Ashes by Amitav Ghosh

The author began the research for his memorable trilogy of novels called the Ibis Trilogy, he was startled to find how the lives of the 19th century sailors and soldiers he wrote of were dictated not only by the currents of the Indian Ocean, but also by the precious commodity carried in enormous quantities on those currents: opium. Most surprising at all, however, was the discovery that his own identity and family history was swept up in the story, as was the histories of many families, including Americans. It is at once a travelogue, memoir and a history, drawing on decades of archival research. In it, Ghosh traces the transformative effect the opium trade had on Britain, India, and China, as well as the world at large. The trade was engineered by the British Empire, which exported Indian opium to sell to China and redress their great trade imbalance, and its revenues were essential to the Empire's financial survival--he describes it as their most successful foreign policy ever. Yet tracing the profits further, Ghosh finds opium at the origins of some of the world's biggest corporations, of America's most powerful families and prestigious institutions--from the Astor's and Coolidge's to the Sackler's--who were, it turns out, opiate drug dealers from way back--I did not connect Arthur Sackler's exquisite collection of Canton art with the opium trade, but it was. they all downplayed their drug money from opium, and some of this history helps to visualize how they justified their practices that perpetuated addiction for profit. The opium trade in the 19th century was the inception of contemporary globalism itself.

Lap An Lagoon, Vietnam

Lap An Lagoon is a large brackish lagoon, located right at the foot of Hai Van Pass, surrounded by the majestic Bach Ma mountain range, in front of the gentle Lang Co Bay with emerald green water. Not only famous for its poetic beauty, Lap An Lagoon is also the source that supplies a large amount of seafood for the fishermen of this area. Lap An Lagoon is known as the "Oyster Kingdom of Hue". According to the locals, the oyster in this place is a gift from nature, receiving absolutely no human influence, and is available all year round without any farming effort. That is why many people joke that if one does not eat oysters in Lap An, they cannot claim to have come here. Today, however, oysters are farmed for both pearls and meat. We stopped en route to Hoi An to have an egg coffee, and while the men's room was located around the back, the women's room required exiting through the gift shop.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

I really loved this playful Young Adult graphic novel. I have been woefully under informed in this genre, which I both enjoy, and as the grandparent of two girls and a boy, I feel like I need to beef up my depth in this area. One of my role models for being successful with this goal brought this book to my attention. I am new to this author, who has several other graphic novels under her belt, has a tremendously likable and predictable style. I can see that when you open one of her books, you know it’s her. The clean, organic lines and strong color choices that sell her stories are completely fluid. They’re actually enjoyable and give life to the experience of reading her works. So that is a big help to draw the reader into the story. The thing I like this story is it captures some of the volatility of relationships in middle school, both for friendships and relationships. She has added in the reality of LGBTQ being more in the vernacular now than in hiding as it was when I was this age, and overall this has a refreshing airing of all these foibles in a refreshing way that affirms all middle schoolers lived experiences. Three cheers!

Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue, Vietnam

Thien Mu Pagoda (namely Heaven Fairy Lady Pagoda), also known as Linh Mu Pagoda, is one of the most fascinating and ancient pagoda in Hue city. It is situated on Ha Khe hill, on the north bank of the Perfume River, in Huong Long village. The name of the pagoda derives from a special legend. Long time ago, an old woman appeared on the hill where the pagoda stands today, telling local people that a Lord would come and build a Buddhist pagoda for the country’s prosperity. Lord Nguyen Hoang therefore ordered the construction of the pagoda for the “Heaven Fairy Lady”.

The most striking feature of the pagoda, Phuoc Duyen tower (initially called Tu Nhan tower), was erected in 1884 by King Thieu Tri, and has become the unofficial symbol of Hue. This octagonal tower has seven storeys (2m high), which is dedicated to a Buddha who appeared in human form. It is the highest stupa in Vietnam, and is often the subject of folk rhymes and cadao about Hue, such is its iconic status and association with the city. More importantly, it is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the former imperial capital.

