What do you think?
Rate this book
240 pages, Hardcover
First published March 21, 2023
There’s a tradition in Vietnamese culture,’ he said. ‘They believe that you need to give your dead a proper burial in their hometown. If not, their souls are cursed to wander the earth aimlessly, as ghosts.’ He looked down at the bottom of his empty glass, his smile slowly fading from his face, a frown forming in its stead. ‘Their soldiers were dying. Every day, more dead than they could keep up with. Just like ours. They couldn’t afford to observe their burial rites. We thought we could take advantage of that. We wanted to scare those gooks, those Viet Congs, I should say. We thought if we played tapes that sounded like they’re dead comrades, they might get scared, or become demoralised.’
Or perhaps I could go further. I could add twists and turns to build in tension. I could write an emotional rollercoaster. I could explore the boat more, for example. Yes, perhaps I should. Or perhaps I could point fingers. I could blame politics. I could blame war and poverty and pirates and the sea and the storm. But the more I go on, the more I realise that nothing is to blame and everything is to blame, intertwined in a medley of cause and effect, history and nature. I am trying to carve out a story between the macabre and the fairy tale, so that a glimmer of truth can appear.