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 enlarge | Authors: Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts
Publisher: Plume
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $15.99 (100%)
New (41) Used (112) Collectible (3) from $0.01
Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 81215
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 0452271681
Dewey Decimal Number: 959.70438
EAN: 9780452271685
ASIN: 0452271681
Publication Date: November 1, 1993
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.
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| Customer Reviews:
 one of the greatest books i've ever read January 4, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I chose this book because, being Vietnamese and having left the country since I was 5, I knew little about the experiences of the war. This was an eye-opening book, and its message of peace and forgiveness, from the very chapter to the last, should be the advice we all must take out of it.
 Borrow It, Please November 19, 2006
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
I was not impressed with this book. While the subject matter was quite interesting, many elements in this memoir were quite lacking.
Ms. Le and her co-author constructed the book in a series of flashbacks, which were sometimes detrimental to the readability of the text. It would have been better if they provided some detail which would have connected one Vietnam War Era flashback to the next Vietnam War Era flashback, but they didn't--so sometimes you had to flip pages to find out what event/ time/ place about which you were reading. In addition, since the Ms. Le's lifestory is so complicated, the flashbacks weren't in chronological order, which made things more confusing.
One issue Ms. Le did not fully answer (for me at least) was why she continued to support the Vietnamese communists even though they were killing her neighbors. In fact, as a young girl, one of Ms. Le's neighbors--a man who she described as being a "good" person--was dragged out of his home and shot, and yet Ms. Le kept on actively collaborating with the Communists, especially as they continued to carry out executions and to purge her village of Republican supporters.
It was the suicide of her parent, rather than the vicious Communist executions, that made her turn her back, so-to-speak, on any future missions on their behalf. It was ironic how it took her depressed father to kill himself, in part because Ms. Le had to go into exile due to a misunderstanding with the local Communists, to make her relinquish her activism (for any side of the Conflict), while midnight killings of Republican informants and--she implies--their innocent family members did nothing to hamper her ferver. It doesn't really matter if you happen to be pro-Communist or pro-Republican, concerning this issue. The inconsistency is quite jarring and I hope Ms. Le will resolve it for her readers.
One aspect with which I had serious qualms was the way they included the Vietnamese language in the book. I thought they could've explained the naming of the Ly children better (first born: Hai, second child: Ba, etc.) because I had some difficulty trying to figure out the unaccented names of the Ly siblings, and I'm Vietnamese! Also, whoever did the translations for the memoir sometimes went beyond the meaning of the original Vietnamese so it could sound more "American". That is, when someone says , "Me con di nhe (Mom, I'm going, okay?)", in the book it's "Bye, Mom." I know the difference can seem a bit trivial, but in cases of Vietnamese songs and proverbs--which are often present in the memoir--the difference becomes quite large, as any literary translator can tell you.
The first half of the book was interesting enough for me to find it somewhat enjoyable, but the part when she finally meets her long-lost relatives should have been left out. There were a lot of new individuals being introduced, and it was difficult to keep track of them and their relation to Ms. Le. Also, I found the presentation of her conversation with Anh's two Vietnamese officials to be very sympathetic toward the administrators of Vietnam pre-Doi Moi, but Ms. Le might have an altruist reason for doing that, so I'll not comment on it further.
Overall, I think you should save your money and check it out from a public library.
Heaven and Earth July 2, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book follows the first twenty years of Hayslip's life, beginning in the Vietnamese village of Ky La. The United States/Vietnam war begins early in her life, and she discovers that her centrally located village is stuck in the middle. By day the villagers are technically controlled by the U.S./Republican force, and threatened to ensure their loyalty, but by night the Viet Cong attacks and claims the village for their own, a process which is reversed the next day. The villagers try to pacify each side, and many are destroyed by both. Hayslip tells her family's story- they alternatively first for and are attacked by the Viet Cong, depending on the changes in the wind.
Quote: "The least you did- the least any of us did- was our duty. For that we must be proud."
I liked this book very much. Although I sometimes found it difficult to keep abreast of the movements back and forth in time, it generally fit together fairly well. Hayslip does not blame either side for the war- in fact, she is attempting to make both sides understand one another better- despite the fact that she suffered brutally from both. Instead, she tells her story to share the futility of war to get the average person what they really want in life: family around them, lasting love, watching children grow old- peace.
To Tell the Truth January 21, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have just finished watching To Tell the Truth on the Game Show Network and this remarkable lady was on this episode. After just hearing only part of the story it brought tears to my eyes to hear that something of this nature took place which brought me to the internet to see if this book was available. I will certainly read this book very soon to hear the rest of this amazing story. God Bless Le Ly Hayslip
Wonderful! June 1, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Forget all the talk about Communism vs. Capitalism!! This is a book that deals with the human experience. It's one person's journey through life and it also gives us a different pair of eyes to see the Vietnam War through. Enjoy it! The story keeps your attention and you'll find yourself soul-searching as you read...truly universal.
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