Under the vivid realistic pen of writer Nguyen Dinh Lam, it seems that anyone can become a character. They are familiar but also strange when wearing a literary coat.
On May 20, in Hanoi , Dr. and writer Nguyen Dinh Lam released the short story collection Under the Siren Flower.
The work consists of 16 short stories, which are true stories about Vietnamese people in Russia, from the perspective of the author - who has lived and worked in this country for more than 20 years.
They are students who give up their summer vacations to work hard on farms to earn money, or risk illegal trading, always afraid of being caught; They are small traders who work hard all year round but are cheated of money, falling into debt and poverty; Good-natured Vietnamese girls, pushed by life, are forced to sell their bodies to survive in a foreign land...
Writer Nguyen Dinh Lam launched the short story collection "Under the Siren Flowers" on May 20 in Hanoi (Photo: Organizing Committee).
Writer Nguyen Dinh Lam said that when he was in Russia, even though he was a graduate student, in order to have money to send back to his wife and children, he had to do all kinds of jobs, from part-time work, construction work to trading...
There were days when he was so tired from work that he fell asleep on a pile of cow dung without even knowing it.
In contrast to reality is a very beautiful dream: "I dreamed of the fried eggs that journalist Le Xuan Son often fried for me. A contrasting detail but it was very interesting and has impressed me until now".
As a character "named" by writer Nguyen Dinh Lam in the opening short story Under the Siren Flower (also the title of the short story collection), journalist Le Xuan Son said that at that time, in his country "there were no eggs or meat to fry".
"Mr. Lam likes to eat fried eggs and meat, so when we went to Russia, there was a lot of meat, so we had the opportunity to... be more wild. I mixed 5 eggs with 300 grams of minced meat. After doing it a lot, I also flipped the eggs by tossing them up like a circus act. Therefore, whenever I fried eggs, the women living nearby would come running to watch...", Mr. Son said.
Cover of the book "Under the Sirens" (Photo: Organizing Committee).
In addition to journalist Le Xuan Son, the short story collection also has many characters who are "people living around me" that the author has turned into literary characters, such as his sister, cousin, daughter...
In The Last Business Trip, the character Le Khac Hung - who loves listening to classical music - is Mr. Le Khac Hung, who studied with the author; the character Sang - a student at Moscow University of Railway Transport - is Ho Anh Sang, a younger brother from the same hometown.
The character Hoan, the department head in The Old Bicycle, is Tran Viet Hoan, a colleague. In The memorable flight, the character Huy, the good student, is lawyer Tran Huu Huynh, a classmate and the author of the foreword for this book.
This collection of short stories has great significance for writer Nguyen Dinh Lam because it is his favorite book among all the works he has written. It gathers the memories and affections of a lifetime of many ups and downs.
Chairman of the Vietnam Writers Association Nguyen Quang Thieu said that under the vivid realistic pen of writer Nguyen Dinh Lam, it seems that anyone can become a character. They are familiar but also strange when wearing the coat of literature.
Having relatives who used to live, work and labor in Russia, when reading Under the Siren, Mr. Nguyen Quang Thieu seemed to see them in uncertainty, in despair, in the cold white snow and the endless sadness of being far from their homeland that he had never known before.
"The characters in Nguyen Dinh Lam's stories are a summary of the fate of each person," said Mr. Thieu, commenting that the author's writing style is simple, concise, and goes straight to the point, and if the writer did not step in, those fates would pass by, or even be forgotten.
Chairman of the Vietnam Writers Association Nguyen Quang Thieu shared at the event (Photo: Organizing Committee).
The President of the Vietnam Writers Association also commented that Under the Sirens brought the vast space of Russia, the Vietnamese community abroad, and many fates into its short story.
"Then from that short story, it covers this life, so we can see this humanity, this life and see ourselves in it," said Mr. Nguyen Quang Thieu.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen The Ky, Chairman of the Central Council for Literature and Art Theory and Criticism, said "I like Nguyen Dinh Lam's writing because of its authenticity and liveliness."
"Coming to Nguyen Dinh Lam's literature is to witness the lives of Vietnamese people living abroad. In his writing, I see the shadow of the Vietnamese people, of Nghe Tinh people, who try harder than others no matter what they do," said Mr. The Ky.
Dieu Linh (According to dantri.com.vn)
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