(Source: http://news.chinhphu.vn)The 500-page book hasthe literary, historical and press value with documents in original consideredas top confidential at that time by the other side (the side of the Republic ofVietnam and the United States of America).
The author has alsoquoted in the book the documents associated with the important event of thecountry in a precise and reliable manner. The book has recounted and depictedtruthfully and lively the fall of the Sai Gon administration under Nguyen VanThieu as its president in the last four months of the war, from January to theend of April of 1975.
Apart from the speechof Nguyen Van Thieu before his resignation, 20 remaining reference documentsincluded in the annex are the top-secret documents in original on the war onthe side of the Republic of Vietnam and the US. These are documents dated over 40 years ago typed fromthe original documents collected at the study and residence of Nguyen Van Thieu,President of the Republic of Vietnam at the Presidential Palace and the studyof General Cao Van Vien, General Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of theRepublic of Vietnam at the headquarters of the General Staff of the Sai Gonarmy at noon and on the afternoon of April 30, 1975. The presentation,abbreviations and English sentences found somewhere in these documents havebeen kept intact as compared to the original documents. At the end of eachchapter, the reliable sources of documents are cited by the author when writingthat chapter.
The historical-documentnovel “A War Account 1-2-3-4.75” hasbeen evaluated and published by the National Political Publishing House inearly April 2014. In two years the book consecutively won the prestigiousawards at home and in the region: “The 2014 Literature Award” of the VietnamWriters’ Association and “The 2015 Literature Award of the ASEAN countries”. Intwo years, the book has been republished for three times and in large quantity.At the ASEAN Literature Award presentation ceremony held in Bangkok, Thailandin December 2015, the speech at the award presentation ceremony and thepresentation of writer Tran Mai Hanh at the ASEAN Literature Forum togetherwith the summary of a number of chapters of “A War Account 1-2-3-4.75” translated into English had the goodfeedback from countries. The Executive Board of the Vietnam Writers’Association decided to have the novel “AWar Account 1-2-3-4.75” into English “to introduce and advertise theliterary works on the war for the national defense and liberation and theaspiration for peace of the Vietnamese people” to the world’s readers.
The National PoliticalPublishing House has organised the translation and editing of the book so as tobe able to have the best possible English version of the novel “A War Account 1-2-3-4.75” in order tosend to English readers the faithful content and the literary quality of thenovel in original. The book “A WarAccount 1-2-3-4.75” of journalist-writer Tran Mai Hanh, translated by Manh Chuongand published by the National Political Publishing House, is the first awardedliterary work of the Vietnam Writers’ Association that is translated intoEnglish to introduce to the world’s readers. The book is edited by theexperienced foreign and Vietnamese English language experts of the translation companyMetro Writers.
Translating intoEnglish the historical-document novel “AWar Account 1-2-3-4.75” to introduce to the world’s readers is ofsignificance. Former US President Barack Obama once spoke in Hanoi on May 24,2016 during his Vietnam visit that thewar lessons will be the lessons for the whole world. Recently, according tothe New York Times, senior advisor of US President Donald Trump Steve Bannoproposed that the White House officials should read the book that analyzes themistakes committed by the US that led to the war in Vietnam in the 20th century so as to recognise that the small mistakes could lead to a lot ofserious consequences in the future.
Not any war that wasbrought to an end could be able to be decoded by a historical-document novelwritten in the “account” form on the basis of the original documents togetherwith the reliable documents of the other side so as to recount and resurrect ina truthful way the fall that had happened in the war-end months. Thanks to itthat the nature of justice – injustice; the triumph – the defeat could bedescribed clearly and undeniably. Possibly “AWar Account 1-2-3-4.75” – the English Version is one of the rarebooks that could be able to do it.-VNA
VNA