Disillusioned by Benjamin Herold

This book follows five families from five different parts of the country addressing the trials and tribulations associated with disappointment with living in the suburbs in the United States. These are families of color that sought comfort and promise in America’s suburbs over these past couple of decades, they live outside these metropolis': Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh. In each of these communities, he zeroes in on the schools, in large part because education captures the essence of what attracted these families: the prospect of something better for their kids was a primary motivator for moving, and how their expectations were not met with the reality. This is a sprawling book, which is its virtue and the source of its occasional misfires. Five families are a lot to keep track of. I found myself confused at times, and not sure that other than the good geographic distribution they are all needed as the stories have a lot of overlap. Finally, here’s someone to take us to the places that early on served as an escape valve, mostly for white families fleeing the changing demographics of urban America, the places where many Americans imagined a kind of social and economic utopia. The crux of the matter is that suburbs were largely designed to accommodate white families who wanted to step back in time and avoid a changing social structure, and that is not a place designed for all people.

Quán Hạnh, Hue, Vietnam

The food here was exceptional, and I would definitely go back. It had the added advantage of being an easy walk from our hotel, but the quality of the food was top notch, the prices did not add up to $10 for us, and the wait staff worked very hard to help us understand how we were supposed to eath each and every dish. Here is a run down on our meal. —Bánh Bo—eat with a spoon! Steamed. rice cake filled with savory ingredients including chopped fresh shrimp, served with sweet fish sauce and chilli. Bánh Bèo is very popular in the Central of Việt Nam —Bánh Khoái - Rice pancake—Vietnamese savory fried pancake made of rice flour stuffed with pork, shrimp, diced green onion, carrot and bean sprouts served with vegetable and peanut saluce. This required the most tutoring. —Nem Lụi - Hanh's speciality—we had these lemongrass grilled pork sausages in Hanoi, but here you add pickles and wrap in rice paper —Bánh cuốn thịt nướng - BBQ pork wrap in moisture rice paper —Nem rán - Fried spring roll—Made from pork, mushroom, diced carrot and seasoning, rolled up in a sheet of moist rice paper and fried until the rice paper coat turns crispy, served with sweet-and-sour fish sauce. Very unusual wrapper texture, which we liked as we got used to it Bánh Nậm: Bánh nậm is a traditional Vietnamese dumpling origianting from Hue. The batter is made with a combination of rice and tapioca flour, sugar, and salt, while the filling consists of shrimps, minced pork, salt, pepper, sugar, shallots, annatto oil, and green onions. The rectangular and flat dumplings are wrapped in banana leaves, then steamed Bún bò Huế—It’s a rich and spicy soup with deep layers of flavor. This Central Vietnamese soup is paired with tender slices of beef and pork, pork meatballs, then topped with lots of fresh herbs. My favorite noodle soup to date!

The Return by Hisham Matar

This is a sweeping, all-inclusive investigative reporter style book about Central America, immigration, and the United States. While politicians in general and the GOP especially characterize this as a problem at best and a humanitarian crisis at worst that is of Central America's making, the truth is that we are the alpha and the omega of the issue. We are the beginning because we have chronically interfered in the politics, the government, and the economics of Central America and then we are the end because much of what is driving violence in the region is drugs and those drugs are coming to the United States, and then also because we are seen as the promised land, where all will be solved, and as we know that is truly never the case. Only Fox News makes the life of the immigrant seem unduly idle and rewarded, and that is solely for the purposes of fanning the flames of fury against brown skinned people, not that they believe it to be true. The story is overly long and complex, and perhaps by necessity, so is this book. The tentacles of United States businesses in Central America is so widespread as to be hard to believe. "How did this happen" would be a reasonable question that is largely not answered and too big for the scope of the book, which is already sweeping. Unfortunately sometimes the most important message, which is that the Trump administration with the white supremacist Steven Miller at the helm, did unspeakable things to immigrant families for money, political power, and probably no small amount of sadistic pleasure, and at some point, we need to really try to fix the enormous problem that we have no small part in creating rather than pointing fingers of blame elsewhere, and have the expectation that it will only marginally improve because we have made such a mess of it.

