Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory (May 7, 1954 – May 7, 2024), Tre Publishing House recently re-released the novel ‘Four Years Later’ by writer Nguyen Huy Tuong. Accompanying it are the diary pages, letters… of the late writer when he went on a field trip here, which started the above novel.
Launched in 1959, Four years later was a publishing phenomenon, successful in terms of quality and criticism immediately upon release. It tells about the construction process of Dien Bien 4 years after the historic victory as well as portraits of many people from this period. Among them is Doan – the main character – who used to be a front-line soldier and is now brought to the farm to increase production.
During an accidental meeting, he encountered Ngan – the little girl he had saved during years of fierce fighting, and fell into confusion when her mother wanted to cooperate between them. However, Doan had a wife, but that wife could not escape the temptations of everyday life, so she had an affair with another person. Faced with the emotional dilemma, what should he do?
Writer To Hoai (left) and writer Nguyen Huy Tuong during the resistance war against the French. Photo by Nguyen Huy Thang.
Subtle observation
With Four years later, Nguyen Huy Tuong has realistically outlined what happened in the process of changing the skin of the land of Dien Bien under conditions that were still difficult and lacking in many ways. In terms of weather, it is an almost arid land, devastated by the war, with the dry season and Laotian winds sweeping across the face, and the rainy season with high floods. Hidden deep in that ground, unexploded bombs still scattered are a potential danger, causing many people to lose their legs and die at the most beautiful age of their lives. In addition, lack of food also makes soldiers skinny and lacking vitality…
But also through the efforts of the people and soldiers here, each garden to increase production was also built. These are each orange branch that has been carefully taken care of, each green bud of a valuable rubber tree that has been experimentally planted… And gradually many bombs have been detonated in time, so that the plane can fly. landed and the villagers and soldiers could move without fear.
Not only does Nguyen Huy Tuong go deep into the material aspect, he also portrays the private thoughts of the soldiers in this land. In the novel, a diverse picture of human faces and rich psychological developments have been successfully recreated. These are hard-working people, aiming for a common goal like Cuong – the brave soldier clearing mines, like Doan – the person who was sent to logistics from the battlefield as a “step back” but still strongly accepted it. accept it because we know it is working towards the same common goal of building a rich and beautiful land of Dien Bien…
Artists and military officers at Hill A1 in August 1958. Writer Nguyen Huy Tuong in a black suit, standing in the middle. Photo: Hoang Thuy Toan.
Not only does he praise heroic qualities, the author also creates extremely interesting characters, bringing more vitality to the novel. That is the Cheerful guy – the person who is always cheerful, bringing joy to the whole army even when facing difficulties and hardships. In contrast to him is the Marshal – a sluggish, lazy person who is degraded in military life… These characters show the writer’s subtle observation ability, showing a variety of things. human characteristics, thereby honoring the comradeship and the love between soldiers and people to guide them through all difficulties.
Another point is that Nguyen Huy Tuong also spends most of the time focusing on the personal aspects of many characters. This can be said to be a step forward at that time, because previously during the labor period, focusing on the individual was often considered sentimental and demoralizing. However, because of the dilemma of Doan, Ngan and his wife, Cuong’s hesitation in getting married… has made the character’s personality more comprehensive, thereby praising the tolerance and forgiveness of the creator. network, when there are conflicts or disagreements, no one will be left behind.
Book cover Four Years Later and Pages about Dien Bien. Photo: Tre Publishing House
Cherished pages
In this re-release, Four years later Also printed with pages about Dien Bien written by the author during 4 months of fieldwork here with many other writers such as musicians Van Cao, Nguyen Van Ty… and writers Nguyen Tuan, playwright Luu Quang Thuan… in 1958. Through that, we will understand more about the real context at that time, as well as understand the thoughts and feelings of the soldiers and artists – those who contributed and sacrificed. a lot for the reconstruction of Dien Bien.
Accordingly, many true stories were cleverly handled by the writer to include in the work, for example, the story of a soldier rescuing a baby who had lost his mother in the trenches was adapted by Nguyen Huy Tuong into a story by Nguyen Huy Tuong. Doan and Ngan, while the characters Marshal or Cheerful also have real-life images, which he added color and recreated successfully and vividly…
Autograph of writer Nguyen Huy Tuong in 1959. Photo taken from the book
Through the diary pages filled with thoughts and events, it can be seen that the scale of the work the author carries out is very significant. As his son Nguyen Huy Thang, who also compiled and annotated the book, said his father wrote a diary as a habit. With 4 months at Dien Bien nursery, that habit has gradually turned into an increasingly clear awareness of taking documents to write. In the pages of his writing, Nguyen Huy Tuong many times wondered and thought about how to fictionalize it but still stay close to reality and represent everything that happened there in the most reasonable and honest way.
These pages also help prove that this was not a trip to wander around, “riding a horse to see flowers” as public opinion once asserted at that time. Because if we don’t go together with the soldiers to extract oranges in Muong Pon to propagate, if we don’t go together to get bamboo to weave bamboo to make rubber trees, or to rejoice together for a new harvest, to worry together when the frost comes. … then Four years later cannot be as lively and attractive as that. Nguyen Huy Tuong has proven that writing also contributes to the reconstruction of Dien Bien, so that future generations can look back on a difficult time, thereby strengthening their confidence and constantly trying to build a rich and beautiful country.
Winner of the Ho Chi Minh Prize for literature and art, with this re-release, the novel Four years later not only preserving its artistic quality, but also finding a new generation of readers. Besides, by gathering, compiling, annotating and placing alongside raw documents such as diary pages, letters… readers will also have more opportunities to understand the labor and creative process. of one of the writers who lived, fought and worked hard.
Minh Anh
