Recently, Language magazine introduces a special author each period. Usually, the number of articles devoted to this special section takes up half of the issue, about 150 pages. But there are authors who have many articles that take up too many pages, so they have to make a separate supplement. Each issue of Language is about 300 pages long, usually the previous supplements by authors To Thuy Yen and Hoang Ngoc Bien, Cung Tich Bien have the same number of pages as Language. This period, the book “Ngo The Vinh, Friends and Literature” holds a record, with 700 pages, double the number of regular newspapers. Just imagine each issue of Language as a handsome guy carrying a copy like a backpack. The 300 kg guy is carrying a 700 kg backpack, it’s hard to move around. But writer Ngo The Vinh deserves this weight.
Ngo The Vinh was more interested in literature than studying. Entering his first year of medicine, he did not have the excitement of a student studying the most prestigious major at that time. He confided: “Entering my first year of medicine, instead of focusing on studying like my classmates, I was not such a good role model. I soon fell in love with writing, journalism, and even hanging out with artists from Nghieu De’s group of friends. often frequented Bui Vien hamlet near International Crossroads, right from the time they were like “hidden gems”, artists such as Nguyen Trung, Cu Nguyen, Lam Triet, Nguyen Khai; Poetry group Tran Da Tu, Nguyen Duc Son / Sao Tren Tung, Tran Tuan Kiet, Tran Duc Uyen / Tu Keu, Nguyen Nghiep Nhuong, Nguyen Thuy Long, each with their own look and artistic desire is the common denominator that they aim for. next”. Trying to study until the fourth year, he considered giving up: “Now that I remember, I can’t help but thank my brother [khuyên tôi cố] Complete the remaining two years to graduate and at that time no one will stop me from doing the work I like.”
What he likes is not the name but the ideal of creating a fair society. “When we were students, like our peers, we were interested in social issues. Dreaming and striving for social justice, I think that is the common dream of young people. Of course, it is not simple to find a path to that dream. From different concepts and different methods of action, struggles and persuasion arise. Immersing ourselves in that common flow of activities, saying that it is political activity, in a broad sense, that is not wrong. . But if politics is understood in terms of factions and parties, I have never participated and do not want to embark on that thorny path.” To express this wish, he and his friends created Tinh Thuong newspaper, a newspaper run by medical students but has had a great influence in society.
After graduating, he entered the exciting war. He volunteered to serve in the Airborne Commandos of the Special Forces, the most formidable army, which means always confronting death. Syringe in hand, gun in hand, but he did not forget to reserve a hand for holding a pen. In 1969, he completed the book “The Green Belt”. Thai Do Publishing House printed it in 1970 and won the Republic of Vietnam Literature and Arts Award in 1971. The award was given on Tet holiday in 1972 at the Independence Palace, but he was busy marching to defend Kontum so he could not leave the unit. about receiving the award.
Ironically, just a few months later he had to appear in court because of his signature “Front in Saigon”. The Ministry of Internal Affairs sued him for “making allegations that harm public order and undermine the discipline and fighting spirit of the army”. The diary records the time when his unit was mobilized from the front to Saigon to suppress student protests. There was something troubling him as he “marched” towards the capital. “During my long years in college, I lived their mentality and now I am also standing side by side with my brothers living in this thorny situation. I understand your frustration, and I also sympathize with their motivation to fight. It is not completely unreasonable for them to have to give up their studies and sacrifice their future to engage in struggles.” Saigon is another world, there are no sounds of bombs or bullets, only strong alcohol, fragrant perfume and people living outside the war. “Of a group of people who cry out for war but are always above and outside that war. Then the helpless soldiers wondered, what are they protecting with guns? There is no way for a luxurious boat to travel on a blood-stained river, filled with corpses of the same kind… Soldiers only wish to take up guns and fight for the country, to sacrifice for a noble ideal, a Shining righteousness – without having to worry about anything. But now they understand that the false peace after returning from the jungle has been lost and gone. That in addition to the familiar battlefield of guns and bullets, they also have to face another, more tiring battle – that is the injustice and corruption of society that the nation is suffering in the darkness of humiliation. For thirty years now, there have been and are too many hero-of-war while there is a dearth of social soldiers. So which battlefield to choose? That it is not just in a remote place on the border – but their real battlefield of challenges must be in Saigon.” The case, which was rumored by public opinion, ended on May 18, 1972 with a suspended sentence of 100,000 VND in fines and 1 VND in compensation to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
After the collapse of the South, he decided to stay because he could not desert. “I chose to stay, only to witness the last days of the soldiers. The tragedy is not the final battle that was lost, but the humiliation and disappointment of the soldiers at the cowardice of their commanders and leaders…. Sharing the suffering with the soldiers in battle, witnessing their humiliation afterwards, among a group of unkempt and nothing more than victors. From there I watched the tragedy in both parts of the country. Surviving that earthquake, no wonder it left no mark on real life and literature.”
Like the defeated officers of the Republic of Vietnam’s armed forces, he was forced into so-called re-education camps, which were actually prison camps. Hoeing land to plant vegetables, cutting bamboo and planting thousands of pieces of wood, he was released after three wasted years of his life. At the end of 1983, he went to America. Far from home, my heart still cannot stop worrying about my nation. Realizing the risk of China building dams and improving the Mekong River, the lifeblood river of the nation, he again…committed himself! In 1995, he embarked on a mission to save the river that feeds the Vietnamese people. Ngo The Vinh is a very careful person, he does everything thoroughly. Reading documents about the Mekong River was not enough, he went to the field to hear and see for himself in order to make accurate judgments. He traveled 4,800 kilometers along the river, from upstream to downstream, from China, through Laos, through Cambodia to the lower reaches of the river in Vietnam. Few people have such a heart for their country. The two books “The Nine Dragons Dried Up, The East Sea Rises” published by Van Nghe in 2000 and the book “Mekong – The Choked River” by the same publisher in 2007 are his dedication to the country.
