Past Continuous (Voices from Vietnam)

Nguyen Khai's documentary novel, Past Continuous, published in the early 1980s before the "doi moi" policy was introduced, gives a fascinating inside view of North Vietnamese views and strategies during the American War in Vietnam. As the three narrators exchange reminiscences, we not only learn about the inner-workings of the liberation movement, but we also see the tensions that developed afterward in their post-war society. The novel dramatizes the histories, adventures, and emotions of three extraordinary people-- a secret agent, a female battalion commander, and a Catholic priest who supported the revolution. In Nguyen Khai, we have a Vietnamese Graham Greene exploring the revolution through the minds of three very different consciousnesses.