Reviews for Romancing Vietnam

The average rating for Romancing Vietnam based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-02-21 00:00:00 William Odell A compelling account of Vietnam as it awoke from the isolation of the post war period, Wintle's book is a very readable travelogue that paints a vivid portrait of this remarkable country. Today, sat among the travellers' cafes of Hanoi's Old Quarter, the descriptions of yesteryear seem a world away - then, the Metropole hotel was something of a fleapit; now, it's owned by Sofitel and charges 290 dollars for a room. Wintle's guides are briefed to provide a party line and Ho Chi Minh is shown to be a man who almost transcends the nation - his influence is all pervading. Many Saigon 33s are drunk and many a bowl of pho consumed as the author plays the role of intrepid, grizzled hack to a tee. But, beneath the generally relaxed tone are some astonishing revelations - most notably, the discovery of a massacre perpetrated by South Korean troops in the Vietnam War, almost on a par with the much more famous My Lai atrocity. Subsequent internet searches revealed to me little more information on this Binh Hoa incident - which would seem to indicate blatant suppression. Interviews with locals are very moving and despite the author's avowed intention to cover the Vietnam of 1989-90, the US campaign looms large. Wintle's grasp of geopolitics is also nuanced and the book was written in the decade following Vietnam's ousting of the Khmer Rouge and significant border clashes with China. The countty's fate was to suffer as a pawn in superpower games but an interview with a tourism minister of the time shows that there has been a method and strategy behind Vietnam's twenty years of economic growth.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-09-05 00:00:00 David Earnhardt Wonderfully affectionate view of Vietnam and its people. The author walks, cycles and rides by bus from Saigon to create a traditional travel book, but in so doing elaborates on the Vietnam we have come to know through journalism, books and film and its comparison to the real place.