Like “Dark Blue Suit”, one of this novel’s greatest strengths is the fact that it’s delivered to us in bite sized pieces. However, I enjoyed the way this piece wasn’t explicitly defined as a connected narrative, but rather allowed the reader to slowly connect the pieces that revealed a deeper, more gripping narrative.

• In a way, perhaps this mirrors the experiences of people like Kim, Bac Ngyuen, Hoa and Bridget – they all exist in their own contained experiences, but are connected in ways they sometimes are never made conscious of.
• None of these stories is happy – from beginning to end, there’s not a single experience that ties up with a bow or gives the reader a feeling of satisfaction of completion. As we discussed a bit in seminar, I’m sure this was deliberate as a way to demonstrate that no matter what the circumstances, the effects of the Vietnam war were still felt in the 1990s, and they still are felt today. This was anything but a ‘feel good’ book, and I think that’s one of it’s best traits.
• Names have power, whether we acknowledge that or don’t.
• As Americans living several decades past the tragic events of this War, do we still remember exactly how mishandled and traumatic it was for both Vietnam and our own country? Have we learned anything? Would we handle things differently now? These are the questions I was left with after finishing.