Nguyen Nhat Anh or the kaleidoscope of children's literature

Writer Nguyen Nhat Anh at an introduction of his new book. Photo: Internet

Diverse, changing, and engaging plot

One of the factors that makes Nguyen Nhat Anh's works popular with many readers, especially children and teenagers, is the plot. Although the plots in his works mostly revolve around the theme of childhood and youth, they are almost never repeated. The diversity of plots in Nguyen Nhat Anh's works is not only within the scope of a single series but also in his entire artistic world . From one or two topics, he can tell countless different stories.

“Kaleidoscope” is a childhood world filled with colors and shapes. Stories about home, school, friends, parents, studying, adventures and discoveries …, no story is the same. That childhood world is like a kaleidoscope, every time you look at it, a new look appears, making the viewer never bored. 54 volumes for a children's book series, 25 years later, it is still read passionately by many generations of children, the film adaptation attracts viewers and has been made into a movie version, the number of publications reaches millions…, those special achievements of “Kaleidoscope” show its great appeal, and the diverse and rich plot is one of the strengths of the work.

Nguyen Nhat Anh's strength in building plots lies not only in its diversity but also in its ability to create situations. Children (and most readers) are interested in things that are attractive, engaging, and surprising. From everyday stories like "Kaleidoscope" to fantasy stories like "The Story of Langbiang", stories about friendship or young love..., every story is full of drama. Many of Nguyen Nhat Anh's stories have an investigative detective nature. This is what researcher Van Gia calls "the aesthetics of surprise" in Nguyen Nhat Anh's writing.

A young reader chooses a book by writer Nguyen Nhat Anh. Photo: BICH DUYEN

Humorous and witty storytelling

One of the strengths and distinctive features in Nguyen Nhat Anh's writing style is his humorous and witty storytelling. His stories are rarely without laughter. That laughter is created from humorous situations. The dialogue and monologue of the characters are also witty and funny. The exchanges between the characters always make the reader captivated by their eloquence, which is both intelligent and charming, yet genuine, close and extremely natural. When the child characters talk, with a childish, innocent and naive look, they also create funny and lovely dialogues. His characters rarely sit down to talk seriously and properly with each other, but most of them are in a situation of dialogue that is sarcastic. That dialogue atmosphere is filled with laughter, capable of soothing wounds, lightening sadness, and reconciling conflicts and disagreements.

In a context of children's literature that is still waiting for other bright, brilliant stars, Nguyen Nhat Anh continues to shine, despite his age and career.

In addition to the humorous dialogues, the monologue and the narrator's language are equally humorous, even when in a lyrical and philosophical tone. As the writer himself shared, he does not like or want to write content that is too heavy. Therefore, the lyrical and philosophical qualities in the writer's works are also gentle and profound. If there is sadness, it is only lingering and wistful; if there are contradictions, it is sometimes contemplated and thought about in a humorous way. In the story “I am Beto”, the dog Beto tells about his life and his friend Laica, who is the most aggressive because he is the youngest in the group, and then philosophizes: “Old people often think about it before doing it. Sometimes they think about it and don’t want to do anything. But at his age and mine, if you want to do something, do it right away. Then later you think about why you did it, usually in pain and torment. And then you forget it quickly, which is really lucky. Because that is impulsiveness, people say so and I believe it too.”

The laughter in Nguyen Nhat Anh's stories is very gentle, refreshing, bringing much joy to the reader. His stories rarely have the type of laughter that criticizes, mocks, satirizes, and satirizes harshly and bitterly even when the characters fall into ironic or painful situations. The aftertaste that his stories leave behind is often a feeling of relaxation, comfort, sometimes a bit of torment, regret, and wistfulness, but all are gentle and have a positive optimistic color because of wit and humor.

Talent for capturing and describing psychology

The reason why Nguyen Nhat Anh can develop the plots in a flexible, smooth, logical way is because he also has the talent to capture and express the psychology of the characters in a subtle, profound way. The common psychological traits that most writers can capture and express, such as when in love, broken hearted, when losing a loved one, when being misunderstood... But Nguyen Nhat Anh's stories do not only have such clear, specific joys and sorrows. Writing for young adults, one of the topics that occupies a lot of space in Nguyen Nhat Anh's artistic world is student love. Subtle emotions such as first feelings for a friend of the opposite sex, sadness when accidentally hurting others, or nostalgia for childhood... are all expressed by him in a subtle way, touching the hearts of readers and evoking understanding and sympathy.

It can be said that, if the attractive and dramatic plot makes his stories keep readers until the last page, then the art of psychological description is the factor that makes readers still feel entangled in their hearts when closing the book. Without the lines and paragraphs of skillful psychological description, his stories would only be like a dramatic script of a screenwriter, not a literary work. The literary quality in his works is most clearly expressed in this aspect for this reason.

Aiming for good values

As Nguyen Nhat Anh once admitted, he is only suitable and likes to write about gentle things rather than fierce and intense things. He also affirmed the function of literature as well as his writing mission to guide readers to beautiful perceptions and emotions. He only wants to sow pure, gentle, peaceful emotions in the hearts of readers. Therefore, the final message in his works is always something close, simple but profound.

In the picture of contemporary Vietnamese children's literature, the number of authors is not small. However, after more than 40 years of writing, Nguyen Nhat Anh still holds an irreplaceable position. He has maintained his form and style persistently, along with constantly searching for new stories and storytelling methods, sometimes even experimental (the narrator is a dog in "I am Beto", the story of young people going abroad in "The Neighbors" ...), so his name and works have never been forgotten. In a context of children's literature that is still waiting for other bright, brilliant stars, Nguyen Nhat Anh continues to shine, despite his age and career being no longer young.

Source: https://baophuyen.vn/van-nghe/202505/nguyen-nhat-anh-hay-chiec-kinh-van-hoa-cua-van-hoc-thieu-nhi-eb61287/