Customer Reviews

The Bamboo Chest: An Adventure in Healing the Trauma of War

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had ordered this book after hearing the author interviewed last month on the KFOG "Morning Show" with Dave Morey here in the SF Bay Area, hearing him talk deeply and thoughtfully about his childhood living in Vietnam and post-traumatic stress that he was only able to heal through a year of solitary confinement in a Vietnamese reeducation camp. When I read the book, I felt as as though he were telling me his story in his own voice: he delivers an excellent narration and does write as he talks.

From a very self-effacing point of view, the author is remarkable in how he is at once delivering his personal life experience from the very naive, and immature attitude of a teenager making the break from home in 1983, who as it would happen has a number of lucky events occur meeting a journalism mentor and invited on the treasure hunt, much in the spirit of what Joseph Campbell called "following your bliss". At the same time speaking from the point of view of the adult author he is now, looking back at the young and impetuous person he was. A rich mix!

The author's manner in which he delivers the historical background of each place (part one is Thailand, and part two is Vietnam) as the young teenager he was grows from naive idealist to mature and responsible adult is in no way intrusive and makes "The Bamboo Chest" a solid piece of work.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has wondered "what if?": "What if I took that life path, and not this one?" If you are interested in the history and culture of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam from a very non-politically correct, honest, and accurate depiction of Southeast Asia, then this book and "Shadows and Wind" by Rober Templar are for you.

If you prefer to get a more politically correct and inaccurate depiction of modern Vietnam, benefiting only American coporations and those benefitting from cheap labor, then get David Lamb's book. For a round eye, Mr. Graham spins a very lucid rendition of Southeast Asia.

"The Bamboo Chest" is a worthwhile read from the point of a American. For another great read, get "Catfish and Mandala" by a Viet-American, the story of a young man who went back to Vietnam, while on cycling trip around the world and has an opportunity to see his history in a new, more modern light.

I wish they had 1/2 stars, because this is more than a 3 and I can be very critical in my reading. This is a very deep book! I have read it three times since I received it for Christmas. There are so may layers of information: conscious, subconscious, political, socialogical, historical. The author has put a great deal of thought into his words and how they affect the reader in an inspiring tale of overcoming challenges that has made me look only at how I approach the dilemmas that have littered my world, but also the simple little things in this world that in contrast have that much more an impact, like our everday interactions with family, friends, and employees. As said, I received The Bamboo Chest as a gift. It has become my 'go to' book to buy for friends and family who love to read dramatic books/memoirs that leave the heart uplifted.

It is finally good to read a book by someone who has spent more than a few months in Vietnam, five years should teach anyone much about a people, especially if they were fluent in Vietnamese at one time. As a Vietnamese-American with an American father and Vietnamese mother I enjoyed this book by an author with parents from two different cultures. Travelling often to visit my relatives in Ho Chi Minh City, I consider myself a good judge of books and found this book along with "Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam" by Andrew X. Pham to be worth adding to any library on South East Asia and Vietnam. I see by reading the reviews below that "The Bamboo Chest" has controvery I guess any book that can command that deserves to once again be an Amazon bestseller, LOL!

I HAD HEARD CORK GRAHAM INTERVIEWED ON THE DR. PEPPERS SHOW AND WAS IMPRESSED BY HIS SPEAKING ABILITY TO CAPTURE MY ATTENTION. I GOT THE BOOK BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WOULD A GOOD READ ABOUT A KID WHO WENT ON A TREASURE HUNT IN A DANGEROUS PLACE. WHAT MORE I GOT WAS A STORY ABOUT A BOY WHO BECAME A MAN, ONE WHO CONFRONTED HIS MANY FEARS AND PAST TROUBLES AND TAUGHT ME MUCH ABOUT MYSELF AND HOW I THOUGHT ABOUT THINGS. GET THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT TO BREAK THROUGH PAST WALLS THAT HAVE KEPT YOU FROM ACHIEVING WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF BUT WERE AFRAID TO TAKE THAT STEP. CORK GRAHAM IS VERY CRAFTY IN HOW HE SEEMS TO BE JUST TELLING A STORY BUT LIKE THE STORY TELLERS OF OLD HE'S REALLY TEACHING THE TRIBE.

THE DATE OF THE INTERVIEW WAS THE AFTERNOON OF THE BUSH/KERRY DEBATE IN ST. LOUIS, MO. IT WAS REVEALED IN THE INTERVIEW THAT PRESIDENT BUSH AND THE FIRST LADY EACH HAVE RECEIVED A COPY. I HOPE THEY READ IT!

