Understanding Vietnam (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Throughout the twentieth century the Vietnamese have been in upheaval, wracked by conflicting images of the past, the present, and the future..." (more)
Key Phrases: social thermostat, chinh nghia, yin reaction, Republic of Vietnam, United States, Nguyen Tuong Tam (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Discloses what the American military and political leadership largely misunderstood: the nature of Vietnamese society, the confrontation with colonialism and Western values, the resistance of the intellectuals, and the culture of the people." -- Herbert Mitgang, New York Times

"Jamieson ranges over the entire sweep of Vietnamese political culture, using as his window of observation the past century's Vietnamese literary output. There is nothing quite like this in print." -- Indochina Chronology

"Quite simply the most insightful interpretation of Vietnam ever to appear anywhere. No other book touches such vital issues; no other book explains so much; no other book is as important." -- Leonard Bushkoff, Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly

Product Description

The American experience in Vietnam divided us as a nation and eroded our confidence in both the morality and the effectiveness of our foreign policy. Yet our understanding of this tragic episode remains superficial because, then and now, we have never grasped the passionate commitment with which the Vietnamese clung to and fought over their own competing visions of what Vietnam was and what it might become. To understand the war, we must understand the Vietnamese, their culture, and their ways of looking at the world. Neil L. Jamieson, after many years of living and working in Vietnam, has written the book that provides this understanding.
Jamieson paints a portrait of twentieth-century Vietnam. Against the background of traditional Vietnamese culture, he takes us through the saga of modern Vietnamese history and Western involvement in the country, from the coming of the French in 1858 through the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Throughout his analysis, he allows the Vietnamese--both our friends and foes, and those who wished to be neither--to speak for themselves through poetry, fiction, essays, newspaper editorials and reports of interviews and personal experiences.
By putting our old and partial perceptions into this new and broader context, Jamieson provides positive insights that may perhaps ease the lingering pain and doubt resulting from our involvement in Vietnam. As the United States and Vietnam appear poised to embark on a new phase in their relationship, Jamieson's book is particularly timely.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (March 10, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520201574
• ISBN-13: 978-0520201576
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #177,127 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent analysis, and it reads like a novel!, July 5, 2000

By A Customer

The author explores the cultural values of the Vietnamese and traces the transitions in thinking which took place over the past several decades: from the introduction of Western ideas and values under the French, to the various Vietnamese responses and reactions to Western thinking, the humiliating aspects of colonialism, and the subsequent struggle for independence. I have read other histories of Vietnam, but none has so clearly described the underlying cultural dynamics which drove the events. I feel like I understand for the first time what the Vietnam war was all about, from the perspective of the Vietnamese themselves; the conflict between North and South Vietnam over the nature of the nation and society which would emerge from independence.

The best part of the book for me was the extensive use of excerpts from Vietnamese literature and editorial pieces to illustrate Vietnamese thought. This gave life to the concepts he was describing, it gave me a first hand account by letting me hear from the Vietnamese people themselves.

The author's overall thesis, relating societal changes to the oriental concept of yin and yang --a continually adjusted balance between structure and feeling, duty and compassion -- is clearly delineated throughout the story (yes, it really reads like a story), and is quite compelling. By all means, read this book!

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Vietnamese experience explored through literature, April 1, 1998

By	Dr. Sara Bennett ([e-mail]) (Dhaka Bangladesh) - See all my reviews

I bought my first copy of this book in 1994 in Hanoi from a book stall outside the Museum of History. I read that copy at least three times, and I've since bought about five more for friends visiting or working in Vietnam. It helped me enormously to enjoy my time working there, and to appreciate and understand my Vietnamese colleagues. The author is one of those tremendously gifted and committed people who has spent decades learning and thinking about Vietnam as experienced by Vietnamese. Some might criticize the approach as too simplistic - as if the life of a nation and culture could be so easily explicated through the history of its literature! - but for me it was immediate, insightful, and engaging. Like Fitzgerald's much earlier "Fire in the Lake", it is one of the very few books on Vietnam that addresses issues raised by the American war (Jamieson first went to Vietnam for the USG during the early "advisor" phase) through a serious exploration of the Vietnamese perspective.

During my time in Hanoi, Jamieson's office was just down the street - I wish I had gone in, as I often thought of doing, and said thanks for the great book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW, April 14, 2003

By A Customer

This book's focus on contemporary Vietnamese literary sources through the years makes it absolutely unique in the field. Its blend of straight history narrative and multiple-voice literature excerpts fleshes out Vietnamese society in a way that was sorely needed in the field. To those well-read in Asian studies: this book can almost be seen as a Vietnam analog to Patricia Ebrey's book "Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook," which is a collection of contemporary Chinese sources through history.

The history is instructive and concise, with little excess prose. Jamieson writes in an eminently readable style, and focuses on the most interesting events in order to keep the reader from being bored. He does a pretty good job of giving both Northern and Southern Vietnamese viewpoints, although he does focus a little more than would be preferable on South Vietnam, especially in the later parts of the book. The twentieth century chapters do a better job than almost any book on the market in focusing on the Vietnamese, rather than on the multi-decade war in which they fought.

My only complaint is that the extended yin/yang analogy used to explain societal trends was not very helpful. On the whole, though, I'm really impressed.