Member-only story
Review: The Eaves of Heaven
Vietnam Stories by Author — Andrew X.Pham
I have been to Vietnam two other times and am preparing to go for the third time. Yes. I love that country, the site of so much trauma. When I first went with a couple of friends, one of them suggested we read up to get some background on Vietnam. We read Catfish and Mandala (1999) by Pham, which had won several book awards.Recently, my book and travel buddy passed on to me Pham’s 2008 book, Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars. It reads like a memoir, in that it is written in the first person, but it is about Andrew Pham’s father, whose life spanned three wars in the twentieth century. In his Author’s note, Pham explains his intention: “I did not set out to write my father’s biography. I have not written my father’s memoir. I have lent his life stories my words. The perspectives and sentiments within are his.”
The structure in which the book is laid out goes back and forth in time. I found myself having to constantly reorient myself to the different time periods, and even now, after reading it, I am still a bit confused, but it makes me want to re-read it, rather than avoid it. The stories are interesting, but also Pham does have a…
