Review: Moral Victories
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2014
What a surprise this book was! Not only does S.R. Wilsher deliver the depth of fear and pain of the POW, but he also touches the heart with a family finding itself and a love story developing.In THE COLLECTION OF HENG SOUK, a Vietnamese woman (Sun) meets with her uncle, someone she has not met before. She wonders about the chasm in her family between her dead father and his brother, between her bitter mother and her brother-in-law. At the same time, she has married a brutal, thuggish man, and feels only fear and loathing for him.Told separately is the story of an American POW, someone who kept a diary. As Sun reads the diary, she becomes fascinated and horrified by what took place.Wilsher provides a view of the other side of the Vietnam war, Hanoi. The North Vietnamese, their privations and pride, their obedience to orders, and disgust with Americans is related through the eyes of the POW. The strength of this young man is pounded and stabbed. He is demoralized and diminished. He finds hope in the Bible.What happened to him as he dug graves on the orders of Heng Souk is a journey through darkness to light.Wilsher's story is a profound look at war told with clarity and reverence. My copy of this book has many passages that I underlined for the purity of phrasing. Here is one, ". . . there were lots of other worlds in this place, each of us sat in the centre of our own universe, waiting for our own sun to perish." This image related the isolation of the POW experience in a new way. Wilsher has taken the time to perfect his imagery, making the story reverberate on new levels.Huzzah!