Imperial Citadel, Hue, Vietnam

We started the (very hot) day at the Hue Historic Citadel—it is a walled fortress that served as the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in Vietnam, from 1802 to 1945. It is situated on the northern bank of the Perfume River. In the 19th century. Emperor Gia Long relocated the nation's capital from Thang Long (today’s Hanoi) to Hue. He built a palace complex in Hue that was modeled after Beijing's Forbidden City. Geomancers were consulted to determine the ideal location for the new capital. The construction of the Hue Historic Citadel started in 1803, and it took nearly 30 years to finish this massive complex.

The central structure is the Hue Citadel area which was the administrative centre of southern Viet Nam during the 17th and 18th centuries CE. Within the Hue Citadel were located not only administrative and military functions of the Empire, but also the Imperial Residence, the Hoang Thanh (Imperial City), the Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden Purple City) and related royal palaces. Tran Binh Dai, an additional defensive work in the north-east corner of the Capital City, was designed to control movement on the river. Another fortress, Tran Hai Thanh, was constructed a little later to protect the capital against assault from the sea.

The structures of the Complex of Hue Monuments are carefully placed within the natural setting of the site and aligned cosmologically with the Five Cardinal Points (centre, west, east, north, south), the Five Elements (earth, metal, wood, water, fire), and the Five Colours (yellow, white, blue, black, red).

The Soul of a Chef by Michael Rulhman

This book is really three separate novellas, which is a bit jarring at first--what do these three things have in common--but overall it does develop a broader picture about what it means to be a chef in general and specifically in the United States. My spouse and I have been getting more acquainted with what it takes to be in the restaurant business this past year. One reason might be that we invested in a restaurant that opened during COVID. Another is that we have close friends who have fallen more deeply into it, going from cheese production to food service, but I think it is simpler than that. We love to cook and we love to eat. Part 1 focuses on the CMC Exam, which is a professional certification given by the CIA (this is NOT the exam that CIA students take to graduate from the school). He does a fantastic job writing about the exam in a way that has you biting your knuckles with suspense as if you were watching a sports event. His descriptions of the frantic lead-up to service for each section of the test and the judging panels provide serious drama. There is a part of me that has thought about going to cooking school at some point after I stop working full time, a thought that has been dinning since reading more about what you might be in for in that situation, and this extinguished that light all together. Part 2 focuses on Cleveland chef Michael Symon, who was a rising star on the culinary scene at the time and is now an Iron Chef on Iron Chef America. It’s a light-hearted section compared to Part 1 and showcases Symon’s bubbly personality, a critical factor in the success of his restaurant. I loved learning more about Symon’s background, cooking style, personality, and business philosophy after seeing him on numerous cooking shows. He’s kind of a badass and does food his own way while winning respect in the culinary industry. Part 3 focuses on Thomas Keller and “The French Laundry”, widely considered the best chef and restaurant in the country. Ruhlman focuses on how Keller got to where he is despite no formal training and growing up in a family that was never focused on food. The story here is consistent with other depictions of the genius and obsession that characterizes his intensity about food. Someone called him Dr. Seuss' illegimitae child, and I can see that.

Coffee in Vietnam

Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee exporter behind Brazil. Coffee is everywhere in Vietnam, from busy street stalls to unassuming little cafes hidden around the corner. Discover the country’s vibrant coffee culture and explore the different drink styles that are most popular. Coffee was introduced in Vietnam by the French, during the 19th century. The primary way of making coffee here — through a phin — is also a French creation. The preference for condensed milk over regular milk is yet another French legacy. Back in the 19th century, it was much harder to carry milk over long distances without it spoiling. Condensed milk was a simple solution, and its sweetness caught on among the general population.

