German writers Ingo Schulze and Zuli Zeh spent the month of October in Viet Nam searching for inspiration on a tour that took them from the north to the south of the country.
Schulze also took the opportunity to introduce his book Adam and Evelyn which will soon be published in Viet Nam. He talks with Culture Vulture about his trip.
Could you tell our readers about your recent trip through Viet Nam?
I was invited by the Goethe Institute in Ha Noi to present the Vietnamese translation of my novel Adam and Evelyn. I have wanted to visit Viet Nam for along time. I come from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was informally known as East Germany, from the City of Dresden, where many Vietnamese have worked and studied.
My book describes the time from August to November 1989, in which many people lost their fear of the authorities and marched in the street for freedom and self-determination.
In September, when Hungary opened its borders to Austria, my characters, Adam and Evelyn, must decide if they should go to the west or drive back to the East Germany. They are faced with the same questions as Adam in Eve in the bible – To stay or go, What is temptation, what is good, what is evil? – which one could say are questions that underlie every aspect of current events.
I was in Ha Noi for one week, where I enjoyed the 1,000-year anniversary celebrations, spent three very beautiful days on Cat Ba, then visited Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, My Son and finally HCM City, where I had another reading.
What impressed you most?
Of course I enjoyed my encounters with my translator and friends, with artists like Le Quang Ha, and other literature and art lovers. I also found that daily like, which I had some time to enjoy, fascinated me.
If someone doesn't know anything about Germany or Viet Nam, then nearly everything needs to be explained. Traffic in Viet Nam is completely different than in Germany. A Vietnamese street, a Vietnamese shop are hardly comparable to their German counterparts. In Germany, work and free time/family are much more separated. Public and private lives are more clearly distinct from one another.
In Viet Nam, a lot happens on the street, in the open. I enjoyed that very much, I never felt lonely.
What do you do with your experiences in Viet Nam?
It was my first trip to Viet Nam. I thought I could perhaps find a few analogies to compare with my experiences of system change, but I didn't find much.
I am working on a travel diary based on my notes. It is not easy to come to terms with the flood of impressions. The deciding moment of a journey is always the moment of return.
You talked with Vietnamese readers about your book Adam and Evelyn which will be released soon in Viet Nam. What did you say to the readers in Ha Noi and HCM City?
The readers only knew a few extracts from the book, but they noticed that it was mainly women who made confident decisions, both in private life as well as in business.
We also touched on a very basic question about the life of a writer: can you make a living from books. In Germany I earn a part of my income from readings in bookstores, cultural centres, schools and universities.
Have you read any Vietnamese books? Do you know about Vietnamese literature?
I have begun to learn about Vietnamese literature and depend on German and English translations to do so. I find Pham Thi Hoai very good, I have read two of her books. I have just started reading stories by Nguyen Huy Thiep.
I find it very encouraging that in Viet Nam, the short story is so recognised, this is unfortunately not the case in Europe. I read Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh in English.
Looking back on your trip, what did you like most about Viet Nam?
I don't like generalisations, because you can find people you like being with everywhere, and others you don't, whether you can speak their language or not. What I liked very much in Viet Nam was the friendliness and the humour. Sometimes just a small gesture was enough to make us burst out into ringing laughter. — VNS