The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam

PAGES 1-76

Reading Check

1. The Jungle of Screaming Souls; Missing in Action-Remains Gathering Team (Page 1)

2. Battalion members yell that it is better to die than surrender to opposing forces. (Page 4)

3. Because of “[the orangutan’s] vengeful, omnipresent soul” (Page 9)

4. Play cards (Page 11)

5. “When Thinh had similarly crouched in sobbing despair, praying for Ho Bia” (Page 32)

6. 14 (Page 43)

Short Answer

1. Kien speaks of the members of the 27th battalion, the majority of whom were killed in the massacre in the jungle. As the natural landscape became a wasteland of corpses and destroyed fauna, the battlefield is known as the “Jungle of Screaming Souls,” which is haunted by the spirits of those who died. (Page 9)

2. Kien’s nickname is “‘Sorrowful Spirit’ and this now suits his image and personality, just as the rain and gloom fitted the character of the Jungle of Screaming Souls.” (Page 17)

3. Learning that Kien would be sent up north for training, Can tells Kien that he also longs to leave the war. Kien inquires if he will ask to go north for training, but Can reveals he is planning to desert the regiment and go back home. Can’s body is found later by the military police, as he dies trying to make his way through the jungle. (Pages 19-24)

4. As the platoon’s commandant, Kien realizes that his soldiers are visiting with women in the evenings. He decides not to stop the rendezvous; however, he realizes something is wrong one day when he and his soldiers are unable to find the girls. They learn that the girls were captured by The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces and murdered. The memory ends with Kien killing three of the commandos in retaliation and forcing the other four to dig their own graves. (Pages 25-36)

5. The narration style shifts from first-person (Kien) to third-person (an unnamed narrator), as it is revealed that opening sections  of the text are part of Kien’s draft of a novel. Kien thinks about his writing choices, reflecting how he has considered many different topics; his writing seems to come back to his time in the jungle during the war. (Pages 44-76)

6. In his reflections of his life out of combat, he thinks of the various women he encountered, his true love Phuong, and well-respected men including his stepfather. After discussing their stories, he recalls that most of these people were no longer alive after the war. (Pages 44-76)

PAGES 76-146

Reading Check

1. More deaths (Page 76)

2. Phan recalls craters filling up with water while a man he was trying to save slowly drowned. (Page 80)

3. Only one—Kien (Page 85)

4. Sleepwalker (Page 103)

5. Kien’s mother tells him to be brave as he goes from Pioneer to Youth Union, and that he must “harden [his] heart.” (Page 104)

6. Phuong (Page 109)

Short Answer

1. Upon returning home to Hanoi, Kien is overjoyed to see Phuong at his house until he realizes there is another man there. Phuong assures him that the other man is gone; however, Kien believes that their relationship is doomed, as they both suffer in adjusting to life after the war. After she leaves him, Kien realizes that he is miserable without her, but that they should not be together. (Pages 71-73)

2. The goal of the MIA team is to retrieve as many corpses of soldiers as possible to identify and bury them. The seriousness of this endeavor is understood by the team, who respect those who lost their lives in the war. (Page 78)

3. Kien recalls Victory Day at the airport, where he is surrounded by corpses, and soldiers who are sleeping and looting. He sees one corpse of a girl that a soldier treats poorly, and another soldier almost shoots this soldier. In this mayhem, he recalls another girl who shot his friend Oanh. The corpse of the girl on Victory Day “left a tragic and indelible imprint on his mind. She became the last of his enduring obsessions.” (Pages 85-92)

4. The “mute” girl is a tenant in Kien’s father’s attic. Kien visits her after he is drunk, and he admits she is necessary for his writing. She begins to desire him, although he is mostly oblivious to her presence except as it relates to his writing. After one night of passion together, he departs the apartment and leaves the manuscript for her to keep. (Pages 92-99)

5. Kien recalls that he dies “a little death” in which he recalls certain pivotal moments in his life. This includes skipping class with Phuong and wading to the river; the first time in his life he witnessed death at the Thanh Hoa station; and the subsequent battles in the early years of the war. Although he sees these images as the final scenes before his own death, he also realizes that he cannot die since he feels obligated to do more in his life. (Pages 99-103)

6. Comparing his own reclusive existence as he writes, Kien recalls his father’s final days as he retreats into his attic, comforted by his memories and art until he finally passes. He tells his son that he leaves Kien “nothing but sorrow.” Kien recalls that the day of his father’s death was in 1965, the first day of the air raids. (Pages 103-107)

PAGES 146-233

Reading Check

1. “I must write!” (Page 123)

2. Thang Long (Page 125)

3. His sense of nostalgia and his war memories (Page 145)

4. A storm (Page 148)

5. Phuong struggling to get away from a man who is sexually assaulting her (Page 150)

6. Psychological trauma as a result of experiencing the war (Page 162)

Short Answer

1. The “Veterans’ Club” is the unofficial name of an establishment where war veterans spend leisure time together, including sharing war stories and post-war information. Kien describes different men who frequent the Club, including a driver named Vuong. (Pages 126-131)

2. Huynh is the tram driver in Hanoi and a former neighbor of Kien. Kien relives the memories of when Huynh was the tram driver, as the transportation system was in better condition. He also recalls that he watched one of Huynh’s sons die, a man once in love with Kien’s girlfriend Phuong. (Pages 132-133)

3. On a brief stopover, Kien is determined to find Phuong, whom he catches at the station before she leaves. In spending time with her, he misses his train to the front (which he learns later was bombed and most of the recruits were killed). They hitchhike to the next station and jump on a freight train together, savoring their last moments before Kien goes to the front. (Pages 134-145)

4. In the jungle, Kien comes across Hoa, who leads him to shelter. When the pair come across American soldiers, Hoa shoots their dog so Kien can get away; as a result, she is raped by the American soldiers. Kien recalls this event in relation to the thought of her sacrifice and the sacrifices others made. (Pages 156-161)

5. Kien recalls that Phuong used to own a piano, as her father was a pianist and her mother a piano teacher. Phuong eventually rejects the piano as not portable, as she prefers singing, while her mother shares her concerns with Kien that her daughter’s soul is caught up in darker forms of art. (Pages 167-169)

6. The end of the novel is an extended scene between Kien and Phuong as they navigate the Americans’ bombing to find safety. The bombing begins at the same time men rape Phuong. Kien saves Phuong and the two find cover, although she is distant and in shock. They find a place to sleep, and Kien awakes to see her gone; a group of soldiers tells Kien she is having sex with the drivers. He later discovers her bathing in the river naked amidst the bombings; when she passes by without seeing him, Kien lets her go. Years later, a soldier tells Kien that they lied about Phoung and the drivers; he is glad that his memory of Phoung can remain positive. (Pages 170-187)