MỘT CHÚT NHẮC NHỚ ĐỂ TIỄN BIỆT ĐỒNG MÔN NGUYỄN CHÍ THIỆP - TÁC GIẢ HỒI KÝ VỀ TRẠI TÙ KIÊN GIAM PHAN ĐĂNG LƯU CỦA TẬP ĐOÀN KHÁT MÁU VIỆT CỘNG BẮC VIỆT.
Bài Viết của Đồng Môn QGHC Nguyễn Phụng- Cao Học 3 -Hoa Kỳ.
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In Memory of Nguyen Chi Thiep
Besides some short commentaries, Nguyen Chi Thiep wrote and published two works: Kien Giam Prison Camp (1992) and Vietnam: Aspiration for Freedom and Democracy (2001).The book "Kien Giam Camp"
records the suffering and humiliation the author endured for 12 years, from September 1976 to February 1988, in communist prison camps: Saigon Public Security Department, Phan Dang Luu, Chi Hoa, Z-30-A Long Khanh camp, and A-20 Xuan Phuoc Phu Yen camp.
The novel "Trại Kiên Giam" ( The Prison Camp) was featured with praise in prestigious magazines such as Giao Diem, Van Hoc, Hop Luu , etc.; it was warmly received by Vietnamese refugee communities in the US and other free countries, as evidenced by the number of books sold in the first few years; a YouTube video program featuring the story read aloud by Tran Nam; and "Trại Kiên Giam" received an award from the Vietnamese Medical Association in the US (2006).
The success of the Prison Camp can be explained by the following main reasons.
First and foremost, the communist prison camps' technique of turning people into crippled, deranged animals is not recounted with bitterness or sorrow, but with the calm, balanced, and honest voice of a prisoner bearing many wounds on his body and soul, yet those wounds have not yet become festering sores with foul-smelling pus… Nguyen Chi Thiep does not write like Phan Nhat Nam in *The Red Summer*, *Leaning on Death*, *The Fate of Man and the Nation *… writing as if shouting, as if shouting a charge to kill the enemy or the whistling sound of bullets flying into enemy troops… Nguyen Chi Thiep also does not write with mournful words like Ha Thuc Sinh in *The University of Blood *. While in prison, Ha Thuc Sinh wished that if he could return, the author would be a "free miner" writing heartfelt prayers for prisoners to be reunited with their families or not become deranged animals.
Thinking about his own fate, his friends, and especially his colleagues, Nguyen Chi Thiep occasionally showed a hint of regret, but it was only a fleeting regret, a common regret of a prisoner—wasting a period of his life in the darkness of prison—which To Thuy Yen depicted with grace:
I returned like a prodigal son.
A life of ruin amidst the vicissitudes of life.
(I'm Coming Home, by Tô Thùy Yên)
Another strength of *The Prison Camp* is the author's accurate and nuanced observation of prison events and historical events during the 1945-1975 war between the Nationalists and Communists. To understand events, Nguyen Chi Thiep always begins by exploring the underlying reasons for their existence, the raison d'être, then applies methods of analysis, comparison, and synthesis to delve into the interconnected relationships and details of the events. With this approach, the events Nguyen Chi Thiep presents, such as historical events, the naivety, and the ignorance of communist cadres, are highly accurate, insightful, and meaningful.
The final strength of *The Prison Camp* lies in the author's insightful storytelling. Nguyen Chi Thiep recounts that his uncle Binh, a communist cadre who relocated to the North after the country was divided, visited his family in Da Nang after 1975. Out of pity for the poverty of the people in the South (as propagated by the Hanoi Politburo), Uncle Binh brought a few cans of rice and some earthenware bowls to help Nguyen Chi Thiep's parents. Standing before Nguyen Chi Thiep's family's spacious house, Uncle Binh was surprised, astonished, and ashamed of his small gift, realizing how much he had been deceived over the past few decades.
Another story is about Bich, Nguyen Chi Thiep's cousin. Before 1975, Bich was a student and an undercover communist cadre; after 1975, and after only a few years of enthusiastically serving the Party, Bich abandoned the communist ranks and felt immense regret and pain for having contributed to the destruction of the humane foundations of society and the country of South Vietnam… These two stories, along with many other meaningful stories in the novel, have surely contributed to imprinting Kien Giam Prison Camp in the memory and minds of many readers.
