“Many afternoons and many evenings”

The work tends to be a “story without a plot”, with only situations written in a mostly descriptive style and limiting the placement of emotions into sentences to the maximum, and there is no guidance or internal monologue. In return, the author’s writing style uses many unique techniques and methods, sometimes even puzzling the reader, “demanding” and “challenging” as well as requiring the reader to be ready to enter the context, to experience...

The situations in the 10 short stories are very ordinary, just like their titles, such as “Our Swamp”, “The Fat Head”, “Suicide Prevention Hotline”... They can be ordinary days with family, friends, neighbors, pets or common situations that must be seen in life such as being exhausted from work, broken heart, struggling, lonely, lost... Readers read and improvise with the story situations, deciding for themselves the emotions that appear from the gaps between words, the gaps in the transition from afternoon to evening, from the days in life... And in those gaps, readers will find themselves.

Tran Lam Vy's pen is calm and restrained. That pen is like precise stitches that penetrate the hidden wounds of people, especially young people.

Lam Vy's works combine reality and touch, as if to create a literary space with depth of thought, exploring every layer deep inside the human soul. Through the psychological depictions and inner conflicts, when reading "The Dead Dog", we realize: "Everything will die, this truth is so simple, but when we are happy together, no one thinks about the truth, simply not thinking about anything". However, the main point is the change of time and the relationship between people and time, to inspire readers to think a lot. When reading, slowing down, we will see that there are passages and small details that seem to only "touch lightly" but leave a strong impression enough to make us look back at the past, face the present and contemplate the future. The collection of stories shares the same source of touch, which is the desire to connect of each person. And literature should certainly have that function.

Tran Lam Vy once shared about her debut work: “As an author, I use my writing techniques to lead you here, the rest of where you go, how far you go and how you go depends entirely on the reader’s experience and ego. An easygoing author will meet easygoing readers. A serious, careful author will meet readers who respect their work.”

Although Tran Lam Vy is a very new pen name in the literary world, her debut work "Many Afternoons and Many Evenings" was republished just a few months after its release and was voted one of the 10 outstanding Vietnamese literary works of 2024 in Tri Thuc Magazine - Znews.

Author Tran Lam Vy was born in 1992 in Can Tho. She graduated with a major in Foreign Literature from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi and has a Master's degree in Literature.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/nhieu-buoi-chieu-va-nhieu-buoi-toi-704982.html