Enrich Your Travels with Longitude
We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.
Paradise of the Blind
by Duong Thu Huong
- LITERATURE
- 2002
- PAPER
- 270 PAGES
E-MAIL
PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION
Set in the 1980s, this popular Vietnamese novel -- one of the few translated into English -- captures life in an extended family and the struggle for economic well being in a difficult society. Born in 1947 and living in Hanoi, Duong Thu Huong writes as a participant and witness to changing Vietnam. Paradise of the Blind is an exquisite portrait of three Vietnamese women struggling to survive in a society where subservience to men is expected and Communist corruption crushes every dream. Through the eyes of Hang, a young woman in her twenties who has grown up amidst the slums and intermittent beauty of Hanoi, we come to know the tragedy of her family as land reform rips apart their village. When her uncle Chinh's political loyalties replace family devotion, Hang is torn between her mother's appalling self-sacrifice and the bitterness of her aunt who can avenge but not forgive. Only by freeing herself from the past will Hang be able to find dignity -- and a future.
Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.