Official Review: Red Blood, Yellow Skin by Linda L. T. Baer

[Levi]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Red Blood, Yellow Skin" by Linda L. T. Baer.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Red Blood, Yellow Skin by Linda L.T. Baer (formerly Nguyen Thi Loan) is Vietnam like you have never seen it before. An absolutely mind-opening, page-turning insider look at growing up in Vietnam before and during the infamous war. You will grow up in the jungle with her and experience the poverty, and yet simple and peaceful existence of her people. You will watch as that all changes when they come closer to "civilization" and the war, and become accustomed to their new way of life. You will also follow her as tragedy strikes again and again, and as she fights and claws her way to overcome all of the obstacles that she faces. This is a profound experience, and one that you do not want to miss!!

The story begins with Linda growing up in a small village with parents who are working in the rice fields all day. She plays and also collects food for the family at home. She often falls asleep under a tree, or elsewhere outside in nature. They are a loving family and, though they have little, they have each other. Tragedy strikes, as it often will throughout this story, and her mother is eventually forced to re-marry. She is left to live with family while her mother gets to know her new husband. In this time, she lives with different family members, some of whom are poorer than her family, and some of whom are nowhere near as loving. She eventually goes to live with her step-family and they are rich and very strict. Her climbing of trees and swimming in ponds is frowned upon, and she is constantly in trouble. You get to see the peaceful jungle life in contrast with the strict, harsh fundamental ways of some of the people. War strikes again, and at this time her family is forced to move to South Vietnam, where they undergo struggle after struggle and move numerous times. There are people dying from tiger attacks, family and friends dying from the war and other causes, and other such unbelievable tragedies throughout. Linda eventually moves away to Saigon and the rest of the book deals with her living on the streets, being arrested by corrupt policeman constantly, employers trying to molest her, getting a job managing a bar that caters to GI's, being raped, continuing to deal with deaths of loved ones, and then eventually falling in love.

It is always refreshing to see a story told from another perspective. Here we are shown Vietnam from within. We get to experience the pain from the other side. We get to see a people that do not want to be controlled by the Viet Mihn, nor the French whom they are fighting against. We witness the emergence of the Viet Cong when the country was split, we see those who are not Viet Cong, and we feel how their lives are affected by the fighting, just as the lives of so many of our military personnel were. The author observed the pain from all sides and comments succintly on the ravages of war, never being judgemental, but simply mourning the loss of life and questioning why.

I can't think of one thing that I did not like about this book other than the stark reality of the subject matter, and that all of this actually happened to a little girl growing up, and to a country as well. There were at times minute details shared that did not seem necessary, but they actually made the story more endearing to me because the book read like Linda was sitting there recalling her life story to me. It is a very conversational tone, and I think that it was perfect for this book. The lack of polish would only be worth half a star to me, but the book deserves more than three stars.

I give Red Blood, Yellow Skin 4 out of 4 stars enthusiastically. Anyone who likes war stories, autobiographies, cultural books, or coming-of-age tales will love this book. The subject matter is gritty and sad at times, but this kind of story makes a person look at the world from a different point of view, and these days that is desperately needed.

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Red Blood, Yellow Skin
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[gali]

Great and insightful review! The book isn't my cup of tea, but I am glad you liked it and found it interesting.

[Levi]

Thank you so much gali. It was an amazing inside look at the people of Vietnam.

[Gravy]

This actually is something that would interest me. I may put it on my list when my reading picks up.

[Levi]

It is disturbing at times, yet full of hope Graverobber. Linda's attitude throughout is inspiring. A thought provoking read.

[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your review! Very insightful. I almost selected this review book, but I had just read another memoir about a person in difficult circumstances and wanted a change of pace. You made an excellent point that some of the minute details were unnecessary, but made the story endearing with a conversational tone. Well done.

[RussetDivinity]

This book looks fascinating. I'll definitely have to keep an eye out for it.

[chytach18-]

Very very good review. And the book seems so contemporary, now in Europe we have so many refugees from Syria. I think many of the children and young people who were forced to leave their country will understand Linda`s struggles.

[Levi]

Thank you kindly every one, and I can only hope some of you are inspired to read it based on this review, as it is certainly worth a read. I was wary of giving away too much, but I wanted to briefly show the prospective reader the kind of harrowing, yet inspiring tale that lies within.
@chytach18 that's a good point and we may soon have some of those refugees as well, and regardless of anything else, I can only imagine the life some of them have had to lead. We once were enemies with the Vietnamese, now here we get to see what some of them went through.

[kimmyschemy06]

Sounds like a book that will make me weep non-stop . Great review! Congratulations to Linda L. T. Baer for such a wonderful book!

[bluemel4]

Fantastic review. Someone once told me we read heartbreaking novels not for pleasure, but for the opportunity to be exposed to something new and beautiful. This book sounds like it is exactly that. A chance to further our understanding of humanity.

[Levi]

@kimmyschemy06 it will definitely pull on your heartstrings. It's an amazing story, the non-violent part as well. Her stories of simply playing in the jungle made me want to live there. We are so spoiled here.
@bluemel4 that is a wonderful statement, and so true! As with most of these stories though, the grace and hope of the one going through the tragedies shines through. Linda is truly an example of this. Very inspiring!

[anonanemone]

This sounds like an emotional but worthwhile read. Great job on the review! I feel like you're really getting the heart of the story across.

[Levi]

@anonanemone thank you, that is the best compliment I could have received on this particular review!!