We, the students of 2000, back then: Do we like nostalgia more these days?

Họa sĩ X.Lan (trái) và Trang Neko tại buổi ra mắt sách Học sinh chúng mình 2000 hồi ấy - Ảnh: T.ĐIỂU — Artist X.Lan (left) and Trang Neko at the book launch of Our Students 2000 Back Then - Photo: T.DIEU

The book 199 Some - What Did We Do Back Then?, also by Trang Neko and X.Lan, published in 2020, has sold 20,000 copies to date.

Our Students 2000 at that time was full of promise to become a hot book. Parents loved it because it reminded them of their student days in the 1990s and 2000s. But why do modern children also love their parents' nostalgia?

Is it true that in the age of technology, direct connections between people and between people and nature are decreasing, making people yearn for the past more and more, and miss the old childhood that seemed more beautiful than now?

Niềm vui của những ông bố bà mẹ khi được sống lại tuổi học trò trong những trang sách Học sinh chúng mình 2000 hồi ấy — The joy of parents when they relive their school days in the pages of the book Our Students 2000 back then

Catch the nostalgic trend

Trang Neko said she was a child who didn't want to grow up. She always kept her beautiful childhood in her heart. Then one day, she realized she wasn't the only one feeling nostalgic.

Movies, design, food services as well as restaurants serving subsidy-era dishes, cafes with all the old military-style utensils and decorations... Nostalgia is popular.

Trang has stories and storytelling talent. She also wants to "catch the trend" and establish a successful career. 199 Some - What did you do back then? was born, with the "ally" being the illustrator who is very popular among young people: X.Lan, quickly becoming popular.

The book focuses on family stories, neighbors, games, food and drinks of the 1990s.

Trang said she did not expect the book about her childhood memories and those of her generation to be so popular.

Not only do people who grew up in the 1990s love it, but their children, Gen Zers, also love it...

"Children also want to know about their parents' childhood. And surprisingly, they also love a childhood that is very different from their own experience," Trang told Tuoi Tre.

The success of 119 Some - What Did We Do Back Then? motivated the two authors to continue with the book Our Students 2000 Back Then.

The book recreates the memorable student days of the 2000s. The generation before or after will also find themselves in it. Younger children, even if they do not know the student life experiences of the 2000s, will be surprised and delighted to hear the "fairy tales" of their parents' time.

That was the story of competing to read national newspapers like Hoa Hoc Tro, Muc Tim... copying song lyrics into notebooks; carving pictures on rulers; passing letters to desk drawers, impressive Yahoo nicks, going to "internet cafes", renting comics, listening to cassette tapes, listening to music programs by request with super cute Quick and Show hosts, pasting pictures of idols all over the room...

The cute illustrations go well with the witty narration, the paper and painting colors tend towards brown and yellow, making the book full of nostalgia in both content and form. And nostalgia will continue to be a popular thing.

Học sinh chúng mình 2000 hồi ấy - sách do Wings Books, thương hiệu sách trẻ của NXB Kim Đồng, phát hành - Ảnh: T.ĐIỂU — Our Students 2000 - book published by Wings Books, a young book brand of Kim Dong Publishing House - Photo: T.DIEU

Are we more nostalgic these days?

Talking about the reason why she "catches the wave" so well with Trang Neko's stories to draw such cute pictures, X.Lan said that it's because she is also a nostalgic person, often drawing children, drawing about childhood. These are also the drawings that X.Lan receives the most love from the public.

X.Lan said that when we reach one year old, we all get nostalgic, especially about our childhood. Who doesn't love school years?

But she admits that it seems that her generation, the transitional generation, between a backward Vietnam and a modern society when the Internet erases and flattens boundaries, makes nostalgia seem deeper than both the previous and next generations.

This is the generation that witnessed technology and modern life "extinct" many lifestyles such as handwritten letters, listening to music programs on request, copying songs into notebooks, pasting pictures of idols all over the room... No wonder the nostalgia is so strong.

But Trang Neko and X.Lan did not make the book just to indulge in meaningless nostalgia.

You want that nostalgia to come alive strongly to deeply connect generations and connect the present with memories.

Neko page hopes that those of you who have memories of being students in the 2000s, who are now parents, will read this to remember the joys and worries we had.

To remember that I was once a child, like my child now, to understand better, to be a better parent.

Trang's wish is not unnecessary. Because many parents now forget that they were once children, and "unintentionally" contribute sadness, worries, and pressure to their children's childhood.

Nhà giáo Phạm Như Vân 85 tuổi vẫn thương thơ mến văn

Teacher Pham Nhu Van, 85 years old, still loves poetry and literature.

Many poet and literary friends of teacher and poet Pham Nhu Van such as poet Le Thi Kim, writer Trinh Bich Ngan, poet Trieu Kim Loan... all expressed their admiration for her because despite her old age, she is still very enthusiastic about literature.

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