FVH Boocklub – Dumb Luck by Vũ Trọng Phụng

“Our FVH bookclub is back and, over the next few months, we will focus on Vietnamese classics that have been translated into English.

We open with Dumb Luck to welcome the new illustrated edition in Vietnamese and the announcement of a movie to be released soon. This is an iconic book in Vietnamese literature and one of our favourite to read and review. And a really fun one if you are new to Vietnam/Hanoi and Vietnamese literature.

The book club is open, no reservations  or fee. We choose a different location for each meeting, and of course, the programme can be changed/ cancelled according to Covid19 restrictions.

Dumb Luck is available in bookstores in Vietnamese and English; the e-book is available in English, Italian and German.”  One place to get it is Bookworm 44 Phạm Hồng Thái, Trúc Bạch, Ba Đình

We welcome back former bookclub members (if you are still in Hanoi) and also hope that if you are new to FVH would you like to come along.  There are a number of bookclubs in the Hanoi community which all focus on a different genre. We concentrate only on Vietnamese literature, tansl. to ENG, written by Vietnamese authors – they can be novels, fiction/non fiction, or poetry and our selection is wide and varied.

DECEMBER 2021

Dumb Luck by Vũ Trọng Phụng

Dumb Luck, by the brilliant, controversial, and influential Vietnamese writer VVũ Trọng Phụng, is a bitter satire of the rage for modernization in Vietnam during the late-colonial era. First published in Hanoi in 1936, it follows the absurd and unexpected rise within colonial society of a street-smart vagabond named Red-haired Xuân. As it charts Xuân’s fantastic social ascent, the novel provides a panoramic view of late-colonial urban social order-from the filthy sidewalks of Hanoi’s old commercial quarter to the gaudy mansions of the emergent Francophile northern upper classes. A major theme of the work is the transformation of traditional Vietnamese class and gender relations triggered by the growth of colonial capitalism.

Named one of the best books of fiction in 2003 by the Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review

We meet at 7:00 pm on Monday 6 December  @The W Book Cafe’, 46 Trần Hưng Đạo, Hàng Bài, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội (next to The Gioi publishers)

https://goo.gl/maps/iLME7MxjMc44zBM96

Please contact Maria for more information maria.benimeo@gmail.com

Please note at this changeable period due to COVID-19 that events are subject to government and local authority advice plus the agreement with our hosts; some events may need to be postponed at the last minute; we hope this won’t happen, but we will keep you updated.  If you have any questions, please contact us at hello@fvheritage.org. Thank you

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