A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

Very different type of story. Strange. Mysterious. Wonderful read. Very well written.

A very good read.

Robert Olen Butler won the Pulitzer Prize or Fiction in 1993 for this collection of short stories. This seems to have been an eccentric choice because, on my calculation, Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses- which was also published in 1992 and had already won the National Book Award - should have been a contender. It was not even listed as a finalist. But that is the way of awards and the Pulitzer board does at least deserve some credit because they do at least regularly acknowledge short story collections with their prize award. Many do not.'A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain' (lovely title) is made up of twelve separate stories told from the perspective of Vietnamese immigrants in the USA - most of the stories are set in Louisiana - and, as the writer served in the Vietnamese War as an interpreter, we have to trust his knowledge of Vietnamese perception and culture.The stories certainly feel authentic and they are often beautifully written in a coolly classical, almost old-fashioned, style which is nowadays both unusual and engaging. They have the feel of stories that, in another time, might have appeared during its heyday in The Saturday Evening Post. So, no fireworks or pyrotechnics or post modern tricks here, just good honest stories told with a sympathetic humanity and understanding. Recommended on that basis.

I like collections of short stories - you can read them waiting at airports/on the bus/when travelling. I started with the shortest one in the book and found it decidedly odd/different. Then the book sat on the shelf for ten months. When I picked another story I was hooked. These read so differently - a real glimpse into another culture's way of thinking, with a lot of historical detail between the lines. they really touched me and left me with a feeling of great admiration for this author. It gave me a deeper insight into the war in Vietnam.

As described and on time.

Item was as described.

I started reading this book because at the time I had a keen interest in the Vietnam conflict. I thought that it was going to be something along the lines of "If I die in a Combat Zone" and more about the conflict itself, I was quite wrong. However when I started to read I realised that this book gently (and quite brilliantly) addressed the lives of the thousands of people forced to leave Vietnam after the fall of the Saigon regime. They are all writen in the first person and from the perspective of a Vietnamese immigrant. Weather intentional or not Butler's style of writing perfectly captures the style of speaking English that a lot of people who have lived in SouthEast Asia have.The stories themselves are a refreshing break from the Espionage, love and murder books that litter the shelves today. The stories are warm and (though not are 100% believable) very enjoyable.I very much prefer this style of short story, compared to some of the huge "volumes" that are availible at the moment. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a warm collection of stories, I thoroughly enjoyed reading them all and am looking for more stories by the author.