Pre-Reflection of "Paradise of the Blind"

             The interesting thing that one notices at first glance on the cover of the book, “Paradise of the Blind” by Duong Thu Huong is that it says that it’s a novel. The books subject, which is the story of a young girl’s struggle to cope with a family damaged by the separation of Vietnam, makes it sound as though it were meant to be a memoire. I find it hard to imagine how the author would be able to take on such an emotional topic if she had not lived under similar circumstances. Before beginning the book, I took the time to read the ‘About the Author’ piece on the last two pages and learned that Duong Thu Huong was both the leader of the youth Communist brigade when she was younger, and the first women to volunteer as a soldier when China launched an attack against Vietnam. Because of the book “Paradise of the Blind”, which was banned soon after being published due to its criticism of the Communist regime and its immense popularity, Huong was sent to prison for seven months. Even at a first look at the author, it is easy to assume that even though she did not live under the exact same circumstances as her characters, she did live under her own fair share of hardships.

                Vietnam had just come out of the French rule, and was newly establishing a communist state in the north when the novel takes place. There was not a complete understanding of what communism really was throughout the country, which led to big mistakes being done especially in the villages. Many young people were brain washed from a young age, as shown by the character Chinh in the book: from the age of 19 on he was a part of the communist party, and soon completely changed his character. The author herself used to be a part of the communist party, which means she had fist hand experience with what was going on, and must have tried to portray that in the characters she has created. It will be interesting to see how well they connect and whether there is any symbolism of her own difficult life between the pages.

                All-in-all I am quite excited to read this book because I believe it will shed light on a country and lifestyle which is very foreign to the one in which I live in now. I am curious to see how the characters will interact and how the story will eventually develop. Because I have already read a few pages I have a general idea of the characters, such as Chinh’s early membership to the party, and Aunt Tam’s decisiveness to  never to give up, and I wonder how this will effect their relationships with the main character , Hang, and her mother. Because of the time and place of the book and the history of the author, this will be a very thought- provoking read.