Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - A major work by the famous Vietnamese writer VuTrong Phung, So Do (Lucky Fate), will be published in Germany for the firsttime in December.
Published by the Tauland Publishing House in Cologne, the novel has beentranslated from Vietnamese by translator Hoang Dang Lanh.
The cover of the German-language novel So Do (Lucky Fate) by Vietnamese writer Vu Trong Phung. The book is due to be released in Germany in December. (Photo tauland-verlag.de)On its website, the German publishing house wrote: “Vu Trong Phung'smasterpiece Lucky Fate presents the effects of French colonialism on Vietnamesesociety in the 1930s with humour and satire. Confronted with the shock ofcolonialism, the class of intellectuals and bourgeois in Vietnam see no otherway out than to radically modernise their own native cultures.
Vu Trong Phung humorously unmasks the mistakes and absurdities of thisWesternisation by telling the story of a sly young man who is the ball boy of atennis court before becoming a medical doctor, a professional tennis player,and then the saviour of the nation.”
According to the publishing house, the novel reveals the devastating effects ofcolonialism on Vietnam. The book also presents topical issues; the conflictbetween old and new, and between preservation and renewal.
In September, the novel was published in China. The Chinese-language versionwas translated by Associate Professor Xia Lu of the Beijng University, whoearlier also translated the award-winning novel The Sorrow of War by Vietnameseauthor Bao Ninh.
In 2002, the novel was published in the US by the University of Michigan Pressunder the title Dumb Luck. Peter Zinoman, an internationally recognised expertresearcher on Vu Trong Phung, is the translator and editor of the book, whichthen was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of 50 best books of 2003.
First published in Vietnamese in Hanoi in 1936, the novel follows the absurdand unexpected rise within colonial society of a street-smart vagabond,Red-Haired Xuan.
From the filthy sidewalks of life, Red-Haired Xuan suddenly becomes a member ofthe upper-class thanks to the westernisation of Hanoi's lower middle class inthe 1930-45 period.
The novel charts Xuan's fantastic social ascent and provides a panoramic viewof colonial social order.
The transformation of traditional Vietnamese class and gender relationstriggered by the growth of colonial capitalism is a major theme.
Writer Vu Trong Phung (1912-39) is among the country's most famous writers andjournalists of the early 20th century.
He began his literary career after releasing his first novel, Du Tinh (BreakingUp), in 1934.
He released a series of realistic-style novels, such as So Do and Ky Nghe LayTay (Skills to Get Married to Westerners), focusing on the lives of locals andsocial issues in the semi-feudal colonial society during the French war.
Works like Giong To (Storm), and Lam Di (Being a Prostitute) reflect"hidden corners" of the feudalistic society.
He also worked as a reporter for several newspapers in Hanoi in the 1930s. Hedied of tuberculosis in 1939 when he was 27./.
Published by the Tauland Publishing House in Cologne, the novel has beentranslated from Vietnamese by translator Hoang Dang Lanh.
The cover of the German-language novel So Do (Lucky Fate) by Vietnamese writer Vu Trong Phung. The book is due to be released in Germany in December. (Photo tauland-verlag.de)Vu Trong Phung humorously unmasks the mistakes and absurdities of thisWesternisation by telling the story of a sly young man who is the ball boy of atennis court before becoming a medical doctor, a professional tennis player,and then the saviour of the nation.”
According to the publishing house, the novel reveals the devastating effects ofcolonialism on Vietnam. The book also presents topical issues; the conflictbetween old and new, and between preservation and renewal.
In September, the novel was published in China. The Chinese-language versionwas translated by Associate Professor Xia Lu of the Beijng University, whoearlier also translated the award-winning novel The Sorrow of War by Vietnameseauthor Bao Ninh.
In 2002, the novel was published in the US by the University of Michigan Pressunder the title Dumb Luck. Peter Zinoman, an internationally recognised expertresearcher on Vu Trong Phung, is the translator and editor of the book, whichthen was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of 50 best books of 2003.
First published in Vietnamese in Hanoi in 1936, the novel follows the absurdand unexpected rise within colonial society of a street-smart vagabond,Red-Haired Xuan.
From the filthy sidewalks of life, Red-Haired Xuan suddenly becomes a member ofthe upper-class thanks to the westernisation of Hanoi's lower middle class inthe 1930-45 period.
The novel charts Xuan's fantastic social ascent and provides a panoramic viewof colonial social order.
The transformation of traditional Vietnamese class and gender relationstriggered by the growth of colonial capitalism is a major theme.
Writer Vu Trong Phung (1912-39) is among the country's most famous writers andjournalists of the early 20th century.
He began his literary career after releasing his first novel, Du Tinh (BreakingUp), in 1934.
He released a series of realistic-style novels, such as So Do and Ky Nghe LayTay (Skills to Get Married to Westerners), focusing on the lives of locals andsocial issues in the semi-feudal colonial society during the French war.
Works like Giong To (Storm), and Lam Di (Being a Prostitute) reflect"hidden corners" of the feudalistic society.
He also worked as a reporter for several newspapers in Hanoi in the 1930s. Hedied of tuberculosis in 1939 when he was 27./.
VNA
