Novel "From Viet Bac to Hanoi": Uncle Ho's vibrant revolutionary activities

On the occasion of the 134th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday (May 19, 1890 - May 19, 2024), Associate Professor - Doctor - writer Nguyen The Ky, Chairman of the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Arts, launched the book "From Viet Bac to Hanoi."

The book is jointly published and distributed by Literature Publishing House and Lien Viet Culture and Communication Joint Stock Company.

On May 15, the publisher's representative said this is volume 3 in the 5-volume novel series "Nuon son van dam" depicts the image of President Ho Chi Minh in 5 important stages in his life and great revolutionary career.

Episode 3 is a journey "following" leader Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh from early 1941 to the success of the August Revolution. On the afternoon of September 2, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

The real-life context of episode 3 takes place from 1941 to 1945. The Vietnamese revolutionary situation, although quiet on the outside, is seething inside, waiting for the opportunity to erupt into a big storm; the situation of neighboring China and the Chinese Communist Party, of the Nationalist government; important figures of the Soviet Union and the United States present in China; the developments of World War II; the weak faces of some politicians of the Viet Quoc, Viet Cach, and Viet Nam Phuc Quoc Quan who are in exile in China...

The third volume provides readers with more information about the rich activities, strategic vision, and sharpness of leader Ho Chi Minh when he was active in Cao Bang, Bac Can, Tuyen Quang, and Thai Nguyen; his trips back and forth across the Vietnam-China border like a shuttle to connect with the Communist Party of China; his arrest and detention by the Chiang Kai-shek government for more than a year, exiled through dozens of large and small prisons; the circumstances of the birth of the poems in "Prison Diary"; the affection of the Chinese people for Ho Chi Minh; his return to the country, continuing to lead the struggle for national liberation of our people to the victory of the August Revolution in 1945...

At the end of volume 3, writer Nguyen The Ky depicts the moving and heroic atmosphere of our country before the General Uprising.

Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers Association, said that the novel "Nuoc non van dam" poses three challenges for writers.

The first challenge is to select characters, events, and stories of Ho Chi Minh, of the history of Vietnam and the world during the period when Ho Chi Minh led the country. Without the ability to select and connect materials, without the ability to bring them to life, the writer risks becoming a mechanical copyist of official history and therefore ineffective.

The second challenge is to artistically portray the characters, events, and stories related to the historical figures the writer creates.

The third challenge is to “commonize” a great man, especially a great man like Ho Chi Minh, a great patriot, an outstanding revolutionary, an outstanding world cultural figure, and at the same time a true human being with all his genuine and attractive beauty.

According to Mr. Thieu, “commonizing” a great man in his work is the most difficult task of a writer. Every detail in Ho Chi Minh’s “common” life must contain the daily activities of a person, while revealing the living posture and thoughts of a great man in a real, simple, yet touching life.

“Every time I read passages about those things, I feel like I am watching author Nguyen The Ky walking on a tightrope between two buildings. Any danger can happen. A gesture, a sentence, a thought, an emotional state, even a meal or a set of clothes of a character, if not accurate, will overshadow the image of the character the writer is building, especially a historical figure like Ho Chi Minh. But writer Nguyen The Ky has overcome it,” said Mr. Thieu.

In addition, poet Nguyen Quang Thieu stated that this is a novel, so fiction is an extremely important element in creating the work. In volumes 1 and 2, writer Nguyen The Ky understood what he had to do. Therefore, he overcame all three challenges mentioned above.