Wissai’s Comment:
In an email about his book of poetry, Nam Le quoted several endorsements, none of which came from Ocean Vuong. When I asked him about this, Nam Le was silent. In the following interview with the Guardian, a worldwide respectable news organization, Nam Le did not mention Ocean Vuong as a kindred spirit.
Personally , I have found much more resonance in Nam Le’s writing than in Ocean Vuong’s. Additionally, reading an interview of Ocean Vuong by the New York Times a few years ago left me with a jarring, unsettling discomfort with the man for his way of speaking about himself.
Ocean Vuong has been a darling of the American literary establishment. I am following his literary career with much interest. His English is very good and he is occasionally original in putting words together. I admire him for his courage in writing and for wearing his sexual orientation on his sleeve. Yet somehow I think I have detected in him a self-conscious desire to be cute and clever. With Nam Le, I sense there is a commitment to authenticity and self-expression. I am following Nam Le’s literary career with keen interest, too.
Wissai
The return of Nam Le: ‘As long as I’m terrifying myself a little bit, I’m on the right track’
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/feb/28/the-boat-author-nam-le-interview-new-book-36-ways-of-writing-a-vietnamese-poem?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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