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River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam | 
 enlarge | Author: Jon Swain
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy Used: $2.77
You Save: $20.18 (88%)
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 834385
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 281
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.8 x 1
ISBN: 0312169892
Dewey Decimal Number: 959.6042
EAN: 9780312169893
ASIN: 0312169892
Publication Date: September 15, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: VG / VG. First U.S. Edition printing: October 1997.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Genuine snapshot of the horror of war August 12, 2007
Jon's autobiographical account of his five years in Indo-China covers the critical climax of the Cold War in SE Asia, the fall of Phnom Penh. Recounting the horrors of the Khmer Rouge forced evacuation of Phnom Penh amd the desperate struggle of refuges who sought sanctuary in the French Embassy. The book is well paced and straight forward. A rewarding book on a subject that has all but been forgotten by all except the victims of the wars in IndoChina.
 Another Che Queervara opium head having flashbacks of "glory days" November 27, 2006
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
A humorous account of another young 60s counter-culturist who was enlightened as a young man by hookers, opiates and SE Asian narcotics that "opened his eyes" to the "goodness and purity" of the Khmer Rouge, Viet Cong, Ho Chi Minh, Pathet Lao, "French enlightenment" of the Souteast Asian barbarians of the 19th century, and of course last but not least~ the absolute horrendous barbarity of the hegemonic & demonic US regimes that failed to truly understand these great organizations of the 50s thru 70s (yawn...). He waxes on and on about his great acquaintences of Phnom Penh's and Hue's opiate dens as this "illustrious journalist" of the vaulted 4th Estate. Pretty pathetic writing overall as I waded through all the despot worshipping until it just got way to sycophantical. Saloth Sar, Ta Mok, Ieng Sary and General Giap would have loved to have Mr Swain nearby at nap time ........ :) If you loved John Kerry's tired anti-Vietnam War fantasies, you will love Mr Swain's opiate dreams book immensely!!
A Romantic Vision of SE Asia March 18, 2006
What makes this book worth reading is Swain's account of the fall of Phnom Penh in 1975 to the Khmer Rouge and his confinement in the French Embassy. It's a story that is told in chilling detail in the Oscar-winning movie, "The Killing Fields," in which an actor plays Swain. Swain's true account, especially of the bravery of Cambodian assistant Dith Pran, is possibly the best written account available.
This is a book about the horror and the romance of war and Vietnam was the most horrible and the most romantic of wars. Amidst all the blood, Swain and others had a hell of a good time and only latterly did the tragedy of it all hit home to them. Swain doesn't put on any airs. He was a young and adventurous journalist who enjoyed the atmosphere -- sex, drugs, and rock and roll -- that went along with the war. Swain writes effortlessly and most people will enjoy "River of Time" for its portrayal of a young man and a war.
Smallchief
A beautifully written book October 12, 2003
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this book recently in my hotel's bookstore in Siem Reap, Cambodia during a short holiday there to see Angkor Wat. It is truly a great read ! River of Time has given me a new insight on the appeal of Indo-China and its tragic history. And Jon Swain's writing is powerful and moving.
 Old News With No New Insight September 29, 2002
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I groped my way through this "memoir" as if reading a never-ending newspaper article--Swain is indeed a journalist by trade. If anything, the book gives a decent summary of the horrors in Southeast Asia (especially the Khmer Rouge) in the mid to late 1970s, complete with gory details but with no new insight. It's as if he dug up all the articles he wrote while covering the war at the time, strung them together, threw in some insincere personal musings and presto! Another product for the latest fad in book publishing: the memoir. Swain is shamelessly nostalgic for Cambodia as he first encountered it--as a very young Briton just out of the French Foreign Legion. It was a place where he could frequent prostitutes, wilt away the afternoons in opium dens, and belong to an elite group of white foreign men living in Phonm Penh's best hotel. He pays scant attention to the fact that the French Colonial legacy in Southeast Asia is what made it possible for him to frolick with abandon in another people's land and call it "paradise." It's this reputation that still drives countless western male tourists to this poverty-stricken, post-colonial, war-torn country in search of "affordable" pleasures. Swain romanticizes those issues by saying the scene was less "brash" (i.e. tourist-oriented) in the early 70s. His utter lack of CAMBODIAN perspective on the legacies of French Colonialism is disturbing. But Swain is a journalist, not a scholar. As is typical with journalists who write historical accounts, such important historical background and perspective is missing and any insight the reader gets is personal. At one point in the book, Swain gives us an insincere justification for why he went back to Cambodia for its darkest hour, and tells us no, it was not for adventure thrill-seeking nor visions of journalistic heroism, but "I don't know." Somehow I don't believe that.
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