TO DISTANT SHORES
“Beautifully written and captivating.”
“An unusual and rewarding read.”
Reviews
“A bracingly original memoir… With affecting, lyrical writing and astounding art, the book examines the fortitude of family, the significance of identity, and the meaning of home… Told with openness, heart, and authenticity…”
Reader Views Review
“Amazing, engaging story of children experiencing war and the aftermath … Remarkable blend of childhood and history told by someone who directly experienced it. This one really did stay with me long after reading it”
Feathered Quill
“This book opened my eyes to the experiences of a refugee that I never could have imagined and will not soon forget. While sometimes heart-wrenching, the narrative is also filled [with] many moments of humor, wonder, and hope.”
Amazon Reader
BOOK: TO DISTANT SHORES
A memoir of one family’s experience of war, escape, and resettlement from Vietnam to the United States after the Fall of Saigon in 1975. Told in alternating chapters, through the points of view of a military father with firsthand experience of the war and its aftermath, and his young son, whose innocence and limited understanding of the unfolding events leave him free to observe all manner of life, from the comic to the tragic. A story of family and survival. A celebration of culture and an examination of how culture, family and history shapes us and combine to form identity.
BLOG
The latest blog is “Death of a Soldier,” a chapter written by Phan Lạc Tiếp (1969) and newly translated into English by Huân & Hà Phan.
This blog also contains a “Notes and Sources” section, where Huân discusses his earliest memory of this story, whether this chapter should have been included in the book, observations about the differences between Vietnamese and American fables, and challenges with translation.
“We viewed and shaped old and new events through our unique histories, histories composed of circumstances neither of us could escape, of decisions we could make only once.”
Huân Phan. To Distant Shores