Weaving Golden Threads: Nguyen Hien Le and the Books "Not Lending to Anyone"

"When I read I always have a pencil…"

Speaking of Nguyen Hien Le, his massive writings and translations are based on the knowledge accumulated from books read throughout his life and the spirit of continuous self-study. The scholar Nguyen himself admitted that he was similar to Montaigne in that "the only way to entertain myself was to read books". One of Montaigne's words that he liked and quoted in his work Self-study, a need of the times was: "Contact with books comforts me in my old age and loneliness [...] My sufferings are lessened thanks to them. The only way to entertain myself was to read books". Also because of his love for books, in his family, "my second uncle, when I was 16-17 years old, said that I was "dam thu" meaning crazy about books", Nguyen Hien Le recalled in My Writing Life .

Scientific organization of work (printed in 1971), one of many works by scholar Nguyen Hien Le

PHOTO: TRAN DINH BA

Scholar Nguyen Hien Le with his niece To Le Hang and his wife in 1962. PHOTO: DOCUMENTS OF TO LE HANG

Intellectual Vu Dinh Hoe still remembers clearly his close friend and classmate Nguyen Hien Le studying at Yen Phu Primary School from 1924 to 1926 near Truc Bach Lake ( Hanoi ). In his memoir Thuo Lap Than , Nguyen Hien Le appeared as a model of "hard work" in the whole class, considered the leader in French, Vietnamese and Chinese literature, very studious and diligent in reading. Vu Dinh Hoe at that time was fond of short stories by Alphonse Daudet, Guy de Maupassant...

For Nguyen Hien Le, reading books must also have the right method in order to gain good knowledge. My writing career records: "When reading, I always have a pencil to mark memorable places or places that can be used later; for books that I often have to reread, I write down important ideas and page numbers on the blank pages (page de garde) at the beginning of the book."

Therefore, if we hold an old book and see the old owner's underlines or notes, we will know that the person is a really attentive reader. However, using a pencil instead of a ballpoint pen or fountain pen like this "dam thu" will preserve the book better and make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Nguyen Hien Le also paid close attention to books because he himself believed that "books are more important to me than a plow is to a farmer, a hammer and anvil are to a blacksmith". Too many books cannot be classified, leading to the fact that when needed, sometimes they cannot be found, so this researcher kept the books he often used separately, arranged them by type "not lending them to anyone, if my wife and children want to see them, they have to ask me".

Dinh Gia Trinh read deeply and discussed carefully.

As a member of Thanh Nghi group, Dinh Gia Trinh reads a lot and has many accurate and thorough book reviews covering many fields from literature,education to history.

Scholar Nguyen Hien Le at his desk in the summer of 1970. PHOTO: TO LE HANG

Book review: Reading the book "Dai Nam Literature and History" under the pen name Dieu Anh by Dinh Gia Trinh in Thanh Nghi No. 3, August 1941. PHOTO: DOCUMENT

Reading widely, reading carefully and having his own opinions and theories, Dinh Gia Trinh's book reviews have both praise and criticism. In Thanh Nghi magazine , one often comes across his book reviews. Praising Tran Trong Kim's Vietnamese grammar , Dinh Gia Trinh also commented on "a few things that are not quite perfect" about the author's method when carrying out the work ( Reading the book "Vietnamese grammar" by Mr. Tran Trong Kim , Thanh Nghi No. 2, July 1941).

Not satisfied with the work Dai Nam Literature History when thinking that author Nguyen Sy Dao did this work out of time because Vietnamese literature history did not have a solid foundation, not satisfied when the author created a popular framework for a research work, but critic Dinh still saw positive points in the work when writing concisely, transparently, with scientific citations, accurate opinions on historical issues... ( Reading the book "Dai Nam Literature History ", Thanh Nghi No. 3, August 1941)... Reading deeply, discussing carefully like that, can only be done by a meticulous person who respects the author and that work.

People who love books and love to read are often passionate about books. Poet Pham Van Hanh (1913 - 1987) of the Xuan Thu Nha Tap group is no exception. In the memoir collection Beloved Faces , Nguyen Xuan Sanh kept beautiful memories of his friend: "Hanh was an intellectual who often went looking for books to read. Later, Pham Van Hanh often came to sit with me on a corner table of the Central Library to read foreign literature and poetry books that we considered masterpieces. Together we pondered over the pages of theses on poetry composition by Malácmê [Mallarmé], Pôn Valêry [Paul Valéry]". ( continued )

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/det-nhung-soi-vang-nguyen-hien-le-va-nhung-cuon-sach-khong-cho-ai-muon-185250421234525544.htm