There is something that feels wrong in giving this such a low rating. It wasn't a bad book I just didn't really enjoy it. I had a very hard time connecting to the stories and the characters. This is usually the case when it comes to short stories, it puts a huge burden on the author to grab the reader quickly.
While I did not enjoy the writing style I can recognize this has literary merit and will be greatly enjoyed by some readers. I was just not one of them.

Uncorrected Proof provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
See my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1873005174

This short story collection is next level. I feel a little sad that I didn't read it earlier. I am officially a fan of this author. Short stories are magical. They're these tiny little gifts that are self contained (mostly). Anyone that can write them and make the reader feel something in a tiny span of time is basically a genius. This collection is about people that have been dislocated from their homes or separated from their families. I believe they all center around people of Vietnamese origin or descent. It's great and you should read it.

Normally I am not a fan of short stories and find myself missing character and storyline development, but this collection was stunning, moving and well thought out.

Going into this collection I was expecting that the stories will focus on the experience of Vietnamese immigrants/refugees in the US, however, the immigrant/refugee aspect mostly serves as a backdrop for the stories that actually deal with more mundane themes such as grief, sexuality and ageing. The collection includes some very well-crafted stories, however, I must admit that, for the most part, I was kind of underwhelmed by this collection, but I still look forward to reading the author’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Sympathizer".

I love Viet Thanh Nguyen. The writing in this book was incredible and you can't help but care for the characters and their stories. Such a great read and it was really tugging at my heartstrings the entire time.

The Refugees

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

I read Nguyen's well-received first book, The Sympathizer, so I was eager to read this collection of short stories, and happy to see it available on NetGalley. When I initially selected Sympathizer, it was on my husband's recommendation, but that book easily sold me on Nguyen's ability to compel a reader, especially one who wasn't sure about the subject. Like Sympathizer, the characters here live difficult, often impossible lives. In some cases, I admit, I wasn't sorry the story was short; I was happy to escape to a different place, with new characters and challenges. Despite the slim volume, the characters are fully-realized, and their stories are crafted with care and compassion.

For Goodreads:

Why I picked it — Because I thought The Sympathizer was excellent, painful as it was.
Reminded me of… A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, for some reason. Perhaps the undercurrent of frustration and doom?
For my full review — click here

Fairly solid book of short stories, all revolving around Vietnamese people who have, at some time or another in their lives, immigrated to America. The writing is solid and very skillfully done. Once I started reading these stories (and I know this is weird), but I was surprised with how 'relaxed' I felt with it. I loved that there were multiple angles here as well--people living with ghosts (literally), sibling rivalry, dealing with a loved one with Alzheimer's disease. Some standouts were "Black Eyed Women," "War Years," and "The Transplant." I have not yet read Viet Thanh Nguyen's novel "The Sympathizer" but I definitely plan to. Great book!

My sincerest apologies. I completely forgot I was awarded this book. I just read it and loved it. I was captivated by the first story in the collection, Black-Eyed Woman; which is pretty apropos for this time of year. Halloween. Nguyen's writing is tight, but I expected nothing less. Although not a refugee or a Vietnamese immigrant, but as an African-American, I found myself relating on multiple levels with some of the characters. Many of the characters suffered silently to avoid dealing with their past. I remember my Southern grandparents not wanting to talk about their painful experiences growing up in the South.

Perhaps my favorite story of all is: "I'd Love You to Want Me". It's endearing and heartbreaking and, for those of us dealing with a spouse, parent, or friend with dementia/Alzheimers - horrifically relatable. I applaud Mrs. Khanh dealing with the hurt and pain of being called another woman's name with dignity.

In this collection of short stories, there were a couple that didn't quite hit the ball out of the park but came close to it. They were the ones I thought could have been a little longer, but that's just a personal preference. And having said that they still didn't detract from the collection.

Impressive collection of short stories focused on Vietnamese refugees and their experiences. Very well written and all of the stories are very different from each other, which made it even more interesting. I appreciated this collection and enjoyed reading the stories but it didn't really give me any warm fuzzies or hug at my heartstrings - not that kind of a book, at least for me.

Thanks for NetGalley and Grove Press for an ARC of this collection.

These stories give us a different viewpoint .... a different voice. I thought about these stories well after I had put down the book.

A riveting collection of stories that covers the struggles of Vietnamese refugees.

The issue of refugees and immigration is a pulsing, red, hot button of our times. The atmosphere of hate and suspicion that surrounds much of the discourse around this issue is stifling, and largely ignores the humanity of the people themselves. The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen, is a poignant look at the lives such displaced souls build, at the roots they try to carry with them, and the roots they put down again.
The Refugees is a short anthology of eight short stories, each of them a gem.

Black-Eyed Women is a ghost story, about a writer who is visited by the ghost of her brother, who died protecting her. It is filled with love and loss, the only horror in it evoked when one thinks of the hardship and cruelty that refugees have to deal with.

