This is the debut novel by Vietnamese writer Ho Viet Khue, just published by the Writers Association Publishing House in November 2023.
Although he had a long journey into his literary career, dating back to the years before 1975, it was not until 1996 that he published the short story collection At the Sea (Kim Dong Publishing House), for young adults. Then there were dozens of short story collections up to this novel Fishing Village, Waves and Wind. This can be considered a new genre for the writer, but with a long history of stories published in many domestic literary magazines and newspapers such as Tuoi Tre, Thanh Nien, Binh Thuan... the name of writer Ho Viet Khue is very familiar to readers and now belongs to the generation that is not yet old. Perhaps his slow, leisurely lifestyle and his writing style on the page can be considered unmodern, although he was once fascinated by the fierce writing style in the literary magazines Sang Tao, Hien Dai, The Ky Hai Muoi... and dabbled with the existentialist movement of Heidegger, Nietzsche, F.Kafka... But Ho Viet Khue has shaped himself on the page with a gentle, delicate attitude from the characters to the emotions of the story. I realized that with Ho Viet Khue, "literature is man" is true to who he is. The prose works Letter in the shell, Jade night, Sweet sea, Flowers bloom in the new year's eve or recently with Windy days, Warm and fragrant hands... And in the poetry collection Grass (Writers Association Publishing House 2016) is his first collection of poems, although before 1975 he was the author of love poems with a pure, stirring soul under the pen name Ho Ta Don.
The novel Fishing Village, Waves and Wind - is easily recognizable as the setting of a coastal village in the South Central region, having just gone through the last days of the war and entering a new period of peace for the homeland... The birth of a bustling mass art troupe under the sky of victory, while being alert to the enemy's plots. The proud mood of the young people who were enlightened early but had a shallow understanding of the meaning of the victory of the revolution led to many arbitrariness, pushing the weak because of the war situation of this land of sticky rice and beans, day and night. The fishing boats, the assets of a lifetime, now have to endure the tossing and turning of the waves on the tumultuous sea of their homeland. The characters of the young man Hung and the innocent girl struggled with the movement, they came together but had many barriers and narrow-mindedness... Hung was born into a family with a tradition of making fish sauce. Having been good all his life, he became a big-scale enterprise, supporting many workers, so he was called a ham ho and later classified as a broker and a capitalist. Hung had the opportunity to study, so after the liberation day, with his young and enthusiastic spirit, he quickly joined the local movement. It was thought that Hung's father, who had once escaped to the war zone to fight, was enough to give Hung the "qualification" for the activities at that time. But according to a commune leader who cared and always reminded Hung about his stance, he had to be tough and more determined because the class struggle was a life-and-death struggle... In a difficult situation, he had to leave Hong and go to another shore with his family, but Hung believed that even though his family was hurt a lot, "there were still many ways to survive, not at the end of the road like many other families" (*). The image of the couple holding each other back on the decision to stay or go, then the guerrillas arrived, “Hung and Hong were tied up and taken to the headquarters because they were suspected of waiting for the boat to arrive at the beach to pick up people…”(*). Not until later, but a few times before, Hong confided that her family intended to go abroad and asked Hung if they could go together. Hung asked back “Why do you ask that?”, because Hung never thought he would leave. Hung still had his parents, brothers and sisters who were still attached to his homeland with so many memories. He believed that this devastated fishing village would no longer be the same as before, but would have a new horizon, a peaceful sea.
The collection of stories lasts 16 chapters, each chapter is a scene of life struggling with ironies, heavy with one's own history. Being a fishing village, the stories of crossing the sea are not lacking in motivation, but for fishermen who have worked hard all their lives, it is simply a full life for their families, rice and meat do not have to be calculated by the kilo. Squid and fish caught do not have to be hidden to bring to the market. The inadequacies from the understanding of the way of doing things of a cooperative director. The funny stories about obstetricians having to express their own milk to get a voucher to buy milk for their newborn babies... Perhaps not only in this fishing village but in those years in many places as well.
Ho Viet Khue has confided many times about his long-standing concern about a work that could depict a corner of his hometown's fishing village. He wondered whether readers and publishing procedures would easily accept it. I shared that he is a journalist (formerly a reporter for Tien Phong newspaper in Binh Thuan) and with his ability to observe the profession, he was sure that this long-term work would bring readers a lot of interest because it was "a story that was just told now". Then he decided that the novel Fishing Village, Waves and Wind had been registered by the Writers' Association Publishing House in September 2023 for publication, but it was not until the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 that he had a publishing license and was released.
(*): Excerpt from Fishing Village, Waves and Wind.
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