The warm affection of Vietnamese people in difficult times

History is a strong source of inspiration for writer Dang Ngoc Hung, which motivated him to write when he turned 37. After the historical novel The War Elephants (Vai B Award of the National Book Award in 2019) this time with the same story "The Railway Collective Area", the writer continues to take us back to another period in history.

The story of "Ship collective housing area" originated from a major event of the country. On November 26, 1974, Thang Long Bridge, the largest river overpass project in Southeast Asia at that time, was officially started. Tens of thousands of officers and workers from all over have been mobilized to the construction site.

A collective housing area for bridge builders was formed. These are collective housing areas located between villages and fields, houses interspersed with factories, warehouses and railways... Writer Dang Ngoc Hung takes us through more than 50 years back in time, entering these collective housing areas, observing the lives of people participating in the construction of "projects of the century".

In particular, "Ship collective housing area" is introduced as a "childhood story" for adults. Writer Dang Ngoc Hung tells about a time when he was far away from the perspective of a child, using the clear, innocent eyes of a child to recreate a section of the memories of our country's people. Thanks to that, the story is told naturally, honestly, without big problems, without judgment.

This collection of short stories about the childhood of a five-year-old boy named Nham Ti who studied in the same class and lived in the same apartment complex. Through the stories of children, we can easily see life in the subsidy period, a difficult time for the country, but not lacking love, protection and sharing.

The stories are as express as drops of rainwater, natural as breath but no less s footing like mud in the suburbs.

With a sincere and factual self-identity, throughout the pages of books, we feel like writer Dang Ngoc Hung is telling his own story. We are like living in a group area, together with the main character going to kindergarten, helping the teachers to open the "gallop" chip to eat, playing fireworks on the hallway, secretly tastes the sweetness of dong rieng and tao hoa.

Following the growth of the child, writer Dang Ngoc Hung leads us through familiar memories, from the game of catching black ant farming rumors, catching locusts to make flying shrimp, the path to the vegetation filled with goosebumps... The rustic writing style of the writer makes us feel like it is our own memories.

However, the most special and beautiful thing in memories is the love between people. In the time of shortage, when the whole family only had one piece of meat to eat for a month, people chose to share and cover each other. In the midst of hard work, they have joined hands, joined hands to help people's lives less be difficult.