Vietnam books to read

[Kien Pham]

Hello Classmates and Friends:

Greetings from Vietnam, mythically called Land of Dragons and Angels!

As mentioned to a few of you before, here are some of my favorite Vietnam books, with synopsis and a weblink to buy.  Two novels and one historical biography.  These 3 books cover the complexity of the Vietnam War, also known as the American War to Vietnamese people, through Colonel John Paul Vann in "A Bright Shining Lie" by Neil Sheehan, the complexity of the Vietnamese refugee diaspora in America in "The Sympathizer" by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a Vietnamese American in California, and the hidden brutality of private pains and national public pride of northern Vietnamese who were the winners of that misguided war in "The Sorrow of War" by Bao Ninh, a Hanoi writer.

One bad war and three affected lives in an American, a southern Vietnamese and a northern Vietnamese.  The common humanity in those three men seems to fade in and out of the pages, not there all the time like it should be.  If you desire reading homework, then see this email as your elective assignment.  All 3 books are best sellers and prize winners.

Your friend, kp

1. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan

Synopsis:  

One of the most acclaimed books of our time—the definitive Vietnam War exposé and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

When he came to Vietnam in 1962, Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann was the one clear-sighted participant in an enterprise riddled with arrogance and self-deception, a charismatic soldier who put his life and career on the line in an attempt to convince his superiors that the war should be fought another way. By the time he died in 1972, Vann had embraced the follies he once decried. He died believing that the war had been won.

In this magisterial book, a monument of history and biography that was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction, a renowned journalist tells the story of John Vann—"the one irreplaceable American in Vietnam"—and of the tragedy that destroyed a country and squandered so much of America's young manhood and resources.

Weblink to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Shining-Lie-America-Vietnam/dp/0679724141

2. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Synopsis:

Now an HBO Original Limited Series on Max, and winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, a startling debut novel featuring one of the most remarkable narrators of recent years: a conflicted subversive and idealist working as a double agent in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.

The winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, as well as seven other awards, and now an HBO Original Limited Series on Max, The Sympathizer has sold over one million copies worldwide and is one of the most acclaimed books of the 21st century. With the pace and suspense of a thriller and prose that has been compared to Graham Greene and Vladimir Nabokov, The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a “man of two minds,” a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who comes to America after the fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping spy novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.

Weblink to buy:  https://www.amazon.com/Sympathizer-Viet-Thanh-Nguyen/dp/0802123457

3. The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh

Synopsis: 

The daring and controversial novel that took the world by storm--a story of politics, selfhood, survival, and war.

Heart-wrenching, fragmented, raw, former North Vietnamese soldier Bao Ninh's The Sorrow of War provides a strikingly honest look at how the Vietnam War forever changed his life, his country, and the people who live there. Kien, a lone survivor from the Glorious 27th Youth brigade of the Vietcong, revisits the haunting sites of battles and relives a parade of horrors, as he grapples with his ghosts, his alcoholism and attempts to arrange his life in writing. Originally published against government wishes in Vietnam because of its nonheroic, non-ideological tone, Ninh's now classic work has won worldwide acclaim and become an international bestseller.

Weblink to buy:  https://www.amazon.com/Sorrow-War-Novel-North-Vietnam/dp/1573225436

END.

Kien Pham

Imperfect Servant of the People

VN Mobile and WhatsApp: +84-98-5656-566

"You make a living by what you get and a life by what you give"

Sorry if you see typos.  This email comes from a blind man on mobile device!

[Anne Moses]

Hi All!  Can anyone provide a list of REQUIRED vaccines for this trip?  I’m confused between required and suggy.  Thanks!    Anne

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[LisaKelleyGMail]

Thank you Kien for these book recommendations. I also recommend two other books for those looking for additional reading material for those long plane rides: The Mountains Sing- a beautiful historical fiction -  and The Women - about the largely untold story of army nurses during the war- both excellent. On my last visit to DC I walked over to the relatively new nurse memorial  which is near the Vietnam memorial. All just fyi 

See you all soon!

Lisa

Lisa Anderson Kelley

li...@kelley.pro

650-279-0750

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On Dec 15, 2025, at 7:59 AM, Kien Pham <Kien...@neverchange.com> wrote:



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[Janice Stanton]

A friend gave me The Women when she heard I was travelling to Vietnam. I enjoyed it as well. Wondering if anyone watched the Ken Burns Vietnam series?

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[Lisa Kelley]

Yes, my husband Ken and I watched the entire series. It was an education but also so heartbreaking to learn about all the behind the scenes conversations throughout multiple administrations - both American and Vietnamese - that led to so much death and destruction.

Lisa Anderson Kelley

Li...@kelley.pro

650-279-0750

On Jan 26, 2026, at 7:28 AM, Janice Stanton <sta...@contrariancapital.com> wrote:



[Kien Pham]

Friends:

The Ken Burns series started with the battle of Ap Bac in the Mekong Delta.  You also can read about that significant event in The Bright Shining Lie because John Paul Vann was right there in the air sitting with frustration inside a small spotting plane watching the fruitless fight and trying to steer it for hours. 

Americans should have given up and headed for home after that 1962 battle.  We will be in the vicinity of that battlefield during our Mekong Delta stop.

How more cool can that be!!!

Best, kp

Kien Pham

Imperfect Servant of the People

VN Mobile and WhatsApp: +84-98-5656-566

"You make a living by what you get and a life by what you give"

Sorry if you see typos.  This email comes from a blind man on mobile device!

[Mary Ann Eddy]

I am right there in the book now !

MAE

Mary Ann Eddy
96 Hampton St
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
917 921 2471

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[Tim Jenks]



Travel Mates -

One more for your Vietnam library is We Were Soldiers Once and Young, by Harold Moore. I suggest the book rather than the movie. It is hard to call it a recommendation because either way, you will conclude that Comrade Kien is not kidding about decisions that could’ve been made differently in 1962. That is underscored if you read The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien. These can both be on your post trip to-read list.

The Sympathizer was quite a book. Thank you, Kien for that recommendation. Saying I enjoyed it would not adequately describe my reaction to it, however.

Tim