Critical and poetic in “Breakthrough Thinking” and “Why Love”

Colonel Nguyen Hoa Van, former Editor-in-Chief of Border Guard Newspaper.

The highlight of Nguyen Hoa Van in “Breakthrough Thinking” and “Why Love” is the combination of journalistic thinking and poetic inspiration. He writes poetry like editorials, but it is imbued with humanity, contemplation of human fate, love, and civic responsibility. He writes political essays, full of iron but with the breath of life, containing the spirit of civic responsibility.

His two works have a strong social criticism, not afraid to expose the paradoxes and dark sides of life, while affirming faith in the Party and the people. It is the parallel between "soldier - journalist - poet" that creates a unique style, making Nguyen Hoa Van a writer who is both familiar and different in journalism and literature.

“Breakthrough thinking” - journalistic courage

“Breakthrough Thinking” is a collection of articles by journalist Nguyen Hoa Van published in many newspapers and magazines about two periods of time 4 years apart - from 2016 to 2020 and from 2024 to 2025. The book has 2 parts, part one - 139 pages, is articles about the fight against "internal invaders" under the leadership of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong - the leader who is affectionately called by many people as "The Great Furnace".

Part two - 94 pages, is an article about the very important initial efforts and results of our Party under the leadership of General Secretary To Lam with the determination to both "build" and "fight", bringing the nation into a new era - an era of striving towards wealth, prosperity, civilization and happiness.

The Writers Association Publishing House has cleverly divided it into 10 different thematic groups. Part 1 includes: "If you can resist "running" you will succeed"; "The art of war" against "internal invaders"; "Resolving paradoxes and contradictions on the chosen path"; "Current events and patriotism"; "The press and the fight against corruption and waste"; "Group interests and the issue of protecting the Party's ideological foundation". Part 2 has 4 topics: "Fighting waste, streamlining the apparatus "light to fly""; "Barriers in carrying out revolutions"; "Innovation in legislative thinking"; "The press and businesses".

According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam (Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics ), just reading the topics in “Breakthrough Thinking” alone, we can somewhat imagine that the author is a military officer. Reading further, we will see the class of Colonel Nguyen Hoa Van, a political writer who has received many national journalism awards; a person who understands the law, has a deep understanding of the Party’s ideological foundation, and the country’s economic relations.

Two works "Why love" and "Breakthrough thinking" by Colonel Nguyen Hoa Van.

Love poems but rich in criticism

The poetry collection “Why Love” by Nguyen Hoa Van consists of 40 poems, a journey of contemplation on love, life and civic responsibility of the author born in 1955. Not only stopping at romantic emotions, he raises critical questions: Love for money, for power, for beauty, for righteousness... and then affirms that true love is when “you don’t know why you love”.

With a poetic voice that is both lyrical and political, he illuminates love in its relationship with morality, honesty and humanity. The work becomes a profound message about love, faith and human values.

In the poetry collection “Why Love” (pages 8-10), Nguyen Hoa Van raises a series of questions about the nature of love: Love for money, for power, for beauty, for righteousness… and then concludes: “When we love/Not knowing why we love/That is true love” (“Why Love”, page 9).

Poet Pham Mau shared: “Here, the author has applied the critical thinking of a journalist to shine a light on love - a field that seems to belong only to emotions. He does not hesitate to expose the transformations of love when it is dominated by material things, power, and beauty. It is this frankness that creates the fighting spirit in poetry: Fighting against lies, fighting against the transformations of emotions. That is the clear difference of Nguyen Hoa Van”. The uniqueness of “Why Love” also lies in the blending of philosophy and lyricism. Verses such as: “People have loved like grains of silt/When one side erodes, when the other side builds up…” (“Why Love”, page 8) both evokes rustic images and contains philosophy about the changes of love and life.

The critical nature here is not only directed towards society but also towards the individual himself. Nguyen Hoa Van forces the reader to ask himself: Is his love truly pure and unconditional, or is it being influenced by personal interests?

Both works show the integration between journalism and poetry of a veteran journalist from professional practice to writing style. Nguyen Hoa Van writes poetry like writing an editorial: Short, concise, rich in images, but always aiming at the truth. His political writing is rich in poetry, aiming at truth, goodness, and beauty rather than criticism and destruction, although he once affirmed: "The truth is hard, my friend/Why do you keep saying untrue words?" ("The truth is hard", page 44).

This is a career declaration, and at the same time an artistic declaration of a scholar from Nghe An, Ky Anh (old) region. Nguyen Hoa Van's poetry does not accept lies, does not accept obscurity. It must be the truth and that truth must be expressed in a strong language. Another special point is the combination of soldier and journalist qualities. 43 years of military service gave him a steadfast spirit, 15 years of journalism gave him the ability to debate, and family tradition gave his poetry sophistication and humanity. It is this combination that makes the author's poetry and prose both strong and emotional, both combative and humane.

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