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The Man From Saigon

The Man From Saigon
A Novel
by Marti Leimbach
Published in USA Feb 2010,
352 pages.

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Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Lorraine R. (Southampton, New York)
The Man From Saigon
It is unusual to read a war novel about a female reporter. The author successfully relates a very difficult and sad time in American history through the perspective of a female. Many books have been written about this period through the eyes of the soldiers, such as the Things they Carried by Phil Caputo, and this is a refreshing change from the war novel genre. This is well-written and thoughtful literature. It would be good book club novel to be read in conjunction with other Vietnam war novels.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Linda W. (Riverview, Florida)
This book does not ring true
I was intrigued when I picked up this novel. Vietnam war, female correspondent, held captive by the enemy. Unfortunately this book missed the mark. Characters were one dimensional.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Carol W. (Henrico, NC)
Leimbach's books
Leimbach's novel "Daniel isn't talking" proved to be a personal work of fiction. You were drawn in to the characters.
She tries to do the same thing in "The man from Saigon." Every good novelists makes you want to be the protagonist or have a great sympathy for one of the characters.
The Vietnam War is very foreign to me. I'm not of the right generation. The only people that talk about the war were people on the fringes of it. Their impressions are light hearted and one knows that wasn't the situation.
This novel educates. I don't know if her assumptions are correct, but they are griping. The world of war--smells, hardships, fear--all make a book that is hard to put down.
Thank you for sending the book. I would not have read it without this incentive.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Joan B. (Ellicott City, MD)
The Man from Saigon
I read this book during the blizzard of 2010. The descriptions took me straight to the jungle heat, sounds, insects and terror. You really do not care who is on which side or what war is being waged. It is obvious how one can lose objectivity when the struggle for survival is so difficult. Susan , a journalist, showed common sense and passion. Her captors, Anh, Minh and Hien were as stoic as you might expect Vietcong soldiers to be. Marc, the American journalist, was suffering from the stress and fatigue of existing in the war zone. Son "the man" remains an enigma. Did I mention it was 1967 in Vietnam?

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Joyce S. (Dyersburg, TN)
Another view of the Vietnam War
A vivid and inside view of war time Vietnam that is not always pleasant reading. Connections and loyalties are constantly tested, questioned, and changing, for the principle characters. Ceaseless bombing creates an ever-changing landscape not unlike the changes occurring in the deepest parts of these people. I have a clearer view of what happened in Vietnam than I was ever able to obtain from my contemporary family and friends who served in that war. I also now 'get' why they chose not to speak of it much.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by book lover in Minnesota
insanity of war
Vietnam in 1967 is the setting for this story of an American journalist and a Vietnamese photographer who become separated from a military convoy and are captured by three young Viet Cong. A horrendous trek through the jungle ensues. The book explores the contrasts between cultures, the insanity of the American war, the changing role of women in the 1960s, the complexity of human relationships, and the profound experience of being in Vietnam. The author presents vivid descriptions of the sights and sounds and smells of that experience, and shows through characters and events what a tragedy the war was. Winning was not possible, and so much was lost.
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