Pailin - Blood and Fire

In 2021, writer Nguyen Van Hong published the novel ＂Pailin - Blood & Fire＂ and immediately attracted great attention on Vietnamese literature.

＂Pailin - Blood & Fire＂ tells readers about the events of 1978, when the Khmer Rouge government carried out a hostile policy against the Vietnamese State and massacred the Cambodian people. The war in Cambodia, in terms of weapons, was the war that used mines the most. Writer Nguyen Van Hong faithfully recreated the scene while still holding on to readers, leading them to the last page of the book without being too obsessive about what happened. It is also correct to say that Nguyen Van Hong wrote ＂Pailin - Blood & Fire ＂ to heal, but it is not enough, because the author’s actual experience is probably a bit more complicated than that. Telling the story is another pain. However, by facing the memories in such a way, the writer can free himself from the pain.

(Tieu Mai - the critic)