Egg coffee is my favorite. I literally said when I saw it on the menu that I would not order it, and lucky for me, my spouse did, and then I proceeded to drink all of his, and to order it every chance that I had. This weird combination may sound slightly crazy at first, but coffee served with whipped-up egg and condensed milk is a sweet delight. Overall the taste is akin to an egg custard, or an extravagantly-creamy mousse.

The other coffee that I found delicious is coconut coffee. There are a few different styles of coconut coffee you can try. The best version is a whipped-up lump of coconut cream delicately placed into an iced black coffee, into which it scrumptiously melts, of course! Vegans should note that this is usually served with a drop of condensed milk also. Most places will have no problem serving it without milk, or will even offer a non-dairy alternative upon request.

Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal

Even though this book is very short, more of a novella than a novel, I am not sure I caught all the nuance within. One thing it did was make we want to know the author more and better, which is a victory in itself. The scene is set on the Trans-Siberian Express, the train running all the way from Moscow to Vladivostock. One of my childhood travel dreams, of which I had many, was to ride the Trans-Siberian Express someday. Even after watching the action adventure movie of the same name, I held on to this as a life travel goal--dashed by Putin at least for the moment, but kept alive by my one train travel experience in Russia of going in the opposite direction, from Moscow to St. Petersburg. This book is kind of a blend of both those backgrounds, part Byronesque romanticism and part nail biting tension. Aliocha is a conscripted soldier, heading off to begin his service somewhere in the far east of Russia, but having already experienced some of the brutality that awaits him there, he’s decided that he’s going to try to escape. That proves to be a tricky endeavor, but on one foiled attempt at a stopover, he runs into Hélène, a French woman on the first leg of her long journey home, and after an interesting night spent smoking quietly together makes a silent plea for help and she, also silently, agrees. It’s an impulsive decision, a kind gesture to help out a stranger in need, but then again the reader, who has only glimpsed Putin's Russia, where even Navalny--or maybe especially Navalny--has to die, you are left to wonder whether it will turn out to be the wisest of choices.

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

We went on an overnight cruise on Ha Long Bay, part of the Bay of Tonkin where the US provoked an attack by the VietcCong to justify our Americanization of the Vietnam war. This place is magical with 7000 mostly tiny islands the most prominent visual features. April is a foggy month in the Cat Ba Archipelago, which means less of the startling turquoise water and more shadowy islet photos.

UNESCO has recognized Ha Long Bay and the Cat Ba Archipelago of over 1,000 islands and islets as one of the world’s most important areas of fengcong (clusters of conical peaks) and fenglin (isolated tower features) karst. Additionally, the exceptionally beautiful landscape is also a vibrant source of food and income for the people who live there.

Is an overnight stay required? It depends—I could look at this ever changing scenery for days on end and see different things but would you get the sense of it from a 3 hour cruise? Yes, you would. Just a spectacularly gorgeous spot.

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer

This is a sweeping, all-inclusive investigative reporter style book about Central America, immigration, and the United States. While politicians in general and the GOP especially characterize this as a problem at best and a humanitarian crisis at worst that is of Central America's making, the truth is that we are the alpha and the omega of the issue. We are the beginning because we have chronically interfered in the politics, the government, and the economics of Central America and then we are the end because much of what is driving violence in the region is drugs and those drugs are coming to the United States, and then also because we are seen as the promised land, where all will be solved, and as we know that is truly never the case. Only Fox News makes the life of the immigrant seem unduly idle and rewarded, and that is solely for the purposes of fanning the flames of fury against brown skinned people, not that they believe it to be true. The story is overly long and complex, and perhaps by necessity, so is this book. The tentacles of United States businesses in Central America is so widespread as to be hard to believe. "How did this happen" would be a reasonable question that is largely not answered and too big for the scope of the book, which is already sweeping. Unfortunately sometimes the most important message, which is that the Trump administration with the white supremacist Steven Miller at the helm, did unspeakable things to immigrant families for money, political power, and probably no small amount of sadistic pleasure, and at some point, we need to really try to fix the enormous problem that we have no small part in creating rather than pointing fingers of blame elsewhere, and have the expectation that it will only marginally improve because we have made such a mess of it.

