The work "Following the Golden Traces" on the release day

“Following the Golden Traces”, the latest book by journalist Bui Ngoc Long, is a thick and heavy work in many ways. Thick and heavy because it has 340 pages, including text and photos. “Thick” and “heavy”, the content is divided into 5 parts with high intellectual and academic content: Feng Shui of Hue Citadel; Searching for traces of the Twenty-Scenes of the Divine Capital; Sacred Mountains; Stories of Royal Physicians of the Nguyen Dynasty; “Fantastic Fate” Research on Restoring Can Chanh Palace; Searching for traces of the Tay Son Dynasty; The Quintessence of Martial Arts in Hue.

Unlike the first collection of essays “Where is the Zen Master” published in 2018, “Following the Golden Mark” is closer to travelogues and research, and all were previously published in serial form in Thanh Nien Newspaper. However, when compiled into a book, readers still find it new and attractive. And this is a vivid example showing how the longevity of a journalistic work is different from a normal news report or article if the writer takes the time to tell the story.

In fact, all the topics that Bui Ngoc Long presents in this book are not new because they have been exploited by many journalists and researchers inside and outside Hue. However, through the hand of arrangement, distillation, especially the skill of embellishment, deepening, and suggesting through contact with characters and witnesses to renew the topic, the stories in "Following the Golden Mark" are thus elevated, becoming a work not only worth reading but also making a certain contribution to the flow of contemporary Hue culture.

“Following the Golden Trail”, therefore, is not a book that commemorates the profession as usual, but it has its own life with the readers. And after all, a journalist or writer, no matter what era they live in, how science and technology develop, the problem is not what story they are telling but how they are telling it that makes the difference.

Among the journalists who came from the Faculty of Literature of Hue University (now the University of Science - Hue University) in the Central Highlands region, Bui Ngoc Long is a talented and versatile writer representing the brand "General Literature". In addition to being a "rough", strong reporter, who excellently meets the current affairs requirements of a large political - social daily newspaper like Thanh Nien, he has many other faces, such as: A fragile, vulnerable poet Bui Ngoc Long; a writer of essays - research with cultural depth and life experience, with sparkling, beautiful words... Such writers in the journalism world are not many anymore and are becoming increasingly scarce for many different reasons.

For Bui Ngoc Long, when pitching the topics in “Following the Golden Trail” to the Thanh Nien Newspaper Editorial Board, he also had to answer questions like “what is the purpose of writing?” as Uncle Ho once asked with many convincing arguments. But there was certainly another answer that he could not tell anyone other than his commitment to himself, which was “writing to later be published as a book”.

“Write to be published in a book later.” It sounds simple, but it is a very laborious and arduous journey, and not every journalist can do it like Bui Ngoc Long!

Hoang Van Minh (introduction)

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/theo-dau-vang-son-tu-trang-bao-len-trang-sach-155301.html