Svetlana's Reads and Views

Title of the book: American Dreamer; How I Escaped Communist Vietnam and Built a Successful Life in America  Author: Tim Tran (Tran Manh Khiem) Tom Fields-Meyer Publisher: Pacific University Press Publishing Date: 2020 ISBN: 978-1-945398-02-5 Summary: "American Dreamer" is an inspirational, first-hand account of the motivating power of an immigrant’s dream for a better life. From the rural Vietnam of Tim Tran’s childhood to his eventual escape to America and his rise as CFO of a multi-billion-dollar company, Tran’s memoir is a lesson in perseverance and ingenuity. After he initially left Vietnam in 1970 to attend American universities on a USAID scholarship, Tran’s sense of commitment led him home shortly before the fall of Saigon in 1975. Suspected of being a CIA agent, he found life under Communism increasingly difficult and dangerous, and was forced to flee. During multiple attempts to escape, he encountered deceit, betrayal, and even murder. Finally, in 1979 Tran and his ...

Name of Book: As the Heart Bones Break Author: Audrey Chin ISBN: 978-9814484077 Publisher:  Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd Type of book: Vietnam, Vietnamese War, spying, hiding, leaving life behind, America, using, opportunities, never letting go, family secrets, generations, 1940s?-2000s? Year it was published: 2014 Summary: In Thong Tran's Vietnam, everyone is at war and no one is who they seem not his adopted father, a French civil servant, not his Blood Father, the Viet Cong rooster master, not his pro-American journalist tutor. Like them, the boy from the Mekong Delta cannot escape the war. And like them, he too must create shades of himself to survive. But even a conflicted heart needs a home. Thong yearns for a true father and a cause to give himself to. He chooses independence, liberty and happiness his tutor and the Viet Cong. Tragically, there s no independence, liberty or happiness at war s end. Re-invented as an American aerospace en...

General Information: Name of Book: The Frangipani Hotel ISBN: 978-0-8129-9331-8 Publisher: Spiegel & Grau Year it was published: 2014 Author: Violet Kupersmith About the Author:  (From TLC) About Violet Kupersmith Violet Kupersmith was born in rural Pennsylvania in 1989 and grew up outside of Philadelphia. Her father is American and her mother is a former boat refugee from Vietnam. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College she received a yearlong Fulbright Fellowship to teach and research in the Mekong Delta. She is currently at work on her first novel. Overall theme:  " Con , if you were listening you would have learned almost everything you need to know about your history. The first rule of the country we come from is that it always gives you what you ask for, but never exactly what you want." (page 10) 1. Boat Story Short Summary: A granddaughter looking for an exciting story that should guarantee her an A in history, asks ...

Name of book: The North China Lover Author Name: Marguerite Duras ISBN: 1-56584-043-7 Publisher: The New Press/New York Type of book: Adult, historical, 1930s? Vietnam, interracial, white female/asian male relationship Year it was published: 1992 Summary: Hailed in France as "an incomparable pleasure," Marguerite Duras's newest novel is a fascinating retelling of the dramatic experiences of her adolescence that have shaped her work. Far more daring and truthful than any book she has written before, it emphasizes the realities of her youth in Indochina nad reveals much that her earlier works concealed. An instant number-one bestseller in France, The North CHina Lover both shocks and entrances its readers. Initially written as notes toward a film-script for The Lover, the book has the grainy, filmic qualties of a documentary. For all who admired Duras's previous work, here is an exciting and unexpected reading of her past-a work the French critics ...