Essay/Letter

Homeland, Journeys • Adult

More than a simple collection of memories, Suong khoi que nha is a love letter to a bygone era and a homeland wrapped in mist and nostalgia. Each essay pulses with warmth, humor, and quiet melancholy, inviting readers not only to witness the past but to feel it—to remember the innocence of youth, the beauty of simplicity, and the enduring connection between land and soul. True to Nguyen Nhat Anh’s signature voice, this book speaks softly but lingers deeply, like the last light on a childhood afternoon.

Where to get it?

What is the novel about?

Suong khoi que nha (The Hazy Memories of Home) is a tender, evocative collection of autobiographical essays by beloved Vietnamese author Nguyen Nhat Anh, in which he reflects on the fading echoes of his childhood in the countryside of Quang Nam. With gentle, unhurried prose and vivid, heartfelt imagery, Nguyen Nhat Anh captures the essence of rural life—the scent of grass after rain, the laughter of village children, the quiet ache of growing up and leaving behind a world once thought eternal.

More than a simple collection of memories, Suong khoi que nha is a love letter to a bygone era and a homeland wrapped in mist and nostalgia. Each essay pulses with warmth, humor, and quiet melancholy, inviting readers not only to witness the past but to feel it—to remember the innocence of youth, the beauty of simplicity, and the enduring connection between land and soul. True to Nguyen Nhat Anh’s signature voice, this book speaks softly but lingers deeply, like the last light on a childhood afternoon.

The collection is composed by 34 essays written between 2010 and 2023, structured loosely in three thematic sections:

Table of contents

Homeland

  1. Childhood fruits

  2. Grandma, may I have a tin of nen?

  3. Old school

  4. Hazy memories of home

  5. In my childhood, there was a boy named Loi Sut

  6. Memories of being a teacher

  7. The joys and sorrows of book signing sessions

  8. Where is my book?

  9. Getting acquainted with books

  10. Rambling in the rain

  11. Taking my love to watch football

  12. Shopping with my wife

  13. A story about fashion

Kinship

  1. Mr. Vu

  2. Reading Do’s in a spring day

  3. When Vietnamese people go far away…

  4. Listening closely under the wind — or is it a way of living?

  5. A companion of children’s literature

  6. My friend returns to the land of purple flowers

  7. Rambling about a friend

  8. Remembering Chim Trang — the one who waits for flowers to fall

  9. There is a way to love literature

Journeys

  1. Wandering in Paris

  2. Paris, of books and people

  3. The story of Venice

  4. Juliet in Verona

  5. Skimming through books in Sweden

  6. Going to Thailand

  7. Meeting writer friends in Bangkok

  8. Media in Thailand

  9. Gambling in America

  10. Christmas in America

  11. Watching football on mexican TV

  12. Snow

Reviews

Anh writes in the same lucid, conversational voice that made him famous as a novelist for young readers, yet here the tone is more reflective. The essays slip easily from humor to wistfulness; a village football match or a playful complaint about fashion shopping becomes a doorway to larger thoughts about impermanence and the quiet heroism of ordinary people. Critics have praised the collection’s “simple, familiar, light‑handed prose” and its ability to make readers “pause and think about the small things around us.”

“I found the book gentle; the prose is humorous and close to the heart.” – huynh ly, Goodreads

“My favorite pages are those on homeland and childhood memories… they made my eyes well up.” – Kira, Goodreads

“His prose is wonderful… by part two I realized he had been writing since middle school.” – Kieu Giang Nguyen, Goodreads