Image of General Vo Nguyen Giap in the latest novel by writer Nghe An

Author Nguyen The Quang (second from left) talks with colleagues and readers about the novel "Road to Thang Long". Photo: Phuoc Anh

Right from the title of the work, we can see that Nguyen The Quang's approach to the subject is not only to describe a famous general Vo Nguyen Giap but also to expand the scope to reflect an important historical period of the country, with many other famous figures.

Reading the work, we see that the author chose the space and time of the early 20th century, when the flags of the Can Vuong movement had fallen, and generations of old scholars and new intellectuals and the nation continued to rise up, determined to regain the country with many different ways of thinking and acting. Therefore, it reflected a period that can be said to be more intense, complex and tragic for the nation than previous uprisings.

Readers encounter here many characters from all generations and classes, making up the historical appearance of a not-so-distant time that the public seems to be "familiar" with: Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh, Huynh Thuc Khang, Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh, Tran Trong Kim, Nguyen Tuong Tam, Hoang Xuan Han, Bao Dai...

Putting into the work so many great characters in the complexity of history that has been written a lot in books and newspapers is a big challenge for the author. How can the readers “meet again” a familiar name and still be moved, surprised and even restless as before a beauty, a new and mysterious treasure?

Novel "The Road to Thang Long". Photo: NVCC

With the mindset of a novelist who has experience writing historical novels such as "Nguyen Du" and "Thong reo Ngan Hong", author Nguyen The Quang has deeply explored the rich and complex inner life of people through fierce conflicts, painful successes and failures, and valuable lessons, thanks to which the world of characters becomes diverse, vivid, and realistic.

In “The Road to Thang Long”, the author boldly recreated things that “could have been real” – those were the “obscure moments” in history or the private, anxious moments that official history could not have. For example, the pages describing the meetings between Vo Nguyen Giap and the country’s leading intellectuals and figures, and with the “spirit” of his late young wife Nguyen Thi Quang Thai, or the anxious moments of “complicated” characters such as scholar Tran Trong Kim and writer Nguyen Tuong Tam before the changes of the times…

Thanks to that, the reflection range of "The Road to Thang Long" has expanded, creating an artistic world that attracts readers - something that only novelists can do.

Author: Nguyen The Quang. Photo: Phuoc Anh

I would like to cite the author's "expansion", which is also a "fiction" based on a real detail. That was when Vo Nguyen Giap met with leaders, scholars and intellectuals in Hue during his working trip to the southern provinces in early 1946 under the direction of Uncle Ho; Vo Nguyen Giap recalled his meeting with Mr. Phan Boi Chau on the morning of Spring Dinh Mao 1927. Through the novelist's pen, today's readers can "relive" the atmosphere of nearly a century ago with famous intellectuals not only in Hue.

During that meeting, Vo Nguyen Giap heard Mr. Phan read a poem wishing the youth a Happy New Year,“Nghe accent is heavy but resounds like the sound of bronze bells: “The sky is new, people should change even more/Open your eyes to see clearly the new fortune/Put your shoulder to shoulder the old country...”.It can be said that the person who fanned the flame of patriotism in the student Vo Giap was a man from Nghe An - patriot Phan Boi Chau, "a hero, an angel, a man who sacrificed himself for independence", as revolutionary Nguyen Ai Quoc said.

Also during the business trip to the South in the Spring of 1946, the author devoted a chapter to describing the scene where Vo Nguyen Giap, after entering the fierce front line of the South Central region, on the way back to Hanoi, stopped by Vinh. I use the word "return", because in Vinh, through the pages of Vo Nguyen Giap's "reminiscences", the author tells us that in his youth, Vo Nguyen Giap lived a very meaningful period with teacher Dang Thai Mai and the Ho family of scholars, many times talking intimately with Nguyen Thi Quang Thai as if in his own home.

In early 1932, Vo Nguyen Giap went to Vinh at the suggestion of his teacher Dang Thai Mai. He was allowed by Mr. Ho Phi Huyen to live in the house with his son-in-law, Dang Thai Mai; both of them were generously taken care of by Mr. Cu, although the Confucian scholars of Nghe An were very honest. He passed the bachelor's degree at the age of 21, in the same class as Phan Boi Chau, and worked to save the country with Mr. Dang Nguyen Can - Dang Thai Mai's father. He was imprisoned. He was released from prison. He taught, practiced medicine, and studied philosophy. In 1933, he published the book "Humanity and Power". This was a great philosophical work that both inherited Confucian thought and conveyed his own new thoughts.

So, being with him, Vo Nguyen Giap exclaimed: "I have met another master...". Thus, not only for the sake of food and clothing, during his years in Vinh, Vo Nguyen Giap learned many useful things when being with learned people like Mr. Huyen and Dang Thai Mai. And also in Vinh, the love that blossomed between Vo Nguyen Giap and Quang Thai was like a young seedling meeting fertile soil, becoming a tree full of flowers and leaves...

Through the pages where the author recreates Vo Nguyen Giap in his youth in Hue and Vinh, readers will understand more about how Vo Nguyen Giap's personality and talent were formed. In other words, Vo Nguyen Giap is a person with special abilities, able to absorb the quintessence of the nation and the world.

“... On a summer night in July 1933, here he read to Thai the poem by Louil Aragon “July of Youth”:... The color of July is the color of France/ The month when carnations bloom/ The month the people have recorded/ Above the Bastile prison...”.

...Giap's voice was clear, occasionally reciting the original French, his voice full of emotion. Thai listened, his eyes seemed to be on fire, as if he wanted to swallow each string of warm sounds. His heart was pounding, Thai felt drunk. Both of them felt drunk...

Returning to Vinh in early 1946, Vo Nguyen Giap was moved to recall everything... The wedding ceremony of Vo Nguyen Giap - Quang Thai was also held in this city. And from Vinh, following the advice of Mr. Huyen, together with teacher Dang Thai Mai, Vo Nguyen Giap went to Hanoi, both to continue studying and teaching at Thang Long School, and to continue participating in revolutionary activities...

Vo Nguyen Giap grew up like that day by day, from his childhood listening to his mother tell stories about his grandfather fighting the French in the Can Vuong movement, listening to his grandfather teach that a person who wants to make a career must have both "martial arts" and "literature"; and most especially the years living and working next to Uncle Ho and many famous revolutionaries and intellectuals in the challenging period after the August Revolution, which the author devoted most of the book to recreating. It can also be said that this was the "path" that trained the general who had the first merit in the Dien Bien Phu Victory, so that on October 10, 1954, he could return to Thang Long - Hanoi amidst the brilliant flags and flowers...

In terms of art, although the above excerpts are written according to the author's imagination, they are still narrated in a realistic style. Thus, it can be said that, basically, "The Road to Thang Long" still follows the traditional writing style. However, the author has made strong innovations in structure, in using stream of consciousness writing style, and multi-dimensional viewpoints compared to his previous novels. The most prominent thing is the dialogue and criticism that permeates the entire work, throughout each character, between characters, drawing readers into endless conversations.

“The Road to Thang Long” is a novel with ideological weight, expressing the author's enthusiasm and new thoughts about current events, about how to evaluate events and characters that hold important positions in the modern history of our country.