Bao Ninh Books

The daring and controversial novel that took the world by storm--a story of politics, selfhood, survival, and war. Heart-wrenching, fragmented, raw, former North Vietnamese solder Bao Ninh's The Sorrow of War provides a strikingly honest look at how the Vietnam War forever changed his life, his country, and the people who live there. Kien, a lone survivor from the Glorious 27th Youth brigade of the Vietcong, revisits the haunting sites of battles and relives a parade of horrors, as he grapples with his ghosts, his alcoholism and attempts to arrange his life in writing. Originally published against government wishes in Vietnam because of its nonheroic, non-ideological tone, Ninh's now classic work has won worldwide acclaim and become an international bestseller.

Winner of The Independent Foreign Fiction Award, this “hauntingly beautiful novel, written by a North Vietnamese Army veteran, manages to humanize completely a people who up until now have usually been cast as robotic fanatics.” — Sunday Times

After a thirty-year hiatus, B o Ninh, a prominent Vietnamese war chronicler, presents a new collection of ten stories, marking his first book-length work since The Sorrow of War. Written in a rich and poetic style, these stories offer English readers a glimpse into Ninh's inventive language and profound insights, reflecting his experiences from the war he joined at age 17. This publication, translated by Quan Manh Ha and Cab Tran, introduces a significant voice in literature that was previously banned in Vietnam until 2006.