The Boat

Nam Le writes with verve and a chameleon-like versatility, rendering varied characters with pitch-perfect credibility in a startling range of situations. A particular relief in that he steers clear of the typical cast of immigrant stories that Asian writers tend to veer towards - such a welcome breath of fresh air and definitely a writer to watch.

I almost didn't get beyond the first (really good in spite of the predictable event near the end) story in this collection, about the relationship between a Vietnamese man and his Vietnamese-American son, not sure that I wanted to read six more on similar subjects (no, I hadn't read the titles). Fortunately, I continued on, as the second one, in which a fourteen-year-old boy assassin is forced to deal with the consequences of defying his boss, contains a less expected, though appropriate, ending. Tale number three, Meeting Elise, is set in the US and follows an elderly artist's attempt to meet his estranged daughter, who he abandoned (along with her mother) in exchange for life with a young model. The fourth story, set in yet another country (Australia) contains another male main character, a high school aged boy. After the girlfriend of the town brute wraps this kid around her little finger, he tries to handle the situation while dealing with worries about his sick mother, distant dad, and family's uncertain future. Hiroshima (country number five), set in Japan during WWII, is about a young girl forced to live away from her parents (for safety reasons), Imperialism, and the war. Story six, set in Tehran, follows a broken-hearted American woman as she visits an old female friend who works, dangerously, in support of women's rights. Arriving during a holy holiday and period of political unrest, she spends most of her time with others, has a scary encounter with some locals, and realizes how little she really knows about her friend. Le tops off the collection with the bleakest of all, Vietnamese persons try to travel to safety by ultra-overcrowded boat. Sickness, death, and in the midst of it all, is the story of a young girl's relationship with new acquaintances, a mother and her young, sweet-singing son. The most original short story collection I've read in years, Nam Le shows that his mad skills at telling a compelling tale are only exceeded by his ability to do so with varying characters and settings (seven stories set in six countries). Although a bit racy at times, the best of the book is its bleak theme. Also good: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Graceland by Christopher Abani, and A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.

Steve Koss wrote an insightful review here earlier suggesting a connection between this collection of seven short-stories and ethnic literature. Nam Le is Vietnamese, but only the first and last story are directly about the Vietnamese experience, the rest are a seemingly random mix of people and events from all over the world. Nam Le tells us he "could totally exploit the Vietnamese thing. But instead, [he] choose to write about lesbian vampires and Colombian assassins, and Hiroshima orphans - and New York painters with hemorrhoids." What do Colombian assassins, Hiroshima orphans and hemorrhoid infected New Yorkers have to do with the Vietnamese experience? Everything. The problem is, as Le says, ethnic literature is "a license to bore. The characters are always flat, generic." Readers are either numb to it because of stereotypes or mental blockage, or have no frame of reference. And as Le's first story shows, the writer can't help but be exploitative in the process. However it is still possible to convey the feelings of the experience through a proxy, and so all of these stories immerse the reader with emotions in preparation for the last story about Vietnamese boat people. It's been said there is no loneliness more acute than that experienced around other people, in particular family. The New York artist who waits alone in the restaurant for the daughter who never comes; the high school football star who fights his personal battles, but even with his father taking the punches, still faces it alone; the Colombian assassin who faces his destiny without his friends help; in each of the stories the main character is isolated and alienated and faces a great trauma. The experience of reading this book reminded me of when I was child, lost in the crowd, my parents seemingly gone forever and the world a difficult and cold place. By the last story, "The Boat", the readers sensibilities have been so finely shaped to this sense of alienation, fear and dread that Nam Le is able to convey the Vietnamese boat people "ethnic experience" in a fresh and immediate way. The details and facts are conveyed through the words on the page, but the feeling and sense of experience comes from within. Using this as an interpretive framework, it no longer seems like a collection of short stories but a work greater than its elements, a masterful use of the short story format to touch on universal human experience.

An excellent debut collection of short stories. I particularly liked the author's ability to inhabit different peoples and places and points of view. I never expected to jump around, geographically and otherwise, quite so much as the stories moved, which took me, quite pleasantly, by surprise. Le's prose style is pensive and smooth and it can soar. Very good stuff here; I look forward to other works by Nam Le.

Perhaps this is the year of short stories. In April Jhumpa Lahiri's "Unaccustomed Earth" was published to the delight of lovers of short stories. And now this dazzling debut, a collection of seven short stories titled "The Boat", by Nam Le. Even though he is only 29 years old, he writes with the wisdom of a very old and experienced writer. The title story is very long, and reads like a novella. Unlike Lahiri's stories which are mostly about the lives and experiences of immigrants from India in the United States of America, Mr. Le's stories take place around the world, in Vietnam , Iran, United States, Australia, in the slums of Columbia in South America, and in Iowa, and in cities like Manhattan. The first story with a very long and curious title of "Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice", has elements of autobiography, because its protagonist, a man named Nam who, like the author, was born in Vietnam and raised in Australia. And like the author, he is a lawyer who goes to Iowa to take a course in writing. His father suddenly decides to visit him, and a reader can feel the uncomfortable tension between the father and the son. I felt that the father was quite abusive towards his son, lashing him mercilessly, when the writer was a boy. Of all the stories, I liked "Meeting Elise", about an old painter named Henry Luff, who is dying from terminal cancer, and who decides to meet his estranged daughter, Elise, in a fancy restaurant at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan. It is a very moving story. Mr. Nam Le's prose is elegant, smooth, and almost lyrical. The sentences shine because of their clarity: "The truth was, he'd come at the worst possible time. I was in my last year at the Iowa Writers' Workshop; it was late November, and my final story for the semester was due in three days. I had a backlog of papers to grade and a heap of fellowship and job applications to draft and submit. It was no wonder I was drinking so much." This is indeed an amazing and very impressive debut. I wouldn't be surprised if it wins major literary awards such as the Pulitzer or the National Book Award.