'Going Backwards' with journalist Le Phi about memories of Nghe An countryside

Journalist Le Phi's first short story collection 'Going Against' haunts with stories and lives associated with memories of Nghe An countryside, along the Lam River.

On the morning of July 5, journalist Le Phi (Chief Representative of Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper in Da Nang City) organized the book launch Going Backwards - a collection of 21 short stories recently published by Da Nang Publishing House.

Journalist Le Phi shared that the book is his brainchild that he has nurtured for the past 4 years. In the first half of the book, readers will encounter stories that are both autobiographical and fictional, related to the countryside of Nghe An about 30 years ago.

Journalist Le Phi shares his feelings and memories during the writing process of " Going Against"

PHOTO: HOANG SON

There, readers will be haunted by the characters returning from the war, from "my father" in Dao Ngu to Mr. Trang and Mr. Quang in The Shadow of a Wandering Soldier at Khe Pagoda ...

In the second half of the book, with a satirical tone and his professional experiences, journalist Le Phi described social reality with vivid realism.

The calculations, personal interest groups, the funny and sad stories when the whole society is rushing to follow the money race... are shown through the short stories: The Secret Spider Web, Two Damned Guys, Early Retirement, Story at the Flag Office...

The book "Going Backwards" by journalist Le Phi was conceived over the past 4 years.

PHOTO: HOANG SON

"Since my student days, I started writing. Not only writing on paper but also writing in my head when there were characters who seemed to want to whisper something that was hard to name. They seemed to come out of memories, from the wounds of time, from a story someone told unfinished on the porch full of Lao wind and the sound of cicadas," journalist Le Phi confided, saying that he had to keep them for a long time before he was calm enough to sit down and call each person's name back on the page.

At the book launch, writer Nguyen Thi Anh Dao was very emotional when mentioning the contents of the book. The sensitive soul of the female writer sympathizes with the lives, stories, and contexts of the Nghe An countryside... of several decades ago.

Writer Nguyen Thi Anh Dao choked up when talking about memories of her hometown in Nghe An.

PHOTO: HOANG SON

The writer commented that the short story collection Going Against the Current contains the author's past, despair, sadness and desire to live, his desire to "swim against the current" to be able to touch the past, exist in contemporary social reality with a series of changes taking place in every corner of life. The author "anchors" within himself the desire to give back that stream of emotions to readers through his meticulous storytelling.

Poet Tu Da Thao (real name Pham Xuan Hung, currently working at VTV8 - Da Nang) shares his feelings after reading " Going Against"

PHOTO: HOANG SON

Go against the flow to be still, step forward into the flowing life out there...

Reading the short story collection by author Le Phi, readers can feel and understand with the writer some incomplete things about the place of birth, about the creator, about the "scars" that cling to the subconscious, difficult to heal...

Going Backward opens up an incomplete and incomplete memory of the character "I" (the author), also wrapping up a chapter of memory that the author dares to face, be present and write on the page with many thoughts, worries and confessions to himself.

The author does not intend to arrange the order of the 21 short stories in this collection, but if you pay attention, you will realize that this is a flow. Each short story is a slice, but when you read it from beginning to end, it is a complete picture of a society, a life, a miniature human condition with a full range of emotions.

Journalist Le Phi signs books for colleagues and friends

PHOTO: HOANG SON

"With a debut work, Le Phi's Going Backward still has a few things that have not been said or written yet. But I believe that the journey of words always has a path that guides the writer to see and go further. Literature will open up another quiet space for each person's soul to settle down there to gain a little more strength, to continue to move forward into the flowing life out there," said writer Nguyen Thi Anh Dao.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cung-di-nguoc-voi-nha-bao-le-phi-ve-ky-uc-lang-que-xu-nghe-185250705115659327.htm