Memories of a Pure Spring

Memories of a Pure Spring
by Duong Thu Huong, Nina McPherson

Memories of a Pure Spring
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Book Summary Information

Author: Duong Thu Huong, Nina McPherson
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); Vietnamese (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-01-01
ISBN: 0140298436
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Book Reviews of Memories of a Pure Spring

Book Review: A Wonderful but Tragic Story
Summary: 4 Stars

This story combines ill fortune and personal tragedy that bring a noble soul to sorrow or ruin. In modern literature, tragedy like this is rare. The hero must live and prosper because Hollywood heroes always do. Not tragedy, but romance always reigns. Memories of A Pure Spring is a tragedy in the classical sense. Huong will take you through many tragedies in this story, but the way that they are told makes you want to keep reading.
Huong takes us on an emotionally intense journey, both in a political sense and a personal sense. The political sense appears throughout the entire story as it takes place during and after the Vietnam War. Suong, a young singer, marries Hung, a theater director older than she. Hung is removed as leader of the artistic troupe in a demonstration of the pettiness of arbitrary political power. Then we are brought to the political mess in the heart of the re-education camp. As you read, you begin to feel pity for the characters, but it is not the type of story that depresses you because you find yourself wondering what will happen next. Suong's attempt at suicide, Hung's addiction to alcohol and drugs, and Hung's constant struggle for artistic success all make the story more interesting to read. Sure the story has a few good things that happen, and although they create some happy moments, the emotions that the characters go through and the emotions you as the reader feel, are all inspired more by the tragedy that the characters are experiencing.
This book is written beautifully with lots of imagery and description. As you read, Huong's words constantly make you see or feel something, for example the sea: "It had no country, no fatherland, no nationality, that the sea was free...that belonged to no one else, that answered to no one, that was no one's slave"(99). Hung, the director, is inspired by the sea, and this description of the sea is now how Hung must write his music: "in a different light, in the howl of the sea, of freedom." Huong could have chosen to simply explain how Hung was now free from writing for the troupe. Instead she uses the beautiful metaphor to explain it. She uses metaphors and similes like this throughout the entire story. For example, she uses a neat simile to describe happiness. "It was a small, modest happiness, like a drop of honey that you spread on the tongue of a newborn babe." We are not just told that someone is happy, we are also told the type of happiness and to what extent. These descriptive words and metaphors throughout the entire book make it much more fascinating to read. The tragic events that are occurring are explained with such beauty that they create images and feelings within you that keep you wanting to continue to read.
The only weakness that I find about the story is that it has shifting time periods. Throughout the entire story we shift from past to present quite often. The shifts do not take place just at the beginning of chapters, but everywhere. They are not marked or distinguished in any special way. Sometimes you do not even realize you have shifted until you have read a few paragraphs. Huong, however, did throw in a big hint that helps at times which is the use of symbols. One symbol that is especially helpful is the ylang ylang flower. Huong uses the flower at different times in the story to symbolize a memory one of the characters is having. This is helpful at times and is a neat hint, but it does not occur at every time shift. These time shifts do cause confusion but they in no way ruin the story. They just make the story more challenging to read. The text is written in a way that is very easy to understand. The story is not at all difficult to read as long as you can work through the shifts from past to present. This is the only weakness that I discovered throughout my reading and most people might not even call it a weakness, but a challenge.
I really enjoyed reading Memories of A Pure Spring. Any reader who enjoys a book about love, and life after war, will enjoy this story. Of course not many people enjoy reading about tragedy, but the way it is written helps you to get past the tragedy and enjoy the story. It does not have the action-packed excitement of a horror story, but the beautiful description and whirl-wind of love and tragedy keeps you reading and wanting to know what more could happen next. This is not a story that I would normally read, but I am glad that I did and I would recommend it to anyone.

Summary of Memories of a Pure Spring

Memories of a Pure Spring is a mesmerizing portrait of modern Vietnam and its people who struggle to survive under the complexities of a post-war regime. During the Vietnam war, Hung, a well-known composer, becomes enchanted by the voice and beauty of a young peasant girl named Suong. He invites her to join his troupe; she becomes his wife and his star performer. But after the war, Hung loses his job, setting off a series of events that drive him and Suong into a destructive spiral. One of Vietnam's most popular writers, Duong Thu Huong draws on her own experiences to describe life at the battlefront, the conditions of a "re-education" camp, and the texture and rhythm, scents and sounds, of a provincial Vietnamese city. Most of all, she tells a haunting, universal story of failed love.

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