Water Puppets, Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnam Water Puppets began in the Red River Delta in the tenth century, with the oldest troupes in Nguyen Xa commune, Dong Hung district, Thai Binh province. This unique art form reportedly appeared during the 15th century, when artists who were also farmers gathered to perform and unwind after the harvest. Therefore, the cultural traits of the inhabitants in this area are firmly embedded in water puppetry. Many Red River Delta towns still practice the ritual because Vietnam ancients believed ghosts ruled over all elements of their lives, from the kitchen to the rice terraces. That is why the farmers in this area created entertainment and worship to appease these spirits.

Farmers who spend their days in flooded rice fields came up with the idea for water puppetry. They eventually realized that water was an excellent medium for puppetry since it not only masked the puppeteers' rod and string apparatus but also created stimulating effects such as waves and splashes.

Areas of importance to depict below, and A number of performances can be performed in sequence in one: The "Four rural occupations" group: fisherman, woodcutter, plowman, and herdsman The "Five occupations" group: scholar, peasant, worker, trader, and soldier The "Farming" group: plowing, harrowing, hoeing, rice transplanting, and tending animals.

Birder on Berry Lane by Robert Tougias

The subtitle is Three Acres, Twelve Months, and Thousands of Birds, which is the one sentence summary of just what goes on within, but doesn't quite prepare you for the quiet beauty and attention to detail that you are going to find within the pages. I am a brand new birder. I have been to one festival, with four guided walks, and three lectures, and really that was all that it took. I wanted to know more, to be aware of what is and was around me, and most of all, have a hobby that I could do well into retirement that got me outdoors. Birding is perfect--unlike hiking, the pace is slow, and if anything, there is more attention to what is going on around you. This book revels in that. The author is a life long birder in Connecticut who raises awareness of bird habits and eccentricities in a dramatic storyline that marches through the months of the year sequentially. He also places backyard bird performances against the backdrop of steadily encroaching development, conveying how various birds have been compelled to change their habits. Light pollution necessitated some behavioral shifts from daytime to nocturnal birdsong. City noise caused other birds to increase their pitch when they couldn’t hear their own songs. Birds have become, in a sense, refugees on long treks, leaving behind their known world and trying to adapt in the new. The subtext is all about what he does to help buffer against this on his personal three acres, which is a nice example of doing what you can with what you can control. This is a lovely book to read.

Temple of Literature, Hanoi, Vietnam

Built by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong during the Ly dynasty, the Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu in Vietnamese) was erected in honour of the philosopher Confucius and his disciples in 1070. In 1076, it became home to Hanoi’s first university, Quốc Tử Giám. The site is one of the oldest in Hanoi and a national symbol of Vietnamese education and architecture. Today, the temple houses five court yards, records of Vietnamese scholars, and statues of turtles which are said to bring students good luck in their exams.

A symbol of Hanoi, a familiar image featured on the back of the 100,000 Vietnam dong banknote is Khue Van Cac, the Pavilion of Constellation). This unique architectural work was built in 1805 with four white-washed stone stilts. Khue is the brightest star in the sky and the whole constellation is shaped like the character of “Literature” in Chinese. It implied the wish for prosperous and developed education. Inside the courtyard, a thousand-year-old bronze bell hangs from the ceiling and is only rung on auspicious occasions.

