Not poetry, Nguyen Phong Viet chose prose as a good thought to send to those who love his words. Readers are "bewildered" and do not understand why he chose to immerse himself in poetry but passionately overflow with emotions in prose. But surely, those are always very real things that Nguyen Phong Viet has wrapped up all year long so that readers can see themselves through words.
Turning the page of life
Sometimes I still sit with Nguyen Phong Viet at familiar street corners, with a cup of coffee and everyday stories. Just like that, each person goes their separate ways in the vastness of this city. But we still read each other's stories, because we know for sure that somewhere in the stories we cherish on the written pages, there will be perspectives on human affairs that have been compressed in the bottom of our hearts. Usually, with writers, the condensation will be broken and released through words. It is on the written pages that the author opens his heart most passionately, in the end, it is still the confessions that convey a message of life. So, with Nguyen Phong Viet, it can be seen that in this new collection of essays, he has chosen to continue the series We Live ... after 3 publications, respectively Are We Live Happy? (2020), We Live Because... (2022), We Live to Listen (2023).
Continuing with the literary vein of life, Nguyen Phong Viet brings 45 essays in nearly 200 pages of books, which are simple stories such as: Giving money with two hands, My eyes in an old photo, Sitting alone, Walking under the trees, A windy morning, The trees shed their leaves in four seasons, Fog... Still with a leisurely writing style, full of narrative, but emerging from the story is a way of life drawn from the journey of a middle-aged person. That means having gone through the rapids of human life, having tasted all the sourness, spiciness, and saltiness of the myriad of delicacies of the world. Having been, so when choosing to sit with himself, Nguyen Phong Viet seems to monologue with his own thoughts, so that from there the words lead the reader to his own conclusions.
Holding on to or letting go of worries in the journey of life is always a time that makes us most unstable. But, in fact, only when we understand the heaviness of our life, we will realize that our heart's heaviness or lightness comes from ourselves. " Worries are like a stone, which may start out very small, but roll around every day on the road of life... until one day, who knows, it may become a high mountain in our hearts " (excerpt from Let Go ).
No one else, but ourselves, is the one who creates the mountains of our own lives. Happiness or suffering also comes from acceptance, adaptation and change in each person. Each page of the book is like a page of life, opening it, reading, we see ourselves of a time when we were still burdened.
Go through the sadness
As soon as I closed the last page, I received information that this essay book was reprinted just one day after its official release. Something that few authors or books can do, at least at this time, when reading culture is being overwhelmed by many forms of entertainment on social media platforms. I wonder what makes readers, in these last days of the year, eager for the book? Is it the feeling of lightness and serenity after finishing the essay collection? It is as if we ourselves contemplate our lives in a year full of turmoil, to confirm a new journey. A journey through sorrows, touching peace.
When reading the essay about the 2024 color election, organized by the Pantone Color Research Institute, with the result of peach orange being chosen, I felt that the color symbolizing peace and care is what people are looking for after going through the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic recession, and many news about war... All of these impacts make readers reveal their thoughts when choosing the color of the year. "2024 is the year of the color of peace and care. So should 2025 be the color of joy and moving forward?" (excerpt from The Color of Peace ).
Obviously we only live once, so why not choose to live happily among all the joys, anger, love, hate, joy, sadness, and happiness that life has always prepared for us on our journey. Only when we know how to choose to live happily, will we always have positive energy to move forward every day. In the last essay of the book, Nguyen Phong Viet wrote: " Tomorrow we will be different, because every human step has a certain value to the person who owns it " (excerpt from Footsteps ). Understanding the value of those steps is when we take the next steps firmly in this life.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-cau-chu-giu-doi-binh-yen-185241213220845958.htm
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