Review
The Eaves of Heaven is difficult to categorize. It's
not quite a biography, autobiography, nor memoir. "I did not
set out to write my father's biography…" the author states
in his notes at the front of the book. "I have lent his life
stories my words. The perspectives and sentiments within are
his." Although it doesn't fit the standard mould, however,
the book's format "works;" it's both effective and
affecting. The end result is an absorbing, real-life account
of Thong Van Pham's life in Vietnam during a particularly
turbulent era.
Thong Van Pham's story is told in two parallel time lines,
one relating his childhood in North Vietnam (1940 – 1954),
the other his adulthood in the South (1956 – 1976). The
author's approach can cause the reader a certain amount of...
Beyond the Book
A Short History of Vietnam
Vietnam's history has been one of repeated invasions
and resistance (map of Vietnam today). For
most of the first millennium AD,
Vietnam was controlled by the Chinese. A final
rebellion in 938 led to Vietnam achieving independence until
the mid 19th century when increasing parts of the country
were defeated by the French. The entire area of
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were declared "French Indochina"
in 1887.
The turn of the 20th century brought calls for independence
from the citizens of Vietnam. In 1919, during the Versailles
Peace Conference at the end of WWI,
Ho Chi Minh submitted Vietnamese demands to the French,
which the...