The Kingdom, The Power, And The Glory by Tim Alberta

When I read this book, which is subtitled American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, a light bulb went off. Suddenly it all clicked. Everything that I have said about the ex-president and the strange stranglehold he has over the GOP is also true about those who revere him. In the tradition of using storied to make the point, this shines a very bright light on how American evangelicals have confronted – and continue to navigate – the relationship between faith and politics. Which is to say that they are now, and maybe always have been, conflated. Across his travels, Alberta recounts a colorful cast of characters and churches. This includes congregations that appear to be filled with more guns than Bibles; stages filled with hucksters and conspiracy snake oil salesmen selling anger, and the marginalization of anyone who disagrees with this vision, including people who would rather adhere to Jesus and the tenets that are at the center of Christianity as it existed when the country was founded. The faith is not in God, and certainly not in Christianity and the teachings of Jesus--the faith is in politics and the vision they have of America. It is rooted not in the Bible, certainly not the New Testament, but rather in The City On The Hill, with a fair amount of Old Testament fire and brimstone thrown in, and pretty firmly rooted in 17th century values and white supremacy. I did not get it until now. I have thought of Trump as a man speaking in tongues--when he accuses someone of something, it means that is what he himself is doing. It is a mirror into the truth. So goes the evangelical church. When they say they are worried about the waning of Christian values in America, what is actually true is that they lack Christian values. And the cruelty is the point. Evangelicals are the uber patriarchy, yes, of course, but they also lack morality, not to mention democratic values--that I did not see before. Jesus AND the Founding Fathers cry.

A Haunting in Venice (2023)

This is it, the best Kenneth Branagh Poirot movie. It's also a good Branagh movie, period, thanks to the way Branagh and screenwriter dismantle and reinvent the source material (Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party) to create a relentlessly clever, visually dense "old" movie that uses the latest technology. The original Christie novel was published in 1969 and set in then-present-day Woodleigh Common, England. The adaptation transplants the story to Venice, sets it over 20 years earlier, gives it an international cast of characters thick with British expats, and retains just a few elements, including the violent death of a young girl in the recent past and the insinuating presence of an Agatha Christie-like crime novelist named Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), who takes credit for creating Poirot's reputation by making him a character in her writing. Ariadne's sales have slumped, so she draws Poirot back into sleuthing by pushing him to attend a Halloween Night seance at the aforementioned home, hoping to produce material that will give her another hit. Instead they get a murder, and Poirot is off and running to solve it. There are lots of touches that set this firmly in post WWII Italy and overall it is both fun and atmospheric.

Narcotopia by Patrick Winn

The subtitle of this is In Search of the Drug Cartel the Survived the CIA--and it is kind of a fascinating story in light of all the other drug related stories that involves the CIA. I had never heard about this place, the Wa people, or what was happening here until I read a characteristically short article reviewing this book, and the phenomenon described therein, in the Economist this year. The short story is that every opportunity the US has to mess up a situation with either the War on Drugs or the War on Communism, they (we) will most spectacularly misread the situation, make the poorest choices, and in this case, when that is figured out, the winner is able to play both of those sides against each other and emerge with something that looks like a win. The book follows the Wa people—a tribe situated along the Burma-China border and best known for head-hunting—over the last half-century as they established the United Wa State Army, an independent government in control of a 30,000-man fighting force and a colossal drug cartel that produced heroin and later switched to manufacturing methamphetamine. The book centers on several Wa figures, including Saw Lu, a Baptist who fought to unite and modernize his people (he led a successful campaign in the 1960s to get them to stop head-hunting) and to wean them off drug trafficking, all while serving as an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and his nemesis Wei Xuegang, the secretive criminal genius who turned the UWSA into the dominant cartel in Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle region. Stirring the pot is the feud between the DEA, which backed Saw Lu, and the CIA, which nurtured the drug trade and sabotaged Saw Lu’s efforts. Part gangster saga, part espionage thriller, and part liberation epic, Winn’s narrative alternates between rollicking adventure and harrowing violence conveyed in vivid, muscular prose. It’s a riveting portrait of how deeply the drug trade is embedded in Southeast Asia’s modernizing economies—and in America’s foreign policy.