Nguyen Chi Thiep's second work is titled "Vietnam: Aspiration for Freedom and Democracy ." This 870-page work explains and comments on the dissenting ideas of 14 communist writers: Duong Thu Huong, Nguyen Huy Thiep, Tran Manh Hao, Tieu Dao Bao Cu, Nguyen Minh Can, Nguyen Ho, Luu Quang Vu, Vu Thu Hien, Ha Si Phu, Nguyen Xuan Tu, Bui Minh Quoc, Tran Do, and Phan Dinh Dieu.
Unlike "Detention Camp," "Vietnam: Aspiration for Freedom and Democracy" did not receive a warm reception from the press and Vietnamese refugee communities. The main reason for this lack of acceptance is the overly academic writing style with too much abstract political theory, from the first page to the last of this thick, nearly thousand-page book.
Furthermore, although the cited materials are abundant and the analyses (of ideology, political parties, political organizations, historical events, etc.) are very thorough, they are not arranged in an intuitive and easily understandable way—like opening the door and immediately seeing the mountain range.
The fourteen communist writers mentioned above, though different , are not distinct ; that is, they are both different and similar . Given this characteristic, Nguyen Chi Thiep should choose the most convenient arrangement for both writer and reader: Besides the introductory and concluding chapters, the remaining 14 chapters should be dedicated to each of the 14 authors. In each chapter, Nguyen Chi Thiep should summarize the author's biography, their relationship with the Communist Party, their resistance, and the consequences of that resistance. This arrangement helps readers understand each author clearly, making it easier to compare or rank them. Furthermore, to make the work more complete with some necessary comparisons , in the concluding chapter, Nguyen Chi Thiep should discuss the resistance writers in the Soviet Union (such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with * The Gulag Archipelago* , Boris Pasternak with * Doctor Zhivago* , Varlam Shalamov with * Kolyma Tales *...) and in China (such as Liu Xiaobo writing about freedom and democracy, Liao Yiwu writing about the Tiananmen Square incident...) and the influence of their resistance.
Despite being difficult to read and having some formal flaws, Vietnam: Aspiration for Freedom and Democracy is a meticulous and useful research work that reveals important aspects of the aspirations and plight of communist poets and writers.
First, hidden within all the works of the 14 authors cited by Nguyen Chi Thiep is the aspiration for creative freedom . Creative freedom means freedom to write (a) to create joy or entertainment for the author and the reader; (b) to present the author's ideas on issues related to the lives of the masses; (c) to describe a social ill that the masses need to pay attention to and to offer solutions for reform; (d) to build a conscience for the country when that conscience is defiled or destroyed by the state.
The desire for creative freedom is a fundamental aspiration of freedom of thought, but under their oppressive circumstances, that aspiration remains merely an illusion, a delusion, something that can never be realized, for it is a sword thrust straight into the heart of the communist regime if properly implemented. And that is the enduring pain of communist writers and poets who still possess a shred of consciousness and conscience.
Secondly, inherent in the aforementioned desire for creative freedom is the concept of the writer's mission and truth; accordingly, the noble duty of a writer or poet is to speak the truth ; and more importantly, to oppose falsehoods. In all the authors presented in Vietnam: Aspiration for Freedom and Democracy , none mention this relationship. as brazenly as the poet Phùng Quán:
If you love someone, just say you love them.
If you hate someone, just say you hate them.
No matter who is sweet and flattering
It's also impossible to say that love turned into hate.
No matter who threatens to kill you with a knife.
It's also not like hating can turn into loving.
(Mother's Advice, Phung Quan)
Throughout the works of these 14 authors, two vague notions resonate: a sense of duty to oppose falsehood and a feeling of complicity in accepting the widespread misinformation. Deep down, they believe that a single truthful statement could overturn a thousand lies of the communist state, yet they resign themselves to their powerlessness.
Although much more difficult to read than "Detention Camp ," " Vietnam: Aspiration for Freedom and Democracy" is a book that should be in the family bookshelf of every Vietnamese refugee who cherishes freedom and democracy; and over time, it will be a valuable reference for researchers of Vietnamese literature.
*Nguyen Phung- Cao Học 3- QGHC Hoa Kỳ.
