Therefore, finding a new way to tell a story to add to that cultural capital is a hard, serious and challenging task for writers. The recently released book "The Grassland" by Colonel, writer Nguyen Minh Ngoc, is proof of that hard work.
Set in the “Hard-Worrying and Brave Eastern” battlefield, the work takes readers through the war through the eyes of reconnaissance soldier Vo Luong. With those eyes, readers will see wartime stories such as a wedding that had to flee the enemy in the jungle several times before it was over, a mother holding her child in a buried pit, a young father trying to dig up a rusty milk box for his child to eat… appear close, like a confession of life during the war.
But if that is all, how is Mien Co Co different from previous war novels? In the work there are still stories that we have never known, stories of “ordinary lives in extraordinary challenges”. Writer Ai Duy commented: “In Mien Co Co Co, the fierceness with the enemy is only half. There is also life and love, a wife in the homeland, a struggle with people on the same side, with oneself… not only to praise but also to deeply convey the message of how to avoid all wars from falling like disasters”.
To do that, besides the fiction of literature, the author also uses the technique of simultaneity, interweaving with battle documents and records from the Battalions and Regiments of Military Region 6 to skillfully recreate the people's war. A rather special thing is that Nguyen Minh Ngoc pays close attention and describes the details very well: "And in the minutes of accidental survival amidst bombs and bullets, he suddenly saw the brave cogon grass forest yellowing among the dry rocks. In the midst of the fierceness of being burned down by bombs, it seemed that everything was gone, but when it met the rain, a layer of sharp shoots appeared like spikes of young leaves, like a plowed field in his hometown that the life of war seemed to have hidden with so many terrible things...".
Over 40 years in the military, Colonel and writer Nguyen Minh Ngoc wrote many works about war and current life issues. However, with Mien Co Tranh, the author did not retrace his own path. As writer and critic To Hoang commented: "The work has a novel approach, perception and expression in the topic of war, which has become too familiar."
Writing about war, Nguyen Minh Ngoc always finds a simple yet unique, profound and unforgettable perspective on life and the human soul. His way of talking to people is full of emotions, with many details and few dry arguments, which seems simple but is a new feature, very difficult to pursue successfully in writing. It shows the writer's exploration in his work, to bring traditional stories and people in history to today's readers, who were born and raised in a very different era.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/mien-co-tranh-loi-tam-tinh-cua-cuoc-song-thoi-chien-post805631.html
Comment (0)