Customer Reviews

Flowers of the Dinh Ba Forest

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

 

 

Hunting for orchids at the height of the Vietnam war? Crazy? You bet, and Clark pulls it off. This book drew me in from the get-go. Clark's characters are as real as the guy living next door to you. And when they talk, you can't help but listen. Just a good read, and you don't have to be interested in war novels to enjoy this kind of writing. Good stuff. Highly recommended.

This is a fresh novel that keeps getting better as it goes along. The beginning seems a little familiar (I guess I've read too many Vietnam novels) but then you suddenly notice you're hooked. We get to see the war from very personal but complex points of view. There are good and bad and innocent on both sides, and we can figure that out for ourselves as we travel on the strange road to find orchids. A little bit of mania (how can anyone have any outside interests in the middle of battle?) makes the novel move with confidence and friendship.

The people in this novel are convincing and sometimes annoying and it's hard not to worry about them as we see how their fates keep driving forward. There's a real momentum here, based on what we want to see happen to these people--we want the good ones to live; we want the orchid to be found. We want everyone safe and we want the horror to be gone. This book feels real.

Flowers of the Dinh Ba Forest was a great read, I can't wait to see what Clark puts out next! The book isn't about the Vietnam war, but is a story that took place during the war. The characters are fabulous, well developed and realistic. As I said, I couldn't put it down, but didn't want it to end.