Connecting reading culture: “Green and peaceful cogon grass land”

As a writer specializing in the armed forces and revolutionary war, to date, Colonel and writer Nguyen Minh Ngoc has nearly 20 prose collections (novels, short stories, memoirs, essays, film scripts, literary portraits) that have been well received by readers inside and outside the Army.

The film "Higher than the Sky" (50 episodes) written by him depicts the portrait of a pilot soldier with his own unique, interesting and attractive beauty.

New novel "The Grassland" (Publishing House) People's Army, 2025) focuses on portraying the character of infantry soldiers fighting in the battlefields of Zone 6-Zone 10 (old) during the most fierce times. The soldiers operate in a large space, stretching from the South Central Coast, down to the Southeast, up to Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan , Binh Long, Phuoc Long...

Book cover

As a soldier (born in 1957) with many years of experience in reality, he has a rich military life experience, is diligent in studying (graduated from the Faculty of Literature, Hue University, now the University of Science - Hue University), and has many years of working as an editor and book publisher. These things not only help Nguyen Minh Ngoc with life and literary experience, but also help him have a new and different direction.

“The Grassland” with 360 pages, in addition to the vivid descriptions of the fierce, tense clashes between us and the enemy; the insidious plots, the well-organized search and destroy operations of the enemy; the daring battles of our army representing the battlefield of Zone 6; there are also many pages talking about thoughts, feelings, and deep moods that were not previously qualified to go into depth... The outstanding contribution of the novel is the analysis of human psychology in many contexts, many spaces, many situations. The main character - soldier Muoi Luong is not only brave and courageous as a typical real person - real event, worthy of being a hero, but also has many real-life worries and concerns. “The Grassland” contributes to creating the symbol of the soldier in the depths of the soul, imbued with an ideal color, but also has many bright and dark colors of internal conflicts before the pettiness and jealousy of some people considered comrades. It turns out that war is bloodshed, separation, and its deep, terrible harm is that it also corrupts people. Soldiers must be heroic twice, once to defeat the fierce, fully armed enemy on the battlefield, and the second time to defeat the "enemy" of individualism, to fight against evil so that they and their comrades can be more steadfast, brave, pure, and have better personalities. Thanks to that, they can go to battle stronger and more alert. Surpassing the harsh realism style, novels have pages that describe scenes with soul and depth. When writers let characters tell thrilling, fantastic stories, they not only "relax" the tense atmosphere, but also describe and analyze the psychology of characters in different situations.

The work thoroughly applies the method of condensation: Through one person to see an entire time space. Almost every event and detail is projected through the character Muoi Luong - directly participating in the battles, so he became the person of the event, also the person who created the main events. Considered the key to unlocking the victories and feats of the unit, the battle details, with the scale of the enemy's sweep, our sacrifices, and the lack of weapons, food... are refracted through the honest and vivid character Muoi Luong. Battlefield discipline, of course, must be absolutely followed, but sometimes it is pushed beyond the limit, becoming rigid, cold, and inhuman (such as the rule that boys and girls are not allowed to exchange or meet...). Also through the character Muoi Luong, we see sparkling reflections from the inner world , about human feelings, human reason, about love, about the desire to be close to the bride-to-be... so sacred.

With the mission of protecting the Fatherland, the more a soldier loves peace, the more he wants to stay away from war. But to avoid war, one must understand its nature. “The Grassland” contributes to that general principle with a rather mature novel art. Closing the book, the reader will imagine a peaceful, green “grassland” opening up before their eyes, immense and boundless.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/ket-noi-van-hoa-doc-mien-co-tranh-tuoi-xanh-hoa-binh-5054511.html