The last book of artist Le Thiet Cuong

During his lifetime, artist Le Thiet Cuong came to Tre Publishing House to "entrust" his first book, the critical collection 'Seeing' (2017). The essay book 'Market Sound', also published by Tre Publishing House in 2025, is considered his last book.

Market Sound , with the minimalist spirit like the paintings and the artist's current life, is divided into 2 parts: Kitchen Smell and Street Stickiness . He writes about what he feels before the small, hidden beauties in the space from home to the street, from the past to the present. The author recognizes the beauty in the lotus powder, in the lotus smoke. He tastes each suitable spice of each dish, he describes the "smell of mother", the "scent of the kitchen", the footsteps of the street vendor, the whispering "market sound"... and the silhouettes of people who choose to live slowly, in the sense of living deeply and carefully, as if cherishing and regretting all the good things of this life.

Book published by Tre Publishing House in 2025

PHOTO: Publisher

Painter Le Thiet Cuong believes: "Beauty is a human attribute. Of course, eating also needs to be learned. Learning to eat, learning to speak, learning to live beautifully". Therefore, he concluded: "The thoroughness, meticulousness, orderliness, from the story of pickles, the story of pouring tea... that is the order, the family order, the people's order". In family matters, he pays the most attention to the kitchen, because: "The story of the kitchen is also the story of the family, the story of people, not just the story of eating and drinking. The living room, the bedroom do not have a god, only the kitchen has a kitchen god". He also told the story of a friend who came back from abroad, he invited her to pack green rice bought from a street vendor; she found it delicious, a few days later asked her to buy it as a gift. He said lightly that it was not easy to buy, because the beauty of Hanoi is that it has such street vendors, "there is no restaurant specializing in selling green rice. And when it comes to gifts, eating gifts means eating for fun, eating when convenient, coincidentally is fun, eating gifts does not need to be on time, there is no meal".

Writer Nguyen Viet Ha said: "At that time, Cuong encountered some unhappy things, both his paintings and photos were mostly sad. And if you are sad, you cannot resemble anyone. I found it very difficult for Cuong to take many photos, especially if it was a street vendor or a small restaurant. Either it was shaky on a lonely alley, or it was quietly located at a three-way intersection, I couldn't remember if it was Hang Da or Hang Be. There was a photo Cuong took of a pho restaurant near his house, I was curious to see because it was also my "favorite" restaurant. The beef pho there was intentionally made very cloudy, with a very unique taste. And Cuong said: "If I don't eat it once in a while, I miss it, but if I eat it twice a week like you, I can't stand it. Maybe I'll throw away the photo I took, intending to write a few lines for it. Cuong sometimes wants to write."

And that passion for writing always urged the artist Le Thiet Cuong to have a book called Market Voice, purely about cuisine , not teaching people to eat, nor teaching people to cook. The final work only invites readers to look deep inside themselves - to see the dishes/ways of eating/eating words... which sometimes through cuisine , awaken many things that seem to gradually fade away over time.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cuon-sach-cuoi-cung-cua-hoa-si-le-thiet-cuong-185250728235210159.htm