Busy in many roles, who is Ngo The Vinh in the eyes of his friends? Nguyen Xuan Hoang commented: “Ngo The Vinh is a writer of dreams, or more clearly, he is a writer of conscience.” Nguyen Van Tuan said Ngo The Vinh was a soldier, a writer, and an intellectual. Nguyen Thi Khanh Minh identified Ngo The Vinh as a soldier who rushed to the battlefield, a doctor, a writer, a journalist, and a social soldier.
Not everyone can be admired by as many people as Ngo The Vinh. The list of names written about him in the book “Ngo The Vinh – Friends and Literature” is long. Luan Hoan, Tran Thi Nguyet Mai, Dinh Cuong, Nguyen Vy Khanh, Pham Phan Long, Nguyen Van Tuan, Trang Chau, Le Chieu Giang, Nguyen Manh Trinh, Le Quynh Mai, Hoang Xuan Han, Le Ngo Chau, Nguyen Mai, Nguyen Quoc Tru, Nhat Tien. Lai Manh Cuong, Trinh Y Thu, Hoang Ngoc Nguyen, Tran Ngoc Ninh, Gerald C. Hickey, Oscar Salemink, José Quiroga, Nguyen Thuyet Phong, Nguyen Quynh, Mac Do, Nguyen Sao Mai, Hoang Mai Dat, Nguyen Xuan Hoang, Ta Ty, Doan Nha Van, Tran Huy Bich, Tran Mong Tu, Nguyen Thi Khanh Minh, Mark Frankland, Tim Page, Bui Khiet, Hoang Van Duc, Dohamide, Long An, Nguyen Ky Hung, Khanh Truong, Phan Nhat Nam, Dang Tran Huan, Vu Van Dzi, Luong Thu Trung, Nguyen Dinh Toan, Hoang Khoi Phong, Nguyen Ngoc Bich, Nguyen Xuan Thiep, Tran Nguon Phieu, Nguyen Van Luc, Nga Du Tu, Huynh Kim Quang, Anh Nguyet, Do Nghe, Pham Cao Hoang, Phan Tan Hai, Pham Xuan Dai, Nguyen Tai Ngoc, Truong Vu, Ha Ngoc Thuan, Trinh Cung, Song Thao, Tran Thi Dieu Tam, Huy Van Truong, Hao Pham, Nguyen Ngoc Dung, Eric Henry. I write them in the order they appear in the book.
Mr. Ngo The Vinh’s friends belong to many fields of activity. Everyone appreciates a person who is not afraid of hardships and works hard in many fields. As for me, I am most closely associated with writer Ngo The Vinh. Since 1963, he has published literary works: Stormy Clouds, Night Shadows, Monsoon, Green Belt, The Front in Saigon, People Seeking Spring. In 2017, Ngo The Vinh published “Portraits of Literature, Art and Culture”, Volume I and in 2022 Volume II.
In volume I, he wrote about Mac Do, Nhu Phong Le Van Tien, Vo Phien, Linh Bao, Mai Thao, Duong Nghiem Mau, Nhat Tien, Nguyen Dinh Toan, Thanh Tam Tuyen, Nguyen Xuan Hoang, Hoang Ngoc Bien, Dinh Cuong , Nghieu De, Nguyen Khai, Cao Xuan Huy, Phung Nguyen and two Professors Pham Bieu Tam and Pham Hoang Ho.
Volume II includes authors: Nguyen Tuong Bach, Ta Ty, Tran Ngoc Ninh, Le Ngo Chau, Nguyen Van Trung, Hoang Tien Bao, Le Ngoc Hue, Nghiem Sy Tuan, Doan Van Ba, Mai Chung, Tran Hoai Thu & Ngoc Yen, Phan Nhat Nam, Dohamide and John Steinbeck.
Writer Pham Xuan Dai commented on this “portrait”: “Using the two words “portrait” to name this series of his articles, Ngo The Vinh has created a new way of writing for some of the characters he selected. This book does not belong to the type of literary criticism like “Modern Writers” by Vu Ngoc Phan or “Vietnamese Poets” by Hoai Thanh – Hoai Chan, no, he does not set his goals and responsibilities that wide. . First of all, he is not a literary or art critic, he just creates “portraits” in his own way. One of the first conditions for the author to do this is that the person being introduced must be a close acquaintance of him, simply put, his friend… That friendship is not simply a close feeling between two individuals like It’s normal, but there are also mixed literary or artistic works, creative styles, creative intentions or each person’s path of activity.
The “portrait” drawn by Ngo The Vinh is not like the portraits of other authors. Especially with writers who have passed away, he analyzes in detail the illness that led to their death. Like spinal cancer sarcoma by Nguyen Xuan Hoang, liver cancer by Nguyen Mong Giac, eye cancer by Cao Xuan Huy, pancreatic cancer by Nghieu De, prostate cancer by Dinh Cuong. These details will be valuable documents for future historical literature.
As I closed the 700-page book, I felt warm when thinking about the love of my friends for Ngo The Vinh and the love of Ngo The Vinh for my friends. It is a very different kind of artistic love. Very heavy. The book “Ngo The Vinh, Friends and Literature” is also a heavy book written by friends about a heavyweight author. I’m not familiar with the author’s weight, but I’m very familiar with the “weight” of the book. I put it on a small scale. Exactly 922 grams!
April 2024
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