In The Other Man a Vietnamese man comes to the USA and lives with a gay couple, one of whom is English and the other from Hong Kong. It deals with ideas like culture shock and assimilation.

War Years is one of my favourite stories in the collection. Told from the POV of a 13 year old boy, it describes the conflict between a woman collecting money to fight the communists and his mother, who is unwilling to part with hard-earned money for what she believes is a futile cause.

In The Transplant a white man tries to form a connection with the son of a man whose liver was transplanted into him, saving his life. It raises questions of identity.

I'd Love You To Want Me is the poignant, touching tale of the wife of an Alzheimer's patient. He keeps calling her by another name, making her wonder if her husband had an affair in the past.

The Americans negotiates the push and pull of the past versus the present, through the differing perspectives of a daughter volunteering in Vietnam and her father who fought in the war.

In Someone Else Besides You, a son resents his father, and this leads him to make some decisions he regrets. The father attempts to make things right. This story is another one of my favourites, as it, like the previous story, navigates the generation gap with great sensitivity.

The closing story Fatherland, like the first, is about siblings. But in this case, step siblings, who are each other's namesake, and who are separated by geography. It explores ideas of staying behind versus risking everything for a new life.

Familial bonds, ideas of loss and love, of belonging and identity are some of the common themes that run through these stories. The characters in each of these stories shine, flaws and all.

In all honesty, my words do not do justice to the gentle, sad beauty of this collection. Living in today's world where issues of home and homelessness abound, where suspicions breed a lack of empathy, The Refugees is a bit like a pain balm that stings initially, but offers relief later in the form of hope.

FTC disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for this honest review.

https://thereadingdesk.wordpress.com/2017/07/15/book-review-the-refugees/

This book was difficult to get into and stay motivated to read. The writing was very beautiful though. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review!

Book that, as they say, falls in the lap in this time when it comes to refugees and ius soli. Here are South Vietnamese refugees, fleeing the victorious communists, and their children. Starrings are on one hand the longing for the lost land and on the other a mixture of anger at the Americans for having left Vietnam, and gratitude for welcoming them. America and Americans, however, are only a backdrop, as the world these refugees live in is not Vietnam, but it is not entirely America. In any case these stories, as well as being interesting, are poignant.
Thank Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful, haunting and mesmerising collection of stories which explore the world of immigrants, contrasted with their children, born in this new land. Highly recommended.

A powerful collection. I'm not always wild about short stories, but these hang together and form an amazing picture from many different viewpoints in a way that floored me. I felt like the first couple were okay, but then it really started to roll, enveloping me in a new reality. Somehow, the stories become simultaneously more and less comfortable, more comfortable because I was getting used to this world, less comfortable because there was more bare honesty, like being a guest in the living room of an arguing couple. The stories are both outdated (several set in the 1990s) and very timely given our national conversation, a reminder of America's role in the world and the varied origins of Americans. Highly recommended.

"The Refugees" is a short book of short stories, and yet in every story, you will feel all the feels for the characters and the situation they are in. I haven't found a single weak story in the entire book, they are all beautifully written and so easy to get into. Being a refugee means living between two worlds, the country they left and the one they reached, not really a part of either of them. There is the idea they came looking for abroad, and the idea the people who stayed behind have of them. In some cases, there is also the trauma of fleeing a country in less than ideal circumstances, to put it midly, and maybe we indeed need a reminder of what the refugees around us went and still go through just to get a try at a better life.

I began "The Sympathizer", this author's Pulitzer-winning book, last year. It wasn't for me at the time- it felt too cynical, and the denseness of the prose put me off. There was a lot of anger in that book that I wasn't prepared to deal with.

I read these stories while on a plane to Vietnam. The common theme of all these stories is what it's like to be a refugee, as I believe the author himself is. The first story "Blackeyed Women", is about a girl whose brother died on the boat that brought them over. She's never since felt like she deserves a life, and lives in the shadows, writing for other people- a literal ghost writer.

While that story was quite affecting, I liked some of the others better. One, about a boy who works in his mother's store after school (the family sells imports, Vietnamese food mostly) and who sees his mother's strength and vulnerability, was a favorite.

The author touches on a young man newly come to San Francisco with help from his church, a daughter who meets her father's daughter from his other, American family, a hustler selling bootleg goods, a woman whose husband is losing himself to Alzheimer's and is beginning to slip back into his past. He makes all of his characters real, touching, exasperating, human.

These stories seemed more heartfelt to me than what I read of "The Sympathizer". My understanding is that they've been written over a long period of time, unlike that book. These stories feel like they were meditated upon. I am not traditionally a fan of short stories, but these are quite impressive.

The stories told in this collection made me feel. I don't know that there is much greater compliment I can offer a collection. The stories were moving and evoked a sense of reality - I felt less a reader than a spectator as the stories were told.

This should be required reading in our society that is so confused and uninformed about the reality of what it means to be a Refugee.

A great short story collection. The writing is never 'samey' and the cast of characters and situations are extremely varied and usually very well done. It's the best short story collection I've read in awhile.