“Sacred Land” - a picture sparkling with many colors

It can be said that after reading "Sacred Land" , a collection of memoirs and essays by journalist and writer Phong Nguyen just published (Writers Association Publishing House, 2024), a quite full book with 26 works composed by the author in recent years.

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The topics reflected in “Sacred Land” are quite broad, sometimes telling stories about the forest, sometimes about the plains, the sea, and the islands; sometimes mentioning the economy , sometimes introducing culture, society... If “By the To Hap River” brings readers a vivid picture of economic development in the mountainous land of Khanh Son, then “Ninh Van, my hometown” is the images of a coastal commune with many changes from the tireless efforts of the people. If “Nha Trang drifts with the universe” talks about the Nha Trang Observatory, located on a hill in Hon Chong, which is attracting tourists from far away to Khanh Hoa, then “The story of the ship from a strange land” is the pages written about the activities of the Institute of Oceanography , including the Vietnam Museum of Oceanography. If “Dat Thanh” brings to readers many imprints associated with the Dien Khanh Citadel relic over several centuries, then “Dat Thieng” talks about the daily life of our soldiers and people in Truong Sa, the sacred land of the Fatherland. If “Hoi xem dieu dang Ba…” refers to the Po Nagar Tower and the Po Nagar Festival in Nha Trang, then “Oi, chapi…” talks about the dedication of folk artist Mau Quoc Tien - a son of the Raglai people in collecting and preserving the traditional culture of the Raglai people...

Not only diverse in topics, the content of each memoir - essay in "Sacred Land" is also very rich, containing a lot of vivid information, valuable to readers. Born and raised in Khanh Hoa, having worked as a reporter for many years, having access to the changes of his homeland, when mentioning a land or a certain content, Phong Nguyen often provides many documents for comparison and then kneads with life experience, emotions and memories smoothly to put into the work.

In particular, to make his writings attractive to readers, Phong Nguyen always uses and expresses himself in a language that is lyrical, rich in imagery, and highly associative. The passage in the memoir “Oh, Chapi…” is an example: “A hazy night in the O Kha valley. The mist spreads a vague veil over the lonely Khanh Son mountains and forests. The sound of a bird catching mosquitoes is heard in the vast space. The mountains and forests seem to be dreaming in a deep, lonely sleep. I sit by the fire, in the small house of the Raglai people, waiting for ama (father), away (mother) Mau Thi Muoi, his wife, to sit with us, quietly. The fire crackles by the thin bamboo wall. Away Muoi adds firewood to the pot of rau ria soup that she just picked in the afternoon. Rau ria soup cooked with cassava. This dish is familiar to me. No meat, no fish, it is still very sweet; and fragrant with the flavor of the mountains and forests. Next to the house, unlike other rivers flowing to the East, the To Hap river keeps sobbing, endlessly turning back to the West, as if trying to find a distant nostalgic land of many generations of Raglai people on the majestic Truong Son range…”.

As Phong Nguyen's third collection of memoirs, after "Sacred Blood Drops" (2010) and "Flowers of the Sea" (2020), it can be said that "Sacred Land" with its many colors has created a new success for journalist and writer Phong Nguyen, leaving in the hearts of readers many impressions on the journey of discovery and contemplation of a land...

HOANG NHAT TUYEN

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/202410/dat-thieng-buc-tranh-lap-lanh-nhieu-sac-mau-f347288/