Memories that are profound and magnificent*

Nguyen Linh Giang (birth name: Nguyen Van Khoi), hails from An Binh village, Cam Thanh commune (now Thanh An commune), Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province. He was originally a journalist with 30 years of experience (1988-2017). In 2017, he transferred to become an editor at Thanh Nien Publishing House - Ho Chi Minh City branch. Nguyen Linh Giang is a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association. Recently, writer Nguyen Linh Giang published a collection of essays: "The River Still Flows, Life Flows" (Thanh Nien Publishing House, 2023), about his homeland of Quang Tri.

Quang Tri Newspaper would like to introduce the preface extracted from the book by writer Nguyen Linh Giang.

1. Once you truly love the land where you were born and raised, if you have the heart, you will always remember that you must "do something." Depending on your profession and economic circumstances, everyone wants to contribute a helping hand, an effort, to that place. This expression of love for your homeland, whether little or much, is a contribution according to your ability. There are many ways to "repay" your land, and writing is one way. Broadly speaking, this is an expression of the spirit of "drinking water and remembering the source."

The collection of essays "The River Still Flows Its Life" (Thanh Nien Publishing House - 2023) by journalist and writer Nguyen Linh Giang is one of the vivid examples.

2. By reading someone's book, we can gain insight into the innermost corners of their soul. Words speak volumes. Their voices may resonate for a long time, or they may be fleeting. But ultimately, it's their heartfelt message, their way of sharing their thoughts and feelings with the reader.

Although this book is divided into two parts, "Memories" and "Taste of Home," it shares a single emotional thread. It's the heartfelt longing of someone far from home, who at times remembers things that are gone, things that belong to the past, things that are now distant and long gone.

Memories that are profound and magnificent*

Writer Nguyen Linh Giang and his work published in 2023 - Photo: Provided

“Back when we were buffalo herders, before each hunting trip for grasshoppers, we would prepare by picking young gourd leaves, salt, fresh pepper, and chili peppers. After the hunt, a bonfire would be lit at the edge of the melon field, and whole grasshoppers would be roasted over the charcoal fire. When the wings and legs of the grasshoppers were charred, they were cooked. We would peel off the remaining wings and legs, remove the heads, leaving only the soft, fragrant bodies. We would wrap the roasted grasshoppers in young gourd leaves, dip them in chili salt, and eat them with exclamations of delight echoing through the twilight sky. The rich, sweet, and savory flavors blended together in an indescribable way. It wasn't just the fragrant aroma of the roasted grasshoppers; it was as if we were also tasting the scent of the land, the fields, the villages, the scent of our homeland.”

The passages, brimming with sentiment about the old days, about home, evoke a flood of memories that overwhelm the reader. Suddenly, as I let my mind wander along Nguyen Linh Giang's recollections, I picture the sentiment of the musician Vu Duc Sao Bien: "In the golden autumn by the hillside of ripe sim fruit / I sit alone, weeping for my lost childhood." Nguyen Linh Giang's childhood is deeply embedded in this book. A gentle nostalgia. Like: "Remembering like porridge on the bed / Standing, I smell the pungent odor, sitting, I yearn for the smell of onions."

Among countless memories, even if the objects of our longing are different—for example, remembering our ancestral homeland, remembering a loved one, remembering our old village—how can we measure or quantify such memories, what can we compare them to? I believe we can only compare them to... food. The overarching theme of Vũ Bằng's masterpiece, "Twelve Memories," is the longing for delicious Northern Vietnamese cuisine. Strangely, some memories fade with time, but with... food, that's not the case at all.

How can this be explained?

Although Nguyen Linh Giang, or anyone for that matter, has enjoyed many delicious and exotic dishes, how could any of them compare to what they ate in their childhood? Nguyen Linh Giang reminisced about the braised small fish in the earthenware pot: “The clay pot was lined with young ginger leaves. For the braised fish, only small fish, about the size of a finger, were chosen, plump and round, still alive and healthy, so they would jump around vigorously. After preparing the fish, they were put into the pot, marinated with fish sauce, pepper, and crushed galangal. Once the fish was marinated, my mother put the pot on the wood-fired stove. When the fish in the pot was boiling evenly, she added dried, mature chili peppers, sometimes in a ratio of one fish to one chili pepper. Then, she reduced the heat, and the fish in the pot simmered gently.”

