A novel by Ngo The Vinh
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The Green Belt presents the narration of a Vietnamese newspaper reporter who journeyed into the central highlands of Vietnam during the war in the late 1960s and witnessed the traditional antagonism between tribal highlanders and lowland Vietnamese. Of interest and current significance is the narrator’s account of the highlanders’ side of the conflict, and his evaluation of alternative solutions that could have advanced the welfare of ethnic minorities. These perspectives remain relevant today, as the conflict, in the words of Human Rights Watch, is “still going on”. Conflict over land and religion in Vietnam’s central highlands is a human rights issue frequently making the news. Several thousand Montagnards, many of whom fought alongside the U.S. Special Forces during the Vietnam War, resettled in North Carolina |
in the period after 1975. This large community never stops growing as a result of the endless exodus for freedom. The compelling story of this novel, blended of fact and fiction, reveals the roots of unrest and is a unique voice advocating survival of indigenous peoples in mainland Southeast Asia.
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The author, Ngo The Vinh, is a former ARVN Airborne Ranger and Green Beret M.D. during the Vietnam War. He became intrigued with the life and culture of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands when, in the 1960s, he witnessed and reported on the turmoil and general uprising of the Montagnards. Vòng Ðai Xanh, the original title in Vietnamese, was written in these turbulent surroundings. This novel was published to wide acclaim in 1971 and it won the National Literature Award. A widely published writer, his latest novel, Mekong River Drained Dry, South China Sea in Turmoil, published in the U.S. in 2001, is a Vietnamese language bestseller. |
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this insightful, award-winning novel, Ngo The Vinh brings into sharp
relief the wartime atmosphere and conflicts of Vietnam in the mid-1960s.
Using the plight of the Thuong Central Highlanders as a springboard, the
author has in many ways provided an unintentionally prophetic parable
for the present U.S. struggles with an unfamiliar culture.
Editorial Review |
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"The Green Belt" is translated by Nha Trang and William L. Pensinger, co-authors of the novel The Moon of Hòa Bình. Nha Trang has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, specializing in Vietnamese folklore and literature; William L. Pensinger, her husband, is an independent researcher and writer.
"THE GREEN BELT"
IS PUBLISHED
BY
IVY HOUSE PUBLISHING
GROUP. THE BOOK HAS BEEN OUT
SINCE
MARCH 2004 AND SHOULD BE AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORES.
ISBN 1 - 57197 - 394 - X , Hard Cover, $
23.95, 256 Pages
| Visit the following websites to find and to pre-order "The Green Belt": |
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or you can call IVY HOUSE on: 1800 948 2786
