A greeting from Vera Lam 林小萍的問候 (11/23/14)

哈囉！大家好！要跟大家吉如網站的網友, 大家朋友問好!
我是Vera 林小萍。這是我的書" Lonely American", 還有英文版哦！大家看了嗎?
假如您有機會的話, 噢, 歡迎購買, 歡迎看我的書。
有什么喜歡的或者不喜歡的, 要...给我寫個review, 然後告訴我, 好嗎？
謝謝大家的鼓勵跟支持, 跟謝謝吉如網站的站長。好, 拜拜!

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讀者的話 Comments from a book reader (11/27/14)

Upon a friend’s recommendation, I read “The lonely American” novel from cover to cover.  Initially I had no intention to write any comment.  It was the author’s feedback seeking and encouragement video posted on this website that changed my mind.  I became intrigued by her open mind and decided to write some comments partly to express my support of her book, but mainly because I really like the novel which I heard is based on a true story and the author’s impressive writing skill.

At the first glance at the book, I must admit that the nice layout on the front and back covers gives an immediate, warm feeling.  The author also did an excellent job in setting the Table of Contents; each chapter title truly reflects the content within, and attracts readers’ attention and desire to read.  For completeness, I would like to see a Foreword which is missing in the English version.

The book is structured into four parts.  The beginning chapter talks about the American father wake up in the hospital to gravely find that his wife had died in a car accident and their son was in coma.  On the other side of the ocean, in the next chapter, a young girl had repeated nightmares seeing the American during the Vietnam War.  This sharp contrast attractively sets off a tactic in the story development.  I like it!

When I read the first paragraph, my attention focused on the beginning sentence which often demands the writer’s deep thinking as it is the most difficult to write.  “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice” sounds very appealing.  With that in mind, as I was reading throughout the book, I could see how the main characters’ choice led to their destiny---the American Air force officer chose to marry his girlfriend in the State rather than follow his heart for the Asian girl; Lucie decided not to tell his first lover that she was pregnant because she wanted him to marry her for true love; Emma pursued her education in a fine school in the US despite the expensive tuition, also with the desire wanting to know more about her biological father whom she gave a hard time before she could forgive; the Frenchman proposed to marry a woman who he knew was pregnant with someone else; nanny Ba Sau gave up her chance to exit the country because she hated the American soldiers for the damage done to her family and herself…All these are choices that led to individual destinies.  I felt the opening statement is indeed the theme of the whole story, well chosen and well placed.

Part two deals with the story taking place during the Vietnam War.  An American Air force officer attended a New Year party in Saigon where he met a beautiful young Asian girl to whom he was attached and with whom he subsequently had a romantic encounter.  Not knowing she was pregnant and that he would be the father, he decided to go back to the State to marry his girlfriend out of “the dignity of duty.”  The Asian girl then married a Frenchman out of necessity to avoid the disgrace to her family in a society where having a child out of wedlock would be totally unacceptable.  Years later when the American was told he had fathered a girl, he became attached to his daughter, and wanted to rescue her and the mother in the last days of Vietnam War.  Stories as such are very common in war times as many GIs, aware of the casualty rate fighting the battles, would naturally want to have fun on off-duty, not caring the consequences of their personal satisfactions.

One thing I noted is the dialogs between the officer and the young girl.  I felt their conversations were carried out at a very high level, almost not possible in the reality that a young Chinese Vietnamese girl so capable to converse English so well and perfect when she was a below average student at a high school that taught French as a main language.  On the other hand, the broken English spoken by the chauffeur Chu Hai makes me feel more at ease and acceptable as it truly reflects the reality.  I think readers who were born and raised in Vietnam during the war would feel the same.

Unlike American culture, Vietnamese address senior people “Ông, Bà” to show respect.  Nanny “Bà Sáu” does not mean grandma number six as explained in the footnote.  In addition, “Sáu” or six does not mean the lady is the sixth daughter in her family.  To be correct, the oldest son or daughter is “Hai” or second, so “Sáu” or six would refer to the fifth son or daughter.  Furthermore, a nanny, housemaid or family chauffer generally addresses the household owner’s son and daughter as “cậu” and “cô.”  In the book, the nanny called her owner’s daughter “my child.”  I don’t think this can happen in real life.

Liberty came after the war.  Part three of the book talks about the family settlement in France with a peaceful but hard working life.  The American officer from the US now wanted to reunite with his daughter because he was lonely after his wife died in a car accident and the son in coma.  The daughter would give him a hard time initially.  All these are well detailed that make the story moving and interesting.

The last part tells, along with the boy awakening from coma, how Lucie died at 47 from cancer.   I wonder why Lucie’s parents did not fly from Taiwan to see their dying daughter.  Was it an overlook?  Emma started a new life having her own family in the US, happy and gradually forgiving her father for abandoning her mother when she was pregnant of her.

Over all, the book is well written as a novel.  Personally I would like it more if it were presented as a memoir, biography or autobiography without any modification to the story.  Real people, real events are more appealing to readers, especially to those who went through the Vietnam War period.

I give this novel an A+.

VW