Andrew X. Pham on tour for book "The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars"

Viet Nam is central to a chapter in US history that caused great pain and division in our country. Our involvement in Viet Nam also had repercussions for the Vietnamese. Tonight the Non fiction Book Club discusses Viet Nam from a different perspective, the Vietnamese perspective. The Eaves of Heaven by Andrew X. Pham is heartbreakingly beautiful. Pham pays tribute to his father and a country torn asunder by war. It truly should be impossible to write so beautifully about such horrific events. Thong Van Phams family ruled for generations in a North Vietnamese rural village. They lived on a vast estate with thousands of acres, a majestic home, and a second home in Hanoi. The eldest son served as magistrate, ruling fairly on disputes, judging criminal acts, and keeping peace in their district through wisdom and good judgment. This was their world from generation to generation, the responsibility and wealth passed on to the eldest son. War will destroy it all, obliterating their way of life. Under French rule the Phams thrived, they lived on rich lands with plenty to eat. WWII brought the Japanese eager to defeat the Chinese. Japan wanted food to feed their army and defeat their mortal enemy; they did not care about the Vietnamese. The people starved. As the Japanese were driven from their land, the Vietnamese hoped for independence but a deal was cut with the French and an unwilling nation returned to the yoke of French colonial rule. War broke out again, with freedom fighters and the French clashing. The villagers were caught in the middle; by day the French demanded tribute, by night the resistance came round wanting food, money, and more boys to fight for freedom. Resist either side and death was the reward. Phams family experienced the brutality of the communist freedom fighters, when the French left Vietnam they fled to the south away from the communists. It did not take long for the south to be caught up in a new war. Civil war broke out with the Americans helping the ARVN troops resist the Viet Cong. I do not have the words to bring life to describing this story, but Andrew Pham has them, beautiful words that will make Vietnam shimmer on the page. Most of our information on Vietnam comes from the reflections of our soldiers or officials. It is different hearing of one Vietnamese man marked by war; Andrew Pham gives the words needed to make us vividly see his world.