'Old Shadows of the Past': A Train Trip to Memory Land

Read the essay book "Old Shadows of the Past" by writer Trinh Dinh Nghi, published by the Writers' Association Publishing House in December 2024. The essay collection is a return after "bustling", not noisy but quiet, leisurely like the footsteps of an ancient person through the late afternoon fields. Reading "The Past and Present Harvest Season," I see the image of my mother carrying a heavy load of rice on her shoulders, the image of my father sweating in the late-season sun. Pots of new rice, bowls of shimmering crab soup, or a pot of rustic, simple "yam shoot" soup suddenly become the luxurious flavors of a bygone era. Then, among the pages of literature, we suddenly realize that happiness is sometimes just a pot of "crucian carp braised in black alum leaves", a "sardine season" with the fragrant smell of galangal and soy sauce, evoking a family meal filled with love even though we are not very well off.

In “Old Shadows of the Past”, Trinh Dinh Nghi takes us through the seasons of red cotton flowers burning brightly in the sky, through the seasons of purple xoan flowers sprinkled with memories. The crisp “village drum beats” during festival seasons or during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the sound of children cheering in the bright moonlit night. The authentic images of the warm Lunar New Year when people are happy, leaving behind the worries of the old year, together “releasing life” to welcome a pure new beginning. In the middle of New Year’s Eve, bathing in traditional fragrant leaf water, people seem to be washed away the dust of life, light and serene, to believe in a peaceful new year.

Reading Trinh Dinh Nghi, one feels like sitting on the porch of an old house, watching the soft “grass flowers” ​​fluttering in the wind, letting one’s heart calm down amidst the hustle and bustle of life. The lines of writing are as light as smoke from a kitchen in the countryside, rising from a poor kitchen with hard-working parents and chirping siblings around a simple meal.

In his writings, a whole countryside space appears - "the old and new Mieu village", where there are trips to the countryside market with "the green rice season"; "the nieng season", where the mother's hands quickly create a unique flavor for a distant time. Reading "A word of the village" by poet Binh Nguyen Trang and "Tu Ngam", one can see the heavy heart of affection, no matter where one goes, what one does, the countryside is still the final destination of love and memories.

“Old Shadows of the Past” not only depicts the culture of a countryside, but also the flow of humanity, of a tolerant and profound perspective. Trinh Dinh Nghi’s writing is gentle and simple like a confession, but it contains deep humanity. The cursing and laughter in many of his works are not bitter, but sparkle with a kind heart, compassion for life and people. Like a full tray of “countryside food” without any jostling or competition, a season of peony flowers blooming quietly, pure like the feelings of those who still retain something called “old shadow” in the midst of a rapidly changing life.

Trinh Dinh Nghi wrote with all the heart of an experienced person, a tireless wanderer in the world, but in the end still chose to return to his hometown, picking up every lost memory to weave a peaceful countryside space, imbued with the breath of the past.

This collection of essays, therefore, is not only for reading but also for reflecting, for loving, for remembering, and for laughing and crying with what is once familiar.
It is a train ticket that takes us back to the land of memories, where there are the shadows of mother and father, the bamboo banks, the rice fields, and the seasons of red cotton flowers burning in the countryside afternoon. Touching the pages of the book is like touching one's own nostalgia, so gentle and poignant.

Do Hoang Giang