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Finding the Dragon Lady: the Mystery of Vietnams Madame Nhu Pdf, Epub, Ebook FINDING THE DRAGON LADY: THE MYSTERY OF VIETNAMS MADAME NHU PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Monique Brinson Demery | 280 pages | 23 Oct 2014 | The Perseus Books Group | 9781610394673 | English | New York, United States Finding the Dragon Lady: The Mystery of Vietnams Madame Nhu PDF Book She used her position and influence to create unpopular policies in Vietnam, fan the authoritarianism of her in-law's regime and build US support for the quagmire known as the Vietnam War. To view it, click here. This book opened hidden corners in this "dangerous woman" because she was considered as a tigress not only the dragon as in the title. Dust back to dust. A real page-turner The author is by no mean apologetic of Madame Nhu's misdeeds and certainly not parrot her. But, despite the author adding the flourishes I described above, not as compelling as I would have like it to be. I was very young at this time and have no recollection of the politics, although I have learned about it as I grew up. But to be really effective, you sometimes must leave the spanner unthrown, and rely on other talents. The biographer-as-protagonist approach can work well if the quest is interesting and the reader can relate to the author's challenges and resourcefulness. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history and political intrigues of this era. The author connected with her by phone and mail and Madame Nhu corresponded with her in hopes of having control over her story. A great book for those who want to know more about hidden pages of Vietname history. I liked the book-- interesting info that I wasn't aware of. It is funny, it is sad it is broad in scope and yet focused on this one person. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. An intriguing and insightful work on the legend and the truth of South Vietnam's Madame Nhu. And she succeeds in this. This book, I think, is a good reading for this purpose. She sees all these Americans come into her country to "help" but they don't understand, they often make things worse, and they have no respect for her, or most of the Vietnamese people. View 2 comments. Read more I got to know about the Vietnam war in another aspect. The young author not only spent years researching the Nhu and Diem families, but the wars which began decades before she was born. Demery lives in Chicago, Illinois. Being born in Vietnam myself, and younger than her children, I have certain bias against Madam Nhu. Mar 03, Lisa rated it it was amazing. She became fascinated with the enigmatic and iconoclastic, Madame Nhu , 29 years after the end of the Vietnam War. But she saw herself as the only one who knew how to rule and exerted influence way in excess of her role. It's a fair-minded and readable look at Madame Nhu and her prominent role in the early years of the Vietnam War, before the commitment of half a million U. Finding the Dragon Lady: The Mystery of Vietnams Madame Nhu Writer The woman was as sharp as knife there is a reason she kept that box closed very tightly. Interesting storyline. I am the opposite. Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. Demery's interview on The Daily Show, I got a copy from the library and started reading. How in the world was such a charismatic woman completely left out of the little we were taught?? Embassy in Saigon. This book opened hidden corners in this "dangerous woman" because she was considered as a tigress not only the dragon as in the title. Pulling the rug right out from under them in the name of the press. A pronunciation guide would have been very helpful. This document match well with my expectation before starting it : However, I think this one is more suitable for anyone who already has some knowledge about Vietnam war, not for the beginner because there are quite plenty of crucial milestones and events in the book that requires some background knowledge. The book benefits from a firm understanding of Vietnamese traditions. She refused to stay quiet and called a duck a duck if indeed it quacked and walked like said duck. Madame Nhu will forever remain an unappealing question mark. Demery lives in Chicago, Illinois. Latest Books. I can't even begin to understand what that must have been like. Demery has vividly captured the life and times of one of Vietnam's most intriguing figures. Sort order. Occasionally her words are misunderstood, but no one bothers to find out the truth, because that wouldn't be as good press. I really enjoyed the way the author approached the subject. Finding the Dragon Lady: The Mystery of Vietnams Madame Nhu Reviews Demery embraces these contradictions and presents Madame Nhu as a flawed woman with extraordinary potential--a woman desperate to blaze her own trail, yet restricted by her time, her gender, and her own misconceptions about the world. After the assassination of her husband and brother-in-law, she entered seclusion for over thirty years, again encouraging the veil of mystique and curiosity for many. Their biggest worries are what designer clothes to wear and which party to go to. Rather than just the big picture of Cold War politics, this book tells the story of a woman who saw herself as the savior of Vietnam and its women. Before reading this novel I had virtually no idea who she was, where she was from, or why she was important. Enlarge cover. Instead of focusing on her influence in politics only, the book also portraited her battle in the inside. One that takes the reader back before the tragedy unfolded. Refresh and try again. The comments from most of the Americans involved indicate that they thought the Vietnamese weren't as intelligent even when they had been better educated and didn't quite understand what was really going on. She was raised to believe certain things, especially in regards to her status. In a predominantly male driven aspect of society the female is usually merely the wife of, daughter of or mistress of a man in power. So maybe she wasn't Glinda the Good Witch, but to consider her evil seems rather disingenuous, and merely a way to assign blame to someone else, or as an excuse for actions taken. Raised in a Buddhist and Confucian household, her later conversion to Catholicism was embraced with a zealot's fervor--and a hurried convert's misapplication of principles her morality laws banning contraception, polygamy, dancing, gambling, and, of course, the evils of the underwire bra quickly turned her people against her, despite her belief that she was protecting women in particular with many of these edicts. Like the Bourbon's, Hapsburg's and Romanov's before her, she conflates her own family's fate with that of her country. I received a copy of this book via NetGalley. I especially admire Demery's pursuing this legendary and controversial figure and because of her efforts, the opportunity I was granted to gain some insight into Madam Nhu and what motivated her. If I'm understanding correctly, then, the author got to read some, perhaps all, of Nhu's autobiography. That being said, the book also gave me a much worse view of Kennedy, with his horribly misogynistic comments about Madame Nhu. What this book does quite elegantly is show the rampant racism and misogyny that Madame Nhu, and the Vietnamese in general, were subjected to. She used her position This biography documents the author's search for and connection to her elusive subject. Demery, who has studied in Vietnam and earned a master's in East Asia regional studies from Harvard, shares fascinating details, such as the custom for women in the Vietnamese aristocracy to lacquer their teeth with calcium oxide to turn them black. Born in another time, another culture, another economic class, she certainly could have been a shrewd and intelligent politician. If you do not come from that country and culture then it is nigh on impossible to understand the complexity of past history, traditional values and the mindset of man in that foreign country, especially when it is the complete opposite of Western culture. Madame Nhu was adamant and very vocal about the fact that the Americans brought about the downfall of her family and in doing so also the country. We listen in on their many phone conversations. In November , the president of South Vietnam and his brother were brutally executed in a coup that was sanctioned and supported by the American government. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the history and political intrigues of this era. It is easy to see that Vietnamese people, more to the point, Asian people in general, are believe to be inferior, simply because they are Asian. Finding the Dragon Lady: The Mystery of Vietnams Madame Nhu Read Online Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Because Diem was a bachelor, Madame Nhu served as the country's first lady and created an audacious, intelligent, glamorous presence in office. Ultimately, the Kennedy administration engineered a coup that led to the Ngo brothers' murder while Madame Nhu was on a speaking tour in the U. Other Editions 5. One of my favorite assignments in my Literature of the Vietnam War class was the personal reaction papers that sent us scurrying to the library and pulling the old bound periodicals from the shelves and reading articles from magazines like Time and Newsweek.
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