320 PAGE AND I FINISHED IT 2 SITTING BECAUSE I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE MOVIE! GET THIS BOOK NOW!

I got this book only a week ago and was impressed with how easy a read this was considering the gravity of the subject. The local book critic in my area wrote that this book is the definitive book on Vietnam, both figuratively and metaphorically. A story about the Vietnam of the war and later, the attractive potential treasure trove of gold and jewels, the covert operation into Laos that failed, a father-son story, a coming of age story with love and romance, and finally a story about the harsh effects of war that haunt for years after the war (making it very important for the events these days) I enthusiastically agree!

I love everything about Asia and the Middle East so I'm so happy to have the opportunity to read the three most important books to come out on the subjects in the last 10 years, every one of them 5 stars: "The Kite Runner", "Reading Lolita in Tehran", and "The Bamboo Chest", one novel and two memoirs!

In "The Bamboo Chest", Frederick Graham writes about being his experiences as the first American political prisoner held by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: his crime was that he sneaked into the country to report on American MIAs and Captain Kidd's treasure. A bizarre tale that shows the effects of the Vietnam War, and how far reaching they have been, as if we didn't know that from the emotions during this year's political campaign. Graham is a fresh new read with a style all his own--I felt as though I was right there with him as he was put through the beatings, mock execution, mock trial, the $10,000 ransom and finally his release 11 months later in 1984. Oh, and this all happened when he was 18 years old, fresh out of high school. His 19th birthday was the mock trial, something that smacks of the old Gang of Four trials they had in China. Amazing! Is a memoir, but read like a novel.

In the Kite Runner, the only fiction novel in the bunch, we are in Afghanistan, a place that during the 1970s was a must visit on the trekker's trail from Europe to Australia. A novel, but reads like a memoir. Some of the plot twists might seem unbelievable, but after reading "The Bamboo Chest", which is a memoir, but unbelievable, I think those plot twists are wonderful.

In "Reading Lolita" we are taken through the nightmare of being a woman in a country where women are taken as second citizens and the idea of a woman teaching is so restrictive, it's a wonderful book peppered with references to the Nafisi's favorite literature that color the narrative well. The author now teaches at Johns Hopkins. She got out of Iran in 1997.

I hope they have more books like this at Amazon.com in the coming years I'll buy them all in a heartbeat!

The Bamboo Chest is a fantastic "read" on many levels. Adventure travel, stories of psychological struggle/triumph and gastromonic literature are my favorite catogories and this book has elements of all three. I have lived in SE Asia and felt transported back by Cork Graham's vivid writing style (in particular his portrayals of Bangkok). The aspect of the book that captivated me most was the honesty in the storytelling. By completely opening himself up Cork allows the reader to join him in his battle for sanity that reaches far beyond his prison walls.

This book should be really titled as the following: "The Bamboo Chest: A treasure of self-control and success!" I'm in my late 60s and consider this book a worthwhile read. It doesn't matter that I had been in Vietnam during the mid 1960s; nor does it matter that I had been back to Vietnam many times. This book is more than an adventure story about treasure hunting, or healing post-traumatic stress, or even just about Vietnam and US experiences. This is a book about how when faced with almost insurmountable odds, we have within ourselves the most powerful tool for achiving anything, even the most unbelievable: your mind! If you seem stuck in the mud; if you've forgotten those qualities that made you the powerhouse you might have been: get this book now!

Normally I would not provide a review on a book that I read. However, I think that the Bamboo Chest, written by Cork Graham is a book that warrants me to provide this review.

The book itself is riveting, it keeps you on the edge of your seat, and you don't want to put it down. His description of the events are so visual, you almost look over your shoulder, feeling that you are there with him in each situation.

His detail description of each character leaves you with a clear view of those characters and the rolls, which they played. You couldn't come away from reading the book without disliking Richard Knight, and somehow being dragged into the Stockholm syndrome your self, liking or having some fawn memories of Mr. Le, and how he provided a special bond with young Fred.

Although I spend more than ten years in South East Asia during and before the war, my roll was such that I never thought that a young boy like Fred could have walked away from the experience the way that he did.

Having a young son myself, I often thought that it would have been nice to have my son while living in South East Asia, so that he could have shared the experience with me. I can clearly see now, that there would have been significant benefits in that, also significant downside effects, which could result in long lasting repercussions.

I sincerely appreciate the author's candidate coverage of his story, and hope that this work will assist others in understanding the impact of PTSD.