Child of War, Woman of Peace by Le Ly Hayslip
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Book Reviews of Child of War, Woman of Peace
Book Review: 3 Stars
Tears are falling from my eyes as I write this review...now the LOWEST RATED review of this book. I feel as if I should stop typing and just punch myself in the nose.Okay....as other reviewers have pointed out, this book is the sequel to Ms. Hayslip's first book 'When Heaven and Earth Changed Places.' Additionally, Oliver Stone bought the film rights to both books, and made a movie with (IMHO) mixed results.
I first saw Ms. Hayslip's book a few years ago, when it was offered as a featured selection in Quality Paperback Bookclub (QPB), as a 'first time' author. As a rule, the editors at QPB know their onions about what makes a rattling good yarn, and QPB (once again) was right on the mark: Heaven & Earth is one of the best books I have ever read. But that book ends with Ms. Hayslip just leaving Vietnam for America with her new serviceman husband. Did she live happily ever after? Inquiring minds wanted to know....
When I stumbled across 'Child of War, Woman of Peace,' the sequel to 'Heaven and Earth,' I was thrilled....But this book is not as good as the first. There; I said it.
Two quick points: First, 'not as good' in this context is already a pretty high bar. As I mentioned, the first book was a wonderful, moving story--both tragic and heroic. Second, I was so wild in 'book reading love' with Ms. Hayslip's character from 'Heaven and Earth,' that I really enjoyed reading this book, and admire more than I can express the candor with how she describes some of the, frankly, poor decisions that she has made in her life--but still she bounces back.
All that said, here's why I have to hang three stars on this book. Overall, the book felt a little rushed to me. The language, the phrasing in 'Heaven and Earth' was so polished, it shined. For example, at one point, Ms. Hayslip describes the Vietnam War as 'America driving the smiling Buddha from his temple, and replacing him with the Khaki-clad god of Abraham.' I don't recall any phrase of such breath and power in 'Child of War.' Because the book feels a little 'rushed' (ie sent to publication, when it needed another re-write), there are a couple of rough spots that hit my ear wrong.
Mainly, Ms. Hayslip's relation with her first husband and new in-laws is a little disjointed. While she is grateful for her husband bringing her to the US, the husband still comes across as pretty much a pig of an older guy, who lives to doink the young Vietnamese wife. Additionally, Ms. Hayslip gives the impression that her in laws pretty much disaprove of her (if not hate her), and implies the family cheated her in a transaction with a car. Nevertheless, the end of the book includes a wide, all embracing 'thank you' to this family. I was left with the impression that Ms. Hayslip might have been thanking this family for not being even worse than what they were to her.
Next, the relationship with her second husband was also a little unsettled. 'Major Daddy' from Heaven and Earth became the real 'Daddy'--only to quickly turn out to be an abusive crook who claimed not to understand why Ms. Hayslip would be unhappy about 'Major Daddy' becoming 'Daddy Arms Merchant' (not quite 'Daddy Warbucks,' but close--with lots less money). I thought the ups & downs of the relationship needed another re-write.
There were some scenes where Ms. Hayslip is talking to her children about what the family should do, and one of the sons (at least to me) suddenly out of the blue becomes a very angry, troubled kid who insists the family should smash windows and slash the tires on cars. I did read the book quickly, so maybe I missed earlier signs that all was not well with this son, but I doubt it. To me, this boy's anger just exploded out of the blue.
Overall, I think the biggest criticism I have of this book is that Ms. Hayslip tried to do too much. She has had a momentous life, and I certainly wanted to know EVERYTHING, but covering all the details meant not giving some points the attention they needed. For example, by the end of the book, Ms. Hayslip is organizing tours of Vietnam in an early effort to bring the Vietnamese and American peoples closer together. I thought that part of the book was fascinating, especially the fact that a large number of the Americans who wanted to return were Vietnam era vets. However, the program goes from running smoothly to Ms. Hayslip suddenly complaining about some of the visitors to Vietnam grousing about the fact the hotel accomidations and food are comparable to that of a third world country. I'm paraphrasing here, but Ms. Hayslip's response is 'Well--DUH!' I wanted to have more detail on how Ms. Hayslip's foundation adressed those rough spots: Did she get better hotel rooms, or less choicy customers?
What I would have liked (I can't understand why Ms. Hayslip didn't ask me) would be for this book to describe more of her general impressions of a Vietnamese immigrant to America (and less about the specifics of her relationship with her first husband and his family), and more detail about her work with her foundation.
All that said, many parts of this book are wonderful. One of the scenes that Oliver Stone captured so well in his film was Ms. Hayslip's shocked introduction to American refrigerators. Additionally, I loved Ms. Hayslip's 'betrayal' by American marketing via 'Uncle Ben's Rice.' The sections of the book where Ms. Hayslip returns to Vietnam, and her teenage son meets his Vietnamese father for the first time are very moving.
But am I saying not to read this book? Of course not. What I am saying is you owe it to yourself to read 'Heaven and Earth.' THEN read this book--but be prepared: it is a step down (then after reading both books, give the Oliver Stone movie a miss. But that's just my opinion).
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