Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire [Paperback]

Thich Nhat Hanh (Author), Thomas Merton (Foreword)

Product Details

• Paperback: 115 pages
• Publisher: Hill & Wang; 1st edition (January 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809013347
• ISBN-13: 978-0809013340
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #996,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thich Nhat Hahn's first major book in English-the Vietnam War seen clearly for the first time, August 8, 2010

By 

jenga - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vietnam Lotus in a Sea of Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

I have been a student of Thich Nhat Hahn for about 16 years now. I have wanted to read his first major English publication, Lotus in Sea of Fire, for over ten years. I finally got to buy it on Amazon and I am so glad I did. In 1966 I gave a talk in support of the Vietnam war in my high school and planned to join the Green Berets (Marine Special Forces.) By 1967, as a student at Wesleyan University I had major second thoughts. By 1968 I applied for classification as a conscientious objector to this particular war. I was denied. I had to change majors from architecture to pre-med to get a deferment due to my very low draft lottery number in late 1968. I became a stronger and stronger opponent of the war from 1968 through 1972.

If I had been able to read Lotus in a Sea of Fire in 1967, I would have been instantly a very strong opponent of the war. My arguments would have been much stronger. The clear writing and very insightful discussion of the history and deeper meaning of the war to the Vietnamese peasants, Vietnamese intellectuals, the French, the American right wing politicians would have helped me greatly. These discussions help me now. Combined with my excellent biography of Ho Chi Minh, I feel I can see the war from the Vietnamese perspective much better.

Thich Nhat Hahn has helped me understand many things in my life. He has done it again with this book. I plan to share the book with my father. We fought a lot over the war and my decisions about the draft. We have remained far apart in our thinking over the last 43 years. This short but deeply insightful book may help change that.

This is a book that will change lives for Vietnam era Americans.

Many, many thanks to my wonderful teacher, Thich Nhat Hahn.

Cullen Frazer Shipman, M.D.
[...]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lotus in a Sea of Fire, June 24, 2010

By 

Timothy A. Zerr - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vietnam Lotus in a Sea of Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an excellent history of Vietnam which goes back to its origins and the start of the Missionaries from Portugal and France who went to Vietnam in 1533 and helped create a division in Vietnam which led to France, China, Japan and the US continuing to try and colonize and recolonize their country over the centuries. Its goes up to 1967 and a peace proposal by the author that was ignored by the US and its Ally and puppet, South Vietnam and also ignored by the North Vietnamese. We all need to learn from the author that the current 2 wars are in dire need of reconciliation and non-violence as the way. This should be required reading in all High Schools and Colleges.