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Bezig met laden... Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains (2016)door Yasuko Thanh
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. 1   gypsysmom | Nov 26, 2016 | 
 While the historical reality of that “nothing town” rightly captivates the author, the puzzling story she builds about it lacks sureness. It’s as if in being overwhelmed by the maze of bygone Saigon’s narrow corridors, Thanh lost her footing....Well past the novel’s midpoint, one of Georges-Minh’s pals complains about the group’s inaction: “Too much thinking, not enough action.” The reader can’t help but agree. Eventually, the poison plot fizzles; the panicked co-conspirators flee toward the untamed coast and into Heart of Darkness territory.....Along the way, Thanh’s problematic narration is strewn with anachronisms...Shortcomings aside, there’s no denying the author’s artful eye. It’s what I’ll keep in mind when hearing of Thanh’s future undertakings.
"Vietnam is a haunted country, and Dr. Nguyen Georges-Minh is a haunted man. In 1908, the French rule Saigon, but uneasily; dissent whispers through the corridors of the city. Each day, more Vietnamese rebels are paraded through the streets towards the gleaming blade of the guillotine, now a permanent fixture in the main square and a gruesome warning to those who would attempt to challenge colonial rule. It is a warning that Georges-Minh will not heed. A Vietnamese national and Paris-educated physician, he is obsessed by guilt over his material wealth and nurses a secret loathing for the French connections that have made him rich, even as they have torn his beloved country apart. With a close-knit group of his friends calling themselves the Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains, Georges-Minh plots revenge on the French for the savagery they have shown to the Vietnamese. And it falls to Georges-Minh to create a poison to mix into the Christmas dinner of a garrison of French soldiers. It is an act that will send an unmistakable message to the French: Get out of Vietnam. But the assassination attempt goes horribly wrong. Forced to flee into the deep jungles of the outer provinces, Georges-Minh must care for his infant son, manage the growing madness of his wife, and elude capture by the hill tribes and the small--but lethal--pockets of French sympathizers. Journey Prize winner Yasuko Thanh transports us into a vivid, historical Vietnam, one that is filled with chaotic streets, teeming marketplaces, squalid opium dens, and angry ghosts that exist side by side with the living"-- Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.25)
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Five friends plot to kill a detachment of French soldiers settled in Saigon. Before they can settle on how to do this they try to come up with a name. One of the proposed names is Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains but they never really decide on that name or any other. One of the group is a doctor, Georges-Minh, who is the son of rich parents, now deceased. He rattles around their huge house on the banks of the river and tries to hide from his homosexual leanings. With his medical training he is tasked with making a poison to kill the soldiers. Another main character is Khieu who has left his wife and children running an inn to live with his mistress and make straw hats with poetry inside the crown. He wants to kill all the soldiers but Georges-Minh thinks just killing the commander would send enough of a message. Week after week these men meet but seem incapable of carrying out their plot. In the meantime Georges-Minh has found a woman that he thinks he could marry. Dong came to his city clinic as a patient with a coughing sickness (probably TB). After an intimate encounter Dong becomes pregnant and they marry. This complicates matters for Georges-Minh and he takes refuge in drink and opium. Perhaps it is the intoxicants that cause him to see and hear spirits and ghosts or perhaps he is going crazy. It is hard to tell for sure. Just as it is hard to tell what is real and what isn't in the rest of the story.
I am tempted to compare this book to another that came out this year. Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien is also set in the Far East (China) during a time of turmoil. Both authors are female and Canadian. Both books are based on events in their families' histories. There is even a theme of homosexuality in each book. However, Thien's book was masterfully written and this book falls short of the mark. (