Customer Reviews

Sparring with Charlie

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

 

 

Christopher Hunt went to Vietnam with the aim of traveling down the Ho Chi Minh Trail and gather ideas for a novel. He wrote a travelogue instead which details his adventures and the people he meets. If you find yourself interested in Mr. Hunt's writing search for him on the Web. Some of his fiction appears in ezines. Catherine Karnow did the cover photography. Forty-one of her pictures from Vietnam appears in the ezine @TLAS. Issues such as the MIA's, the faith of the Amerasian and the boat-people are addressed in passing. There are many individual portraits of people from all over the country.

If you want a book about two-wheel adventure in communist countries, far more enjoyable is "Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba," a fascinating and sometimes hilarious, sometimes hair-raising story of a 7,000-mile journey and justifiably the winner of both the 2002 "Travel Book of the Year" and the North American Travel Journalist Association's Awards of Excellence "Grand Prize."

While academics might look down on this witty work for merely touching on difficult questions, I found it the most useful preparation for a two week trip to Vietnam. Hunt gives poignant images of young people trying to survive in in a fast-changing country. They fantasize about the fabled suburbs of America - the land of infinite consumer goods, exciting movies, and Bay Watch. Yet the museums provide evidence of the long, brutal war known as "The American War."

Hunt's Vietnam remains an odd, exotic country where anything can happen. How many places are there where police shake you down, negotiate a bribe, and then give you a receipt! I could relate to Hunt's twin desires to push the limits and explore the unknown while riding along the broken Ho Chi Minh trail - and being genuinely afraid. When does riding alone on a dark road become stupid? Can you trust the innkeeper? How can you transcend being the "rich" American in a poor country? What do people expect or want from you? What do you want from them? When are you being set up? Does evil lurk behind that smile? What topics, besides critizing Ho Chi Minh, are taboo? Where are the boundaries of speech in a corrupt police state? Is it fair for an American tourist to even comment on Vietnam's woes If you plan to see Hue, Saigon, Hanoi, or go to Laos, then this book presents awkward situations worth considering before visiting Southeast Asia. It's a travelogue, not an academic history of the area. Hunt critizes many aspects of Vietnam - he's judgemental. That also makes the book more real because I can't avoid, no matter how hard I might try, making judgements. You have to make choices, and Hunt shares his decision making process with us. I appreciated that! I looked at many, many books before my trip. I took Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide. This was the only book on Vietnam that I read cover to cover with delight.

Hunt provides a highly suspect "non-fiction" account of his trip to Vietnam. Some of his stories referred to Vietnamese people who did not speak English/French...Hunt can't speak Vietnamese, so how can he explain their actions/thoughts? Very arrogant of him.

I have spent an extensive time in Vietnam and I think that Hunt's inaccurate account of Vietnam to be an insult to the people. Then again, he probably made up some of the stories just to make things more interesting for his book. If he knew how to speak Vietnamese, he would have learned more about the Vietnamese culture and at least he would be able to make up consistent stories that are more believable.

For those of you interested in riding through Vietnam...Hunt's woes on his motorcylcle will come true if you choose to be ignorant and unprepared as he was. Hunt is correct that the Minsk is more popular in the North. If you fly into Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) most people there ride on scooters. You will also find old Honda CB 77s and Vespas. I would definitely recommend bringing a leatherman, and a basic metric tool kit (most of the bikes that you try to buy will be missing their stock tool kits). Play it safe, swap out the spark plugs, brake/choke/clutch/throttle cables before your trip. Check your tires, it will be a rough ride and most tires in Vietnam are in poor shape. Roads through the country are very, very dusty too so be prepared for that. WD40 to lubricate your cables will extend the life of your cables too. Good luck if you're heading there...you'll have a great time!

I was really disappointed by this book. The author missed all the charm of Vietnam. He was so intent on his own self indulgent, ethnocentric whining that he failed to see the richness of the culture surrounding him. My advice to him would be to lose the chip on his shoulder and to never travel overseas again.

As both a motorcyclist and a traveller, I found this book both an interesting read and useful for planning a trip to Vietnam.

Do not read this book if you want to discover the charm and beauty of Vietnam. Hunt's account of Vietnam and its people is shallow and supercilious.It appears that Hunt cannot accept the fact that his country lost the war. He might have spent sometime in Vietnam, but the experience has not taught him anything about appreciating the culture, sights and sounds of Vietnam.

As someone who enjoys motorcycle travel overseas, I found this book invaluable for planning my own motorcycle tour in Vietnam. Some reviews have said the writer is 'shallow' etc, but I think his comments are dead on.

I traveled to Vietnam as well and I don't think that Hunt's book is a very accurate depiction of the people or the country. Good thing he's not a good writer or else he would have been the first "Jayson Blair."