Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book is a window into a Vietnamese culture that is almost an alternative reality. Quang's extraordinary journey is a chronicle of war, folk medicine, encounters with spirits and ghosts, narrow escapes, mentorship with his healer-father, and tutelage under martial artists, sorcerors, and cave hermits. The report is so persuasive and lucidly written, I needed to frequently check the validity of my own (Western) version of the objective world as I read the book.
Quang learns Chinese medicine and pulse diagnosis from his father, and spells, charms and incantations from other teachers. The magic Quang learns or witnesses with those teachers is fascinating. The magic proves to be an effective manipulation of the physical world, altering events, demonstrating uncanny powers, and curing or creating illness. I realized our Western science is just another kind of magic, a magic that has been codified and generalized. This is reflected in our version of the objective world.
The wonder of this book is the humble and gentle way, through Quang's story of growing up in Vietnam, it presents us with an opening into seeing the world as truly a more varied and mysterious place than we had previously imagined.
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Product Description:
Set during the French and American wars, Fourth Uncle in the Mountain is a true story about an orphan, Quang Van Nguyen, who is adopted by a sixty-four year old monk, Thau, who carries great responsibility for his people as a barefoot doctor.Thau manages, against all odds to raise his son to follow in his footsteps and in doing so, saves his son, as well as a part of Vietnam's esoteric knowledge from the Vietnam holocaust.
Thau is wanted by the French regime, and occasionally must flee into the jungle, where he is perfectly at home living among the animals.Thau is not the average monk; he practices an ancient lineage of Chinese medicine and uses magic to protect animals and help people.
As wise and resourceful as Thau is, he meets his match in his mischievous son.Quang is more interested in learning Cambodian sorcery and martial arts than in developing his skills and wisdom according to his father's plan.
Fourth Uncle in the Mountain is an odyssey of a single-father folk hero and his foundling son in a land ravaged by the atrocities of war.It is a classic story, complete with humor, tragedy, and insight from a country where ghosts and magic are real.
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