Shadows and Wind: A View of Modern Vietnam (Paperback)

by Robert Templer (Author)
Key Phrases: new economic zones, Communist Party, Viet Kieu, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
"I am too young to have seen the Vietnam War on television or to have read about it at the time," British journalist Templer announces at the beginning of this penetrating and lyrical history, confessing that his own impressions of Vietnam had been formed by American books and movies. But upon arriving there in 1994 for a three-year stint as a reporter for Agence France-Presse, Templer found that more than half of the population had been born after American troops pulled out of Saigon, and that the reality of life in modern Vietnam was much more complex than he had realized. The lingering images of French colonial Indochine and the American experience in 'Nam oversimplify and obscure the struggles of a communist nation in the midst of economic reformADoi Moi, or "renovation"A after half a century of armed conflict. Not to mention the "Rip Van Winkle popular culture" that has awakened with an enormous appetite, but uneasy stomach, for Western stimulus. Dismissing as "drive-by reporting" such celebrated books on his topic as Frances FitzGerald's Fire in the Lake and William Prochnau's Once Upon a Distant War, Templer has built his own vision of Vietnam through hundreds of interviews and careful analysis of Vietnamese journalism and literature. A picture of a diverse culture emerges in a nation struggling to understand its relationship with China, adjust to feast rather than famine and balance its communist past with an increasingly capitalist present. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Templer, who covered Vietnam for Agence France-Presse in the mid-1990s, begins with the observation that, like the vast majority of Vietnamese, he was too young to have seen the war on TV or have read about it at the time, but the past hangs over all present-day problems. "Imagining Vietnam" is a key topic for a series of chapters showing how Confucian Chinese, French colonizers, American Cold Warriors, and Chinese "Socialist brothers" all misunderstood the nature of the country they tried to change and on which they all left their mark. Through many vivid interviews and brief, crisp essays on economics, politics, culture, and society, Templer reveals the contemporary problems of a government mired in Socialist rhetoric but looking forward to reform and global participation while many common people seek their own ways. His tone is both critical and admiring. Highly recommended for public as well as specialist libraries.ACharles Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140285970
• ISBN-13: 978-0140285970
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #336,449 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book shows the real Vietnam, April 30, 2001

By A Customer

I think anyone who has spent any time in Vietnam will recognise so much in this book. I went back to what I used to think of as my homeland but now I no longer feel at home there and this book made me understand why. This beautiful cultured country is laboring under a system that still tries to crush people rather than help them. This book sometimes paints a gloomy picture of what the communist party has done but it also captures the spirit of the Vietnamese in the chapters on food, arts and religion.

Those reviewers who have attacked this book seem to be people who have never been to Vietnam and are no position to know whether the book is accurate or not. Their aggressive attacks are motivated more by ignorance and spite than any knowledge of the country. One strangely complains that Mr. Templer says he knows everything because he is lived in the country three years but this is from a person who has clearly never been there and knows nothing about the country. This books is detailed and a little dense but no other book available today comes close to giving a sense of life in Vietnam and an understanding of the culture and people and government. Read this if you really want to know about the country.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vietnam book for a new generation, April 25, 2001

By A Customer

Shadows and Wind is among the best books about my homeland that I've ever read. It really brings to life the country and the issues it faces and it is written with a depth of knowledge that I am surprised a non-Vietnamese could learn. This is one of the most important books about the country written in recent years and the first that views it through the eyes of Vietnamese rather than through the view of Americans and people who fought in the war. Parts of this book made me cry when I understood how much people in Vietnam still have to endure. This is a book for the post-War Vietnam, nto for those who only see the country through the war or those who still view it through the ignorant lens of Hollywood and American war books.

34 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Corruption, communism and creeping capitalism, April 4, 2000

By	Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Robert Templer, the author, is a young British journalist who was
raised in Asia. In 1994 he spent three years as a correspondent for
the Agence France-Presse and this book, published in 1998, is a well
researched account of a the creeping capitalism, corrupt government,
and historical struggles of the Vietnamese people.

More than half of
Vietnam's population today were born after the war and are more
interested in consumerism than communism. But in spite of their
smuggled videos and make-believe motor bikes (which are all chrome and
glitz and have tiny motors), they live in a culture where corruption
is a way of life, the judicial system is almost non-existent, and
writers are persecuted and forbidden to portray Vietnam without a rosy
myth.

The extent of the corruption is everywhere. If you are sick
you have to pay extra to get the most basic medical care, even if you
have government insurance. If you want your children to pass their
exams, you have to pay teachers for "private tuition". If
you want to move, change jobs or leave the country, you have to pay
someone. The police can arbitrarily rob street vendors or require
payoffs from anyone at whim. And, as foreign investors have found,
unlike other Asian countries, the pay-offs do not necessarily obtain
the results desired.

There's a history of famine in Vietnam and
memories of starvation. There are also food practices that Westerners
find abhorrent. Yes. The Vietnamese do eat dogs and cats and
restaurants get big bucks for serving meat that is on the endangered
species list. I know that I should try to not be judgmental, but the
ancient practice of beating a dog to death over several hours in order
to tenderize the meat particularly disturbs me.

The book is dense
with facts and slow reading. And some of the sections were difficult
to follow, especially when the author went into great detail about the
complexities of corruption in the Vietnamese Communist party where one
leader after another would fall into disfavor with the party, be
thrown into prison, his family denied any employment and his children
forbidden to attend school.

To raise money from tourists, especially
from Americans who return to Vietnam with a sense of guilt about the
war, several war museums have been erected. The fact that many of the
exhibits are not authentic does not stop people from visiting them.
There is even a museum that re-creates the infamous tunnels used by
the Viet Cong although they had to be made larger to accommodate the
larger size American tourists. There is even a make-believe mine
field with firecrackers that explode when a wire is tripped.

For the
Vietnamese who now live in other parts of the world, returning is
difficult. They are considered rich foreigners and intruders and it
is extremely rare for any of them to come back to settle
permanently.

It was a bit of a struggle for me to read this book. I
learned a lot but cannot say I enjoyed it. There was very little to
break the tension and the few shreds of humor were few and far
between. And yet, for anyone who is truly interested in a serious
comprehensive analysis of what Vietnam is today, this is a worthwhile
book and I would definitely recommend it.