What BOOK are you reading right now?

I know there are Vietnam vets on these threads, so I wanted to ask a question to all who have read factual stories about the Vietnam war that you can recommend. I just returned from my second trip to Vietnam, and was able to visit the War Remnants museum in Saigon. It's interesting to note that the name of this museum has changed several time since its founding. This is from Wiki:

Quote:

Operated by the Vietnamese government, the museum was opened in September 1975 as the "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government [of South Vietnam]." Later it was known as the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum until as recently as 1993. Its current name follows liberalization in Vietnam and the normalization of relations with the United States.

I ordered the Quiet American from Amazon this week, and look forward to seeing the scenery where the movie was shot, because we visited Hoi An during our tour. I found the following on the web:

Quote:

Hoi an accommodation : Vinh Hung 1 Hotel Hoi An - Viet Nam
Vinh Hung 1 Hotel in Hoian is located in the center of Hoi An Ancient Town; it is only 100m from the Japanese Bridge and is conveniently located for guests to visit many other famous places.

The original Hoian Vinh Hung 1 Hotel is a 125 year-old Chinese trader's home a block from Hoi An's Japanese covered bridge on Tran Phu Street. For those who really want to soak in Hoi An's architectural flavor, stay in one of the two second-storey rooms in the original wooden house. Furnished with antique furniture and oriental rugs these rooms are the real thing. These rooms have a balcony overlooking Tran Phu Street and it was one of these Special Chinese rooms which recently served as Michael Caine's dressing room during the filming of The Quiet American.
Location:
143 Tran Phu St., Hoi An.

Hoi An is a small village that is best seen during both night and day to get the real feel of this fascinating place with antique buildings and furniture. I'm almost positive that all visitors to this village fall in love with this place. I did.

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interesting

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@cicerone imposter,

Which version are you getting for The Quiet American (1958 or 2002) from Amazon? I only saw the 2002 and I really enjoyed it. This summer I finally got to read the novel.

What a powerful work by Graham Greene. I didn't understand (what should I guess be obvious) that the title was an open handed insult until I read the book. I'm not offended by it, but I would be mortified to travel outside of the country knowing I have some of those traits.

Have you (or anybody here) read Robert Stone's Dog Soldiers or Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke? I haven't but I would like to see if they worth the effort. I know they're later on in the 60's part of the Vietnam War as opposed to the 1950's era Vietnam.

Or do you have another Graham Green novel to recommend?

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@tsarstepan,

I know Greene.

And I suppose I have other stuff to reccomend.

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@ossobuco,

Recommend away. Smile

I need to get out of this depressing funk. It's killing my desire to read these days.

Maybe a good book will inspire me.

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@tsarstepan,

Get out of war and ****.

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@ossobuco,

Mind me if I'm a tad boggled in the brain ... I'm not sure if Get out of war and **** is an accepted book recommendation. It's a wonderful lifestyle and true we need to get out of Iraq (if that's what your implying)... and I'm personally glad to have been out of the US Army since 1994 but ... well that's not going to help me get back in the mood to read or out of this personal depression either.

But ... um thanks for the sentiment? Wink

Any nonWar genre books by say Greene or anyone else? I can say the war genre is not my usual genre to browse anyway.

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@tsarstepan,

It's this one with Michael Cain: The Quiet American (2002)

I also purchased a book at the city library book sale, "The Real Dragon" by Louisa Hagner Trigg. The author lived in Saigon from 1959 to 1964, and one of her children were born there. She now resides in Alexandria, VA.

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@cicerone imposter,

Michael Caine is always an excellent actor. And it has the quite underrated and underutilized Brendan Fraser.

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@tsarstepan,

Greene talks to all of this.

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@ossobuco,

Which book of Greene's do you recommend? I've only read The Quiet American.

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@tsarstepan,

Oh, lord, all of them.

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@tsarstepan,

But I'm an ex catholic..

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@tsarstepan,

I'll be back on that. There are/were books for me. Hey, check his short stories (hoping as I post that he did do short stories.)

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@ossobuco,

Well, I'm an atheist yet I don't mind reading about a characters search of understanding through spirituality and religion (only if the story is riveting enough though).

Robert Stone, an author I mentioned above, is noted to have his protagonists dive head first into their religious and spiritual journies in his critically acclaimed books Damascus Gates and Bay of Souls.

I love the religious satire of James Morrow as well.

And there are spiritual subplots in the science fiction of Robert Charles Wilson as well.

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@tsarstepan,

I'm an atheist who knows none of those. I've an odd bias, in that I don't give a s/t about science fiction. I don't mind others playing.

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@ossobuco,

I did read a bunch of Greene's books. To what avail? They were interesting.

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

I'm an atheist who knows none of those. I've an odd bias, in that I don't give a s/t about science fiction. I don't mind others playing.

To be truthful, I shy from spirtuality scenarios.

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@ossobuco,

Okay. So off the top of your head? What nonGraham Greene/science fiction novel or work of nonfiction would you recommend in terms of a being a notable read. Something that could get me out of this moody rut and moving towards a more positive pursuit in finding a job.

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@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

Which book of Greene's do you recommend? I've only read The Quiet American.

Try The Third Man, the basis of another teriffic motion pic with Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten. The movie diverges from the book quite a bit (the script was written to accommodate Cotten: in the book that character is not American), and the comparison between book and movie is interesting. This is the work which contains the immortal line, spoken by Harry Lime (the Orson Welles character and I'm quoting from memory so I might be off a word or so):

"The history of Italy is fraught with murder and betrayal but what has Italy given us? Michaelangelo, Leonardo daVinci, Boticelli. The Swiss have lived as a neutral nation at peace with the world for hundreds of years now. And what have the Swiss given us? The cuckoo clock."

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