Title: Universal and specific
Review: I bought this book after hearing an interview with the author on National Public Radio. She has an antagonistic attitude toward the regime, which, for reasons of its own, tolerates her. Duong expresses negativity toward Vietnamese communism mainly through her depiction of the narrator's uncle, a petty, dogmatic, narrow-minded cadre who brutalizes the narrator's angelic father. The preferability of capitalism is epitomized by the narrator's aunt, a wise, conscientious small landholder who overcomes adversity. The young female narrator would earn the sympathy of anybody under any system that shatters dreams and stifles opportunity. A good read, but be wary of the author's agenda.
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