The Boat: Stories

by: Nam Le

Published by: Vintage Books (Paper)

Reviewed by Beth Cummings

(Hardcover published in 2008 by Random House, Inc.)

The Boat is a fascinating collection of ethnic short stories. What makes the book especially unusual is that while the author, Nam Le, was born in Viet Nam and raised in Australia, his stories are not just those of a Vietnamese immigrant.

The title story, “The Boat,” is a story of Vietnamese refugees escaping the country in a small fishing scow, but other stories in the collection travel to Tehran, Iran; Cartegena, Columbia; Hiroshima, Japan; and other parts of the world. In each of these, the characters are native to that area. Le captures the traits of each locale with exactitude.

Nam Le’s stories are filled with the emotions contained in survival, love and sacrifice. In some ways they are gritty and graphic, yet brutality is countered with caring. They touch the heart. The story, “The Boat,” contains all of the hope and terror of an escape at sea – severe weather, becalming, lack of food and water, and finally land. But while the main character, Mai, survives the ordeal, she is one of the lucky ones. Le successfully portrays the feelings of a sixteen-year-old girl traveling alone in these circumstances.

Le is currently the editor of the Harvard Review and lives in both the United States and Australia. This is his first book, but undoubtedly will not be his last. His stories have won many awards already.

I highly recommend The Boat for individuals and for book group discussions.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

Author’s Web site: http://www.NamLeOnline.com