The Smell of Straw - Memories of a Time Gone By

Poet Dao Quoc Vinh took a souvenir photo with students of Luong Van Chanh High School for the Gifted after an exchange at the school in April 2023. Photo: YEN LAN

After the short story collection The Glory of the Earth (Writers' Association Publishing House, 2022) and the children's novel The Eyes of the Sky (Writers' Association Publishing House, 2023; third prize in the Children's Literature Creation Campaign of the Vietnam Writers' Association ), poet Dao Quoc Vinh surprised many writers and readers when he released the novel The Smell of Straw . This brand new work has the appearance of an autobiography, telling the story of Khang and Thanh - two intellectuals - in the context of the years before the renovation period. Different from what readers imagine when they first see the title of the novel, The Smell of Straw truly reflects urban life during the subsidy period with difficulties in work, housing and making a living.

Realistic, vivid writing

In each simple and vivid page of the book, the love between Khang and Thanh is described as a sacred faith, helping them overcome many challenges. But The Smell of Straw is not only a love story but also a picture of society at that time, the lives of intellectuals, workers, farmers, and even those on the margins of society... All of which have been realistically and captivatingly portrayed by poet Dao Quoc Vinh. The author uses the first person narrative to reveal the mood and thoughts of the character Khang, creating closeness and sympathy with the reader.

Khang and Thanh are the center of the story, but what moves readers is not how they love each other, but how they live with that love during the years of worrying about making a living. The love in The Smell of Straw is not fierce, not tragic, nor poetic. It is as simple as a meal of cassava mixed with rice in the past. And The Smell of Straw is not a “lecture” about a bygone era.

Poet Dao Quoc Vinh shared: “I want to recreate the Vietnamese society and people in the post-war period, the struggles for innovation and development. I write about the flavor of the homeland in the Vietnamese soul. No matter how many challenges, how many ups and downs, no matter where they go, the flavor of the homeland is still full in the Vietnamese soul, even in the West, the smell of straw still lingers in the heart.”

Throughout more than 400 pages of the book, the author does not explain anything. He just tells. Tells from his own experiences. Tells in a literary language that is close, sincere, and rich in imagery. The more he tells, the more he makes the reader restless.

Young people today have never seen scenes of queuing to buy rice, or cramped dormitories… If they read The Scent of Straw with their hearts, they will imagine a past period, and will realize that their homeland has made great strides.

Literature does not need to be flowery to touch the heart. Dao Quoc Vinh wrote The Scent of Straw in a tone that is both restrained and wistful. He writes in a clear, emotional way, without fluff, without showing off words, but with evocative power. People often say “literature is the person”. Reading The Scent of Straw, readers will “see” the author: a person who has experienced, who has loved with all that life has given him and brought it to the pages of the book like a slow whisper.

Novel The Scent of Straw by poet Dao Quoc Vinh. Photo: YEN LAN

Poets and the imprint of prose

Poet Dao Quoc Vinh was born in 1955 in Gia Lam, Hanoi. After graduating from university, he spent 5 years teaching at Viet Bac Industrial Technical University, now the Industrial Technical University of Thai Nguyen University. When he moved to Hanoi to be closer to his parents, he had to leave the lecture hall and work at an agency under the Ministry of Internal Trade, now the Ministry of Industry and Trade . Life took him through many different jobs, and then Dao Quoc Vinh returned to education in a different way. He founded To Hien Thanh Private Primary School (now To Hien Thanh Primary School, Hanoi) and held the position of principal for nearly 17 years. After that, he stopped being principal and devoted his time to literature.

Poet Dao Quoc Vinh is a member of the Vietnam Writers Association and the Hanoi Writers Association. He has published 6 poetry collections, including 2 poetry collections for children; 1 short story collection; 1 novel for children. The novel The Scent of Straw (Writers Association Publishing House) is another "face" of poet Dao Quoc Vinh on his creative journey.

Reading The Scent of Straw , a literary friend said that the image of Dao Quoc Vinh appeared faintly in the character Khang. But Khang is not a portrait of the author, but the image of many intellectuals in that period.

Poet Dao Quoc Vinh began writing The Scent of Straw in the summer of 2023, after attending the Children's Literature Creation Camp organized by the Vietnam Writers Association in Phu Yen. By December of the same year, he had completed the "rough version" of this novel. Initially, the manuscript of The Scent of Straw was up to 700 printed pages, then the author "compressed" it down to more than 400 pages to make the quality more concentrated and more appealing to readers. After "compressing" it from 700 pages to more than 400 pages, poet Dao Quoc Vinh lost 6kg and had to be hospitalized for 15 days. There were nights when he stayed awake, his mind filled with images of characters and the story's progression.

The novel The Smell of Straw was released to readers in March 2025. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duc Hanh, The Smell of Straw is not only a love story between two people, but also an epic about a generation of young intellectuals. Writer Mai Tien Nghi, in the article The Smell of Straw by Dao Quoc Vinh: Love, fate... a time not long ago , felt: "Dao Quoc Vinh wrote The Smell of Straw not with the purpose of recounting poverty and suffering, but he wanted to convey a message to today's youth: before developing as it is today, society had a time of turmoil and hardship. The people of that time, with their determination, struggled to live true to the noble nature of the Vietnamese people to build families and society as they are today. That root needs to be cultivated by today's youth so that social life can develop more and more". According to the author of Debt to humanity, Soldiers, Bitter sugarcane..., The Smell of Straw is a good novel, with many great meanings. Poet Dao Quoc Vinh has been successful and has made an important mark in his writing career.

Closing the book, many readers realize that The Scent of Straw is not a story. It is a journey. A journey of love, of determination and faith. For those who were born and raised in that period, The Scent of Straw is a flashback...

Source: https://baophuyen.vn/van-nghe/202505/mui-rom-ra-dong-hoi-tuong-ve-mot-thoi-da-qua-31b116e/