Hỏa Lò Prison, Hanoi, Vietnam

This is a bad place, where bad people did bad things. Over the years, who was on what side changed, but the bottom line is that many people were tortured, starved, and killed here. The name Hỏa Lò, commonly translated as "fiery furnace" or even "Hell's hole”. It was a prison in Hanoi originally used by the French colonists in Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War, the sarcastically named Hanoi Hilton.

The prison was built in Hanoi by the French, in the mid-19th century, when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina. The French called the prison Maison Centrale, 'Central House', which is still the designation of prisons for dangerous or long sentence detainees in France. It was located near Hanoi's French Quarter. It was intended to hold Vietnamese prisoners, particularly political prisoners agitating for independence who were often subject to torture and execution. The guillotine is on display. Following Operation Homecoming, the prison was used to incarcerate Vietnamese dissidents and other political prisoners, including the poet Nguyễn Chí Thiện. The prison was demolished during the 1990s, although its gatehouse remains a museum.

Twilight Territory by Andrew X. Pham

On the cusp of going to Vietnam for the first time I am immersing myself in books about it--both fiction and non-fiction. This is the former, but meshes nicely with the Stanley Karnow book we are reading that is a thorough history of the events leading up to US involvement in the was there. This is set in the WWII period and the immediate aftermath. The French occupation was an unmitigated disaster with a terrible ending. Built on this backbone, this is a novel of love and loss, betrayal and war that starts during the Japanese occupation of Vietnam. France has ruled the colony of Indochina for three generations by the time the Japanese army invades. In 1942, Le Tuyet is a young, divorced mother who confronts a local French bureaucrat and catches the attention of Yamazaki Takeshi, a major in the Imperial Japanese Army. The major admires her beauty and spirit and eventually begins to earn her trust. The two honorable people both speak the language of loss and loneliness, and they fall in love and eventually have children. The shifting tides of the French and the Japanese, with the Vietnamese always and forever squeezed between two warring factions, and always on the losing end, play out across the 1940's, setting the stage for more tragedy to come.

Fast Charlie (2024)

This is not a good movie--I was somewhat surprised by it's not terrible rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but that is, I think, largely owing to the likability of Pierce Brosnan. I watched it on a Trans-Pacific flight, and it was a quite harmless action-comedy that definitely passed the time, and didn't contain any content that would keep you up or make you think too deeply, so perfect for the setting. Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan) is an assassin/problem solver for an old-time Biloxi, Mississippi, crime family. The head of the family, Stan (James Caan), has starting having memory problems, and Charlie has been looking after him. Charlie is sent to work with a rookie, Blade, to take out a troublemaker called "Rollo," but Blade makes a huge mess of the situation, and the body can't be identified. They go to Rollo's ex-wife, Marcie, for help, and Charlie and Marcie find themselves drawn to each other. Unfortunately, a new crime boss, Beggar, is looking for something Rollo had and takes out most of the members of Charlie's "family" in the process. So Charlie steels himself and sets out to find whatever it is that Beggar is looking for and then shut down his entire operation. But Beggar has an ace up his sleeve, a right-hand-man known as "The Freak". Almost everyone has a handle in this movie rather than a name, and almost every decision made leads to yet another challenge up until it all wraps up and ends.

