Set during the French and American wars in South Vietnam, Fourth Uncle in the Mountain is the true story of an orphan, Quang Van Nguyen, adopted by a sixty-four-year-old monk, Thau, who carries great responsibility for his people as a barefoot doctor. Thau manages against all odds to raise his son to follow in his footsteps and in doing so saves him, as well as a part of Vietnam's esoteric knowledge from the Vietnam holocaust. Thau is wanted by the French regime and occasionally must flee in to the jungle, where he is perfectly at home living among the animals. As wise and resourceful as Thau is, he meets his match in his mischievous son. Quang is more interested in learning Cambodian sorcery and martial arts than in developing his skills and wisdom according to his father's plan. Fourth Uncle in the Mountain is an odyssey of a single-father folk hero and his foundling son in a land ravaged by the atrocities of war. It is a classic story complete with humor, tragedy, and insight, from a country where ghosts and magic are real.
Fourth Uncle in the Mountain
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"[A] charming book . . . the volume contains a wealth of information about Vietnamese history and culture … an adventure book strung through with passages on selflessness and mindfulness, this volume is an excellent choice for readers interested in Vietnam and Buddhism."--Publishers Weekly
"This is a magical, mesmerizing story; a complicated tale of Vietnam's anguished history, of healing and faith, and of a young boy's miraculous coming of age."--Ken Burns, director of Jazz and The Civil War
"When I had read the first few chapters of this engrossing biography, I had stopped a dozen times to recall my times in the Delta and the towns and villages that are mentioned in the book. By the time I had finished - I wanted to go back…. A thoroughly enjoyable read."--Captain E.G. Adams, The Air America Log
"Fourth Uncle in the Mountain is a great story about two simply good men. It is told simply, but simplicity should never be mistaken for a lack of emotional complexity, intellectual refinement, or overwhelming humanity. It is all that."--The Asian Reporter
"…an unputdownable tale, told in an intimate, oral style with an unassuming wisdom, a thrilling, Castaneda-like search for knowledge as well as a moving tribute to the most profound love between a father and son."-- Nick DeMartino, University Bookstore, Seattle (selected as University Bookstore's 2004 Book of the Year)
"Fourth Uncle in the Mountain is a great story about two simply good men. It is told simply, but simplicity should never be mistaken for a lack of emotional complexity, intellectual refinement, or overwhelming humanity. It is all that."--The Asian Reporter
"…an unputdownable tale, told in an intimate, oral style with an unassuming wisdom, a thrilling, Castaneda-like search for knowledge as well as a moving tribute to the most profound love between a father and son."-- Nick DeMartino, University Bookstore, Seattle (selected as University Bookstore's 2004 Book of the Year)
About the Author
Quang Van Nguyen is the son of one of South Vietnam's most beloved spiritual masters, Thau Van Nguyen. Quang became a Buddhist abbot before fleeing Vietnam in 1987. He now lives in the United States.
Marjorie Pivar has worked for the past twenty years as a Shiatsu therapist in the field of alternative medicine. She lives in Vermont.
Marjorie Pivar has worked for the past twenty years as a Shiatsu therapist in the field of alternative medicine. She lives in Vermont.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Acu Ty
Format:Paperback
This breathtaking autobiography has resonated really with me. Coming from a Vietnamese background as well as having a lineage of traditional healers, Quang's story has the same tones within the realm of traditional medicine that were told to me as a child.
As an acupuncture student, Quang's journey had a lot similarities to that in which I'm encountering. It was amazing reading this book because every step of the way, you felt as if you were with him.
With mysticism/magic, acupuncture, herbs, ghosts, spirits, and myriad of characters, Fourth Uncle... is truly one of the greatest qutobiographies that I've read in a long time.
As an acupuncture student, Quang's journey had a lot similarities to that in which I'm encountering. It was amazing reading this book because every step of the way, you felt as if you were with him.
With mysticism/magic, acupuncture, herbs, ghosts, spirits, and myriad of characters, Fourth Uncle... is truly one of the greatest qutobiographies that I've read in a long time.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In buddhist legend, meditation adepts attain a "samadhi fantastic beyond description". This is Fourth Uncle. The magic, sorcery, and martial art stories give way to the natural magic of one pointed concentration - in the cave of the primoridal, original, and pristine mind. I enjoyed this book so much, in spite of the tragic backdrop of pre and post Vietnamese war history. There is a great human truth here, that goes beyond religions, in the narration that radiates out through the eyes of a child coming into adulthood. There is also a lot of what is called by aboriginal peoples, "indigenous knowledge" about Viet Nam, which sadly may be disappearing because of enviromental desecration. This book is also a hommage to the folk doctor tradition. This tradition, so vital to the revitalization of the human spirit, is also in danger of being marginalized by institutionalized medicine. Better that it be accommodated for what it is - natural wisdom.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book had me quickly transported to another world--the descriptions were rich and entrancing, the story fascinating--and the telling as if you're listening to Quang. I read this in hardcover over a year ago and many of the images are still vividly with me (not a common experience for me!).
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent storytelling of an amazing healer facing the challenges of...
Moving tale of the challenges and incredible trials of a healer in traditional vietnamese herbs and acapuncture and the stories of his father and other masters in his training.
Published 29 days ago by Linda weisman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic True Biography
I was one of Dr. Quang's first patients in Vermont. Dr. Quang is an outstanding healer and helped me through a very, very serious illness. Read more
Published 2 months ago by C.Hill
4.0 out of 5 stars
Vietnamese Sorcery
I don't know how to describe this book, so I won't. I will say this. If you desire to know what life was like living in Vietnam in the 1950s through the fall of Saigon, then under... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Chekker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magical
I read this book my first year of chinese medical school, when the education seemed to be drying out all my desire for the medicine with rote memorization. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Teresa Wlasiuk
4.0 out of 5 stars
Veitnam myths
This book deals with the myths and verious medical tecniques used in Vetinam from their past and up to the present. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Phillip Goodnight
5.0 out of 5 stars
touching the soul
This book fell into my hands at a friends house after a library sell. I asked if I could borrow it. It sucked me into a world of wonder, the richness of a culture drenched in... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Kristina Mauak
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sincere. Authoritative. Genuine. Fascinating. Inspiring. Humbling....
Sincere. Authoritative. Genuine. Fascinating. Inspiring. Humbling. Enlightening.
These are only just a few of the words I would use to describe this very remarkable and... Read more
These are only just a few of the words I would use to describe this very remarkable and... Read more
Published 24 months ago by The Aeolian Kid
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting
This was recommended to me. I found it incredibly interesting although some of the stories challenged my perspective on reality. Still, a great read.
Published on February 21, 2011 by nocooking
5.0 out of 5 stars
Martial art teacher
Super cool book. one of the best I have ever read. I dont know how you could keep from liking this book if you do tcm. cant say enough good things about the book.
Published on November 15, 2010 by Randall Sevier
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humble yet fantastical spiritual autobiography
I loved this book. While growing up in a war-torn country on the brink of modernity, the author is nurtured and tutored by an eclectic bunch of teachers, some selected for him by... Read more
Published on May 28, 2010 by Matthew P. Sieradski
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