The Independent Foreign Fiction Award: North Vietnam: The Soldier's Tale: The 1994 Independent Foreign Fiction Award Has Gone to a Remarkable Novel by an Ex-Soldier, Bao Ninh

Beginning of article

In this extract from 'The Sorrow of War', the two central characters, the soldier Kien and his girlfriend Phuong, travel from Hanoi towards the front.

War] War] The sea roared out the message in the small hours of 5 August 1965. A small storm began far out across the Tonkin Gulf and the group looked on as distant forked lightning seemed to signal the start of the war. Nearby the other students in tents around the fire also began to wake up and slowly, realising something new was upon them, began to gather round the fire and talk over the news.

Kien and Phuong slipped out of the campfire circle to a quiet spot where they couldn't be heard or seen. They embraced …