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No Man River

Duong Huong
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Undeniably one of Vietnam’s most beloved stories, Duong Huong’s No Man River is a novel about the homefront during the American War and its aftermath. Awarded the Vietnam Writers’ Association’s most prestigious prize in 1991—the same year Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War was published—it has been translated into many languages, and twice been adapted into film. It tells the story of a village in northern Vietnam that must send its men to fight, but at the same time continue the communist revolution’s transformation of their society. An injured but idealistic veteran of the war against the French named Van hopes to create a modern society in which everyone will live in harmony, but first he must overcome the superstition and prejudices still held by his community. He must also keep secret his love for the village beauty, Nhan—the widow of his dearest fallen comrade. Complications arise when his nephew marries Nhan’s daughter, Hanh, just before he leaves to fight in the South. Parents long for the return of their sons. Wives and children anxiously await the return of their husbands and fathers. Resisting the socialist revolutionary notion that war is glorious or heroic, No Man River presents an innovative portrait of wartime and postwar village life that tells the story of the countless Vietnamese who carried not only the burden of war, but also all the tribulations of forging of a new society during the most tumultuous time in modern Vietnamese history.

Published: May/2025

ISBN: 9789815233834

Length: 268 Pages

No Man River

Duong Huong

Undeniably one of Vietnam’s most beloved stories, Duong Huong’s No Man River is a novel about the homefront during the American War and its aftermath. Awarded the Vietnam Writers’ Association’s most prestigious prize in 1991—the same year Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War was published—it has been translated into many languages, and twice been adapted into film. It tells the story of a village in northern Vietnam that must send its men to fight, but at the same time continue the communist revolution’s transformation of their society. An injured but idealistic veteran of the war against the French named Van hopes to create a modern society in which everyone will live in harmony, but first he must overcome the superstition and prejudices still held by his community. He must also keep secret his love for the village beauty, Nhan—the widow of his dearest fallen comrade. Complications arise when his nephew marries Nhan’s daughter, Hanh, just before he leaves to fight in the South. Parents long for the return of their sons. Wives and children anxiously await the return of their husbands and fathers. Resisting the socialist revolutionary notion that war is glorious or heroic, No Man River presents an innovative portrait of wartime and postwar village life that tells the story of the countless Vietnamese who carried not only the burden of war, but also all the tribulations of forging of a new society during the most tumultuous time in modern Vietnamese history.

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback
Amazon

Duong Huong

Duong Huong was born in 1948 in the northern province of Thai Binh, and currently lives in Quang Ninh. The author of six books, he is best known for his novel No Man River, which won Vietnam’s most prestigious prize for fiction in 1991. Considered one of the three best novels about the American War in Vietnam written in the Reform era, it has been widely read, studied and critiqued, translated into French and Italian, reprinted several times, and twice adapted into film. For his outstanding achievements, Duong Huong received the National Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts in 2017.

Translators

Quan Manh Ha is professor of American literature and ethnic studies at the University of Montana (USA). He is the co-translator/co-editor ofOther Moons; Hanoi at Midnight, a short-story collection by Bao Ninh;The Termite Queen, a novel by Ta Duy Anh; Longings: Contemporary Fiction by Vietnamese Women Writers; Light Out and Modern Vietnamese Stories, 1930-1954; and The Colors of April.

Charles Waugh is the co-editor and co-translator of three books of Vietnamese fiction: Ta Duy Anh’s novel The Termite Queen with Quan Manh Ha; and the story collections Wild Mustard, with Van Gia and Nguyen Lien; and Family of Fallen Leaves, with Nguyen Lien. A professor of English at Utah State University (USA), he is also the Associate Editor for Fiction at ISLE, the journal of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment.