The Mountains Sing: Runner-up for the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize

I will read this book again. Beautiful writing, story, characters, and relationships. It is not an easy read though, as it deals with the history of Viêt Nam in the 20th century. But it's a really good story. I can't wait to read the author's other book!

Siendo la escritora poeta cambia la perspectiva de los demás escritores. Nunca se pierde la esperanza, aun en los momentos más aterradores. son episodios históricos muy importantes, algo que no se tiene muy claro en Occidente. El hecho que la autora sea vietnamita nos da la perspectiva más correcta. Recomendadísimo. IRMA DICKINSON

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5As someone living in the West I feel as though a certain narrative has been pushed about the 'Vietnam War' and not much attention has been shown to the victims that had been suffering for a long time. Before the Americans it was the French, the Japanese, the Chinese. This book was a real eye-opener for me because of the way it shows the characters resilience, their trauma, their suffering, and even their hope during the war.I was enamoured by this novel and the way it portrayed suffering so holistically, with the trauma of everyone involved in the war being explored, whether it's a mother gone to fight, an uncle returning injured, a young girl left behind or a grieving mother and grandma. It was very emotional, and each character had suffered in their own unique way, providing a tragic view of the suffering during wartime.I also think the author did a beautiful job in decolonising Vietnamese history shining light on the politics and land reforms going on at the time, whilst also providing rich insight into the experiences of Vietnamese people. Whilst this may be classed as fiction, it’s not really because these are all real-life things that happened. The reforms were real, the experiences were more than real. The novel is so tragically beautiful and highly emotional; Quế Mai wrote this with the intention of taking back the narrative and I think she achieved that.I especially loved how unapologetic Quế Mai was with the way she writes in diacritics and uses Vietnamese words. Language is the very essence of a culture their pride and not simplifying words and spelling them properly/correctly is important in decolonising literature. It fully immerses the reader into Vietnamese culture, and I think its beautifully done. I really felt like I was transported there.I was fully enraptured by what I was reading and couldn’t put the book down. The Mountains Sing is one of the best books I’ve read this year and I could not recommend it enough, truly. It prompted and encouraged me to do my own research on Vietnam and this novel is just amazing. It was written for a purpose, and I think it achieved that perfectly.

The Mountains Sing has a captivating story line, told through the unique perspectives of multi-generational characters. This historical fiction novel gave me an eye-opening insight into the Vietnam War that few authors have touched upon. Written beautifully by Nguyen Phan Que Mai, I often found myself rooting for the characters, feeling an ache in my chest as they experienced the losses and hardships of war, but always wanting to continue reading onto the next chapter. This is a great read, the book was hard to put down and definitely on my list of favourites! Give it a go.

I really loved reading this book. I had all the emotions from sadness to happiness."But war isn't kindness or sympathy... War is death, sorrow, and misery"A multigenerational tale of the Tran family, set during the Viet Nam War. The first POV is Dieu Lan who was forced to flee her home with her children during the riots and purging caused by the Land Reform. While trying to escape, she has to leave behind her children to keep them safe. Years later, we watch her and her granddaughter hiding from the bombs while trying to keep hope alive. The second POV that we get is that of Huong (the granddaughter) as she lives and grows up in a war torn country, waiting for her parents to return from the war and baring the repercussion of their decide to fight at the war front. Huong's mother returning with PTSD, her uncle without his legs, her other uncle dead and others still missing.The writing is so good, that you almost feel and hear the bombs and the silent howl of pain it leaves in its wake. Its so vivid, rich in culture (language and tradition), I really loved the proverbs that were sprinkled all through the book. Grandma Lan was presented as a strong woman who nothing seems to faze until you realise why; her experiences with the war that had tried to break her, had forged her into a force field. A pillar of strength for her family.I like that we end on a good note. As this is a coming of age story (across multiple generations) we get to see them fall in love and marry, have children and share losses. Huong' relationship was really cute and Tam was just so cute; I was so invested in their happiness. They both deserved it.I have probably given too many spoilers, but I just encourage you to read this book. I learnt a lot about the war that I didn't know before. There was one thought that came to my mind about the Land Reform law and how it destroyed the lives of many. 'The best way to destroy a community, is to divide them by riches. The poor will rise up and stone the rich and powerful. Then there will be no one left to protect the community' They acted out of greed and they destroyed themselves, forgetting that the heavens hold record.