"I am a refugee, an American, and a human being, which is important to proclaim, as there are many who think these identities cannot be reconciled."
Exploring the complexities of the post-Vietnam refugee experience, the incomparable Viet Thanh Nguyen spent 20 years putting together the stories that comprise "The Refugees" -- and the investment of time and emotion are worth it for readers.
Nguyen spares no sentiment in writing the struggles of identity, displacement, and mortality into existence. Powered by impeccable short stories like "Black-Eyed Women," "Someone Else Besides You," "Fatherland," and others, "Refugees" is at its best when it delves into the theme of domineering parents who hang like a specter over displaced lives.
"'You aren’t afraid of the things you believe in,' he said. This, too, I wrote in his memoir, even though I had not understood what he meant. Now I did. My body clenched as I sobbed without shame and without fear. My brother watched me curiously as I wept for him and for me, for all the years we could have had together but didn’t, for all the words never spoken between my mother, my father, and me. Most of all, I cried for those other girls who had vanished and never come back, including myself."
Despite the weighty topic, Nguyen is capable of the occasional humor needed to make moving on possible, as displayed in "War Years."
"I had seen Star Wars a dozen times on videotape, and if anyone was so deprived as to have not watched it even once, then the country in which he lived surely needed a revolution."
Dedicated "For all refugees, everywhere," "The Refugees" is a worthy complement to Nguyen's other stunning works, "The Sympathizer" (runner-up in the 2019 Scooties) and "The Committed."
Admirers of Nguyen's work will see a blend of his sparse prose and a number of autobiographical elements. The potent mix culminates in a hard-earned read that will linger long after the final word is read -- and written.
"In a country where possessions counted for everything, we had no belongings except our stories."
"Tell me something," it said. "Why did I live and you die?"
"You died too," he said. "You just don’t know it."
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