We are Free To Change The World by Lyndsey Stonebridge

This is partly a biography of Hanna Arendt and partly an attempt to contextualize her thoughts and theories for a new generation. She was a German Jew who was steeped in the philosophical and cultural traditions of her homeland. When the Nazis rose to power and it became clear that this society could produce not just Kant and Beethoven but Himmler and Kristallnacht, she fled. Her first stop was France, where when Germany started on the clear path to war, she was detained in a prison camp as an enemy alien. Lucky for her, because once Germany invaded France it was chaos and she and other female prisoners escaped and walked over the mountains and ultimately to the United States. Over her life she questioned whether the traditions she had absorbed, not just of Germany but of European thought stretching back to ancient Greece, could be used to understand the obscenities through which Europe was living. She was unique in that she was determined to gather up the fragments of these political and philosophical traditions and to reinvent them to look at how totalitarianism rises and how it could (and is) rising again. The pressing relevance of Arendt’s work was suggested when her sprawling magnum opus, The Origins of Totalitarianism, shot up the bestseller lists following Donald Trump’s election in 2016. While he and Putin clearly have an autocratic agenda that is crystal clear, Arendt would say the same was true of Hitler, so seeing it and stopping it are two very different things, and the question is are we up to the task? White supremacy has a frighteningly persistent grip on America, as an avowed criminal who is an openly racist candidate will be on the ballot in 2024.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hanoi, Vietnam

In the tradition of Lenin, Stalin and Mao, Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is a monumental marble edifice. Contrary to Ho Chi Minh’s desire for a simple cremation and having his ashes spread in three locations, the mausoleum was constructed from materials gathered from all over Vietnam between 1973 and 1975. Set deep in the bowels of the building in a glass sarcophagus is the frail, pale body of Ho Chi Minh. The mausoleum is usually closed from 4 September to 4 November while his embalmed body goes to Russia for maintenance.

Ho served as the president of North Vietnam for 25 years; his powerful reign in the communist country symbolizes the struggle of the Vietnamese people’s fight for independence from the anti-communist regime in the south and from that regime’s southern allies, including the United States. He was not a religious man, but reportedly respected the role religion played in people's lives, and the use of Buddhist icons at his mausoleum seems less disrespectful than keeping his body preserved.

Uncle Ho, as the former Communist Party leader is often endearingly referred to by Vietnamese, is an important historical figure, and the Vietnamese people largely consider a visit to the mausoleum an honor – well worth the long journey many citizens endure. A version of this altar, respecting ancestors, is a feature in almost all Vietnamese homes.

Rule of Civility by Amor Towles

This is written by the author of A Gentleman From Moscow, which I loved, and The Lincoln Highway, which I have mixed feelings about but ultimately liked. The later has some moral struggles within it that are shared with this, an earlier book, and may be the reason that I like the writer. The setting is 1938 New York City--at the end of the Depression and before WWII and before the sharp lines between social classes have started to blur. Katey Kontent, recently orphaned and born of Russian immigrant parents, is our narrator and she is a keen observer of the people around her. She is well read, well spoken and a bit unlucky in love--Think a female version of Nick Carraway. Through her eyes we meet Tinker Grey, who she falls for and then reconsiders her choice. As fortunes, friendships and reputations burn out and rise once again, these New Yorkers reveal their various degrees of moral compromise, and as they change, so too do their perspectives on each other. This is a book that I warmed to as I read it, and think about in the aftermath more often than usual.

About My Father (2024)

I watched this movie, with Robert DeNiro starring as the curmudgeonly father, on a plane, where I am most forgiving about the quality of a movie, and yet, this is not one that I would recommend. One reviewer called it a movie that "runs the gamut from mediocre to painless with occasional moments of charm." Damning with faint praise. Sebastian is an attractive middle-aged man whose father, Salvo, a widowed hairdresser, holds his late wife's wedding ring in reserve until he can check out whatever family his boy decides to marry into. The moment arrives when he falls in love with Ellie, who, like Sebastian, is in the hotel business and is sunshine and rainbows. Ellie's family came over on the Mayflower, and that sums up their snobbish approach to life. Ellie's mother, Tigger, a senator, and father, Bill, a country-club owner, invite Sebastian to attend the family's annual Independence Day get-together in their exclusive town--they see it as a celebration of the accomplishments of distant relatives rather than a hot dogs and fireworks sort of event. When Sebastian asks his dad for the ring, pop pressures his son into letting him tag along because he needs to vet the new in-laws and because there wouldn't be a movie if he didn't.