USSH- Poet Le Quang Trang (Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association) shares his personal feelings about Le Anh Xuan's Diary.
I read Le Anh Xuan's Diary with special attraction for the following three main reasons: - Le Anh Xuan is an author, a character that I have heard, known, studied and loved, now with new materials, like an explorer who found a new vein. - This is the diary of an "acquaintance", although I have not met him, but I am very close because we are both at Hanoi University of Science, have similar circumstances, went to B when I just graduated, went to B2 to do art, many people he mentioned in this collection are people I know and know. - Raises and explains many familiar and very current issues such as the meaning of life, about literature for the current society, especially the young generation, in a convincing way. After reading the text, I would like to present a few thoughts on the value of the Diary collection.
1. A pure, beautiful and noble ideal.Through the Diary, I understand more deeply the ideal of a young man trained under the roof of socialism, the ideal of a generation, on the basis of deep political awareness, knowing how to fight for the love of country, people, ideals, knowing why to join the fight, completely consciously, voluntarily. Of course, with Le Anh Xuan, from his own circumstances, there is also a passionate call from his homeland in the South. That ideal is extremely pure, beautiful, noble, always putting the common interest above personal interests: As a good student, with favorable family circumstances, favorable individuals (children of the South), it is completely reasonable to go study and research abroad. But he refused the favorable path, put his career aside, and was willing to be far away from his lover to ask to go to the battlefield. When he reached the front line, he asked to go to the spearhead, to the remote, fierce areas to live and write. Returning to his hometown Ben Tre, at that time it was extremely difficult, fierce, life and death were just a hair's breadth away, he was not used to the battlefield, but he was still determined. There were times when he was scared (a normal human instinct), but his reason intervened, fighting to overcome, especially when he was in the ranks of the Party (these pages are truly sacred). He sacrificed himself when he only wanted to "go on a very short trip, just a few days to know the breath of the battlefield". His artistic ideals also bear the mark of a time, first of all for the fight, specifically and directly serving the fight to liberate the South and unify the country, happy to participate, not to be deceived or repent as some deserters later mentioned. Le Anh Xuan's working style is meticulous and careful. The notes are refined, serving the writer's purpose. Sometimes it's just a quick glance, mainly to inspire or give a sudden thought, sometimes it describes a story, landscape, or portrait in great detail, meticulously, very consciously preparing for bigger intentions later.
2. Honesty and closeness.Le Anh Xuan's writings are very real. Maybe he only thought he was writing for himself. His moods, thoughts, and details are all specific and real. From the stories on the line such as being caught in a leaky rain, being bitten by leeches, being irritable with others, missing his lover, the poor circumstances of Ba's family, the panic when being shot by planes, or being swept by the enemy (page 56)... All are sincere, real, and close to life. For me, many of the scenes, people, and thoughts of Le Anh Xuan are very close to me personally. Therefore, I understand and sympathize more. From the stories on Truong Son to the Central Bureau base; about the people that Le Anh Xuan met and mentioned such as: Anh Ai (Bui Duc Ai, also known as Anh Duc), Dung (Tu Son), Sau Lang, Thanh Nha, Ms. Loan, Le Van Thao, Tu Sam, Xuan Vu... are people I have worked with and known. Images, thoughts and feelings of someone you know are always more attractive and appealing than those of a stranger, that is the principle of diary reception.
3. Invaluable material for research.For many people who approach this Diary for the first time, there will certainly be many surprises with the content of the book, because of its diversity and depth. It can be considered an invaluable source of documents for studying the formation of the writer's philosophy of life and creative work. Moreover, Le Anh Xuan is a typical example of a young generation entering the resistance war against the US, both in the general sense as a citizen and in the specific sense as a creative artistic worker, so this is also a typical image of a generation's political ideal (reasons for participating; political consciousness; general/individual solutions; fighting spirit; creative will; literary viewpoint). This Diary, together with the diaries of Nguyen Thi, Chu Cam Phong, Duong Thi Xuan Quy, Dang Thuy Tram, Nguyen Van Thac... will be very useful when studying the generation of writers and poets during the anti-US period as well as intellectuals and writers when the country was invaded. Personally, I have heard, known, thought, and researched and written about Le Anh Xuan, so I find this book very useful in many ways. It can be said that through this Diary, I see a living personality, a rich and beautiful soul, a noble model of a writer in a challenging turning point of the nation's history.
Ho Chi Minh City, November 30, 2011
