Book launch: The Writer's Path - diary of writer Nguyen Huy Tuong

Nguyen Huy Tuong is a famous Vietnamese writer and playwright. He is the author of historical novels and major plays such as: Vu nhu To, Long Tri Night Festival, Bac Son, Living forever with the capital.

Many generations of young readers love him through his outstanding children's works: The Flag Embroidered with Six Golden Words, Finding Mother, Princess An Tu, The Brave Girl... He is one of the founders and the first director of Kim Dong Publishing House.

The book — Scene of the book launch "The Path of Writers - Diary of writer Nguyen Huy Tuong".

Nguyen Huy Tuong came to writing quite late. In his youth, not content with the life of a bureaucrat, he participated in patriotic movements of youth and students in Hai Phong; national language dissemination activities, and Boy Scouts. In 1943, he joined the secret National Salvation Culture group. In August 1945, Nguyen Huy Tuong was elected to attend the National Congress in Tan Trao. After the August Revolution succeeded, he became a key leader of the National Salvation Culture Association and a delegate to the first National Assembly in 1946. After 1954, he was a founding member of the Vietnam Writers Association and a member of the Executive Committee. Writer Nguyen Huy Tuong has won many awards, including the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts, first term, in 1996.

During those years of youth full of enthusiasm, desire to contribute but also full of anxiety to find the way, Nguyen Huy Tuong chose his diary as a place to both express and practice writing. The diary pages written during the years 1938 to 1945, the time before the August Revolution broke out, are authentic documents to learn about the path of self-improvement of the young man - a civil servant of the Tax Department to become a writer, social activist, and young revolutionary Nguyen Huy Tuong. At the same time, they are authentic sketches of a generation of pre-war writers, valuable historical pages about the revolutionary and patriotic activities before the August Revolution of urban petty bourgeois intellectuals.

The book consists of 3 parts, part 1 is the diary pages from 1938 - 1939 with the main contents: Civil servant life, Literary dream, Hang Voi baby, National language dissemination and marriage. Part 2, diary pages from 1940 - 1943 with the contents: Moving to Hai Phong, Scouting, Tri Tan, Long Tri Night Festival and mother's death. Part 3 is the diary pages from 1943 to before the August Revolution in 1945, exploding with the main contents: Vu Nhu To, An Tu, National Salvation Culture, Tien Phong. Between part 1 and part 2 is "A Chronicle", the diary pages about a very special wedding month of writer Nguyen Huy Tuong.

The structure of the book initially shows us Nguyen Huy Tuong's "literary path" with his literary dream in part 1 when the young Nguyen Huy Tuong was always haunted by the "ghost of literature", until part 2 when his first work "Long Tri Night Festival" was published into a book and part 3 when he published the great work of his career: "Vu nhu To". Besides the "literary path", with this 3-part structure, readers can also know about his journey of participating in social activities, patriotic activities before the revolution with the movement of National Language Propagation to Scouting and then National Culture Salvation.

Writer Nguyen Huy Tuong, in his early steps into literature, considered diary writing as a way to practice writing. Not only that, he believed that "I am writing a diary and reflecting on myself, and finding a concept of life." (Diary of November 24, 1938). The diary is therefore attractive because of its concise but lively writing style, realistic details rich in emotions. Nguyen Huy Tuong's private diary pages are valuable documents about social life, civil servant life and partly sketch out the picture of Vietnamese literature before the August Revolution.

Researcher Nguyen Huy Thang in the Epilogue commented: “Nguyen Huy Tuong's diary, while recording his life with the process of writing and social activities, at the same time, also reflects the events and movements in which he was a part of…”, “…with the advantage of the “genre” – instantly recounting events that happened, Nguyen Huy Tuong's diary also shows the formation of many of his works, from a poem to a play, a novel…”.

The diary "The Writer's Path" is not only for those who love literature in general and writer Nguyen Huy Tuong in particular, it is also a valuable source of information to understand the author Nguyen Huy Tuong and more broadly the generation of pre-war writers.

The book “The Way of Writers” was published on the occasion of the 112th anniversary of the birth of writer Nguyen Huy Tuong, also showing the vitality of his writing. His experiences and thoughts on the path of establishing a career are also a source of encouragement for today’s young generation.

News and photos: Trung Nguyen

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ra-mat-sach-con-duong-van-si--nhat-ky-cua-nha-van-nguyen-huy-tuong-post292984.html