Upon reading this, some might chuckle: "What an exaggeration! The food is delicious, but not... dinosaur heart or dragon liver, so why would it be so incredibly tasty?" Well, let me explain: the deliciousness of the braised fish or salad, termite mushrooms, moldy insects, fermented fish paste, crucian carp, snails, tapioca dumplings... that Nguyen Linh Giang described, is precisely because of the image of the mother, father, and grandparents who cooked it. It is precisely this deep affection that leads to such a humorous sentiment.

What kind of mindset is that?

Sir, at a certain age, even with loose teeth and difficulty chewing, only able to... sip a bowl of watery porridge, people sometimes sit there and yearn to eat those simple, rustic dishes of yesteryear. Only in old age? No, even when young. Even in his prime, Nguyen Linh Giang still remembers, for example: “The ‘country chicken’ dish during the rainy season was incredibly delicious, with firm and fatty meat: ‘Bamboo shoots cooked with country chicken / Let’s see who’s the husband when he comes home?’ (Folk song). Adults competed to cast their nets to catch fish. Beside the ponds and streams, where there was flowing water, dozens of people lined up to cast their nets. There were countless crucian carp, snakehead fish, perch, catfish, and other fish.”

Remembering that dish brings back old memories. It overwhelms the mind, soothes, and comforts one deeply. Delicious food isn't just about a tangible object; its deliciousness also stems from its connection to memories of the past.

3. When reading "The River Flows on," I thought that history is the destiny of an entire nation, not just one individual or one region; all are interconnected in a dialectical relationship, inseparable. Living in a country where significant events mark the nation's history, these events profoundly impact every region. However, the manifestations of these events differ depending on the specific region. Therefore, when reading this book, readers will be delighted to have the opportunity to learn more and understand these events/issues in a deeper way, because there are writings from other regions that supplement their own.

Here, Nguyen Linh Giang has written about his ancestors, such as Lord Nguyen Hoang, Princess Huyen Tran, his family's traditional crafts, and the place names and products of the land where he was born and raised. While reading, I noticed many details that were very vivid and relatable to everyday life. This is also his way of "enticeing" readers to develop a deeper affection for that land. Doing this is also a way of showing gratitude to the place where one has lived.

No matter what you write about, whether it's about your hometown's food, people, or products, it all ultimately boils down to a "common denominator": the people of that place. Because everything reflects the character, temperament, habits, customs, traditions, and practices of the people there.

If I had to choose one detail that could be more or less "typical" of the people in his hometown, I would choose this one: "People in Quang Tri eat chili peppers like... they eat rice. Chili peppers are present in every meal, in every dish, and eating chili peppers is all about the spiciness. Children in Quang Tri are 'trained' to eat chili peppers from the womb; the chili-eating gene is passed down through breastfeeding; when they are weaned from breastfeeding, their mothers feed them 'mem' (mothers chew rice until it's finely ground before feeding it to the baby, in the past there was no formula milk like now). The whole family eats together at the same table; there's no separate cooking for the children; eating spicy food becomes a habit." This sentence by Nguyen Linh Giang is a "discovery" to me, because I had heard a folk verse before:

Hands lifting a bowl of salt and a plate of ginger

Ginger is spicy, salt is salty, please don't forget each other.

This "variant" must have been "copyrighted" by someone from Quang Tri:

I also took the risk of biting into a chili pepper and chewing ginger.

Through bitterness, sweetness, and hardship, let us not forget each other.

4. It can be said that the people and land of each locality contribute to making the history of the entire country more complete and richer. When we talk about the history of a nation, we need to understand it more broadly, encompassing the cultural elements, customs, traditions, cuisine, etc., of many different regions combined. Therefore, books on this subject are always necessary. If, after reading, the reader nods in agreement and thinks, "Ah, I wish I had the chance to visit that place someday," then the author has succeeded.

"The River Flows on, Like a River Flowing" by Nguyen Linh Giang is one such collection of essays.

Le Minh Quoc

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*Preface to the collection of essays "The River Flows on, Life Flows"

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