Every so often I like to branch outside my usual reading material. Anh Do’s memoir was a bit of an odd choice for me. Anh is slightly younger than me. Usually I would think he was far too young to be able to write an insightful memoir. Also, I am not a big fan of the stand up comedy scene.
I am so glad I read this book though. It was the most fun read I’ve had in ages. Unlike stand up comedy routines, the hilarity in this book is a slow burn.
Anh Do was a toddler when his parents braved the Indian ocean in a dodgy boat fleeing persecution in post war Vietnam. He recounts family legends of great bravery both in Vietnam and facing pirates and deprivations on the sea but, as the title suggests, it is not a tragic story.
There is an honesty in the story. Anh’s family is not perfect but it seems lovable. There are touching moments of nostalgia particularly when Anh’s eccentric extended family meet his fiance’s family for the first time. They had brought a whole pig for the families to share and the Vietnamese matriarchs were hunting through the western kitchen looking for a meat clever. When they discovered that westerners did not usually keep one on hand, they resorted to a sharp knife and a frozen chicken to pierce the thick pig hide (the visual on that had me in hysterics).
I wondered if Anh was delicately avoiding racism but then he would recount a story of blatant racism with a gentle mix of pathos, regret and humour. He says he has experienced racism rarely but he does not retreat from its jarring reality.
This was a beautiful book as well as a good fun read.
