Thi Bui

The author describes her experiences as a young Vietnamese immigrant, highlighting her family's move from their war-torn home to the United States. Presented in graphic novel format.

An Illustrated Memoir

The Best We Could Do

Hannah Yoon

I’m so glad this story was a graphic novel. She did a fantastic job of telling the stories of her parents with just the right amount of words and images. Thi also does an amazing job of explaining the history of Vietnam without going too deep into it. It was enough for me to feel and experience the struggle and pain of what people went through during each event.
I appreciated her ability to reflect on who she was, who she is now and how her parents shaped her. It made me smile and cry. I felt sad and happy as I read this. I became full of regret but also hopeful.

allison chen

you can tell that this was created with so much sincerity and care

farah farooq

B Sai Sushma

This was such a poignant & emotional read. I had tears in my eyes the entire time, reading through the struggles of growing up with a refugee history. It offers a deeper insight to assess your own relationship with your parents, and I love the author/artist for stating emotions and thoughts as they are. A beautiful testament to recording one's history.

A graphic novel about her family’s history, mostly around the time of WW2 and the Vietnam War. 

Graphic novels aren’t usually my thing, but I did enjoy the format. I thought it was interesting to see a memoir done this way. I also really appreciated seeing experiences so different from mine (different country, time period, personal circumstances, etc), and it reminds you that your parents have identities and lives outside of being your parents, which is easy to forget when you’re young.

However, since world history and Vietnam politics are integral to the events in the book, if you’re like me, and remember close to nothing from history classes, you might find some parts hard to follow. 

Julia

A graphic novel about her family’s history, mostly around the time of WW2 and the Vietnam War. 

Graphic novels aren’t usually my thing, but I did enjoy the format. I thought it was interesting to see a memoir done this way. I also really appreciated seeing experiences so different from mine (different country, time period, personal circumstances, etc), and it reminds you that your parents have identities and lives outside of being your parents, which is easy to forget when you’re young.

However, since world history and Vietnam politics are integral to the events in the book, if you’re like me, and remember close to nothing from history classes, you might find some parts hard to follow. 

Joycelyn Ghansah

Heartbreakingly beautiful. Thi is relatable; I felt all her worries and thoughts.

oberon vortigern

A devastating but touching memoir about Thi Bui's family's experiences in the Vietnam War, their refugee journey, and Thi Bui's generational trauma. Excellent read.

Sanika Palande

4.5 stars for my first graphic novel-memoir. Up close and personally through beautiful graphics, the author tells her parents’ story of survival in a war-ravaged Vietnam. It was a hopeful and evocative read and it makes me appreciate the life I have, and my parents for making it possible.

Nelson Zagalo

Passada toda uma pré-adolescência a ver filmes americanos sobre o Vietname, que mostravam os bons americanos e as suas façanhas e todo o seu altruísmo heróico contra os maus, os "vietcongues", sempre prontos a matar e a fazer explodir os indefesos e os soldados (“The Deer Hunter”, (1978), “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Missing in Action” (1984), “Rambo” (1985), “Platoon” (1986), “Good Morning Vietnam” (1987), “Full Metal Jacket” (1987), “Casualties of War” (1989)), a que se juntaram algumas tentativas de mostrar outras janelas sobre o conflito, como “Gardens of Stone” (1987) ou “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), ficaram sempre todos muito aquém, porque se basearam sempre na perspetiva exterior, nomeadamente a americana, apenas sobre o conflito e a política, deixando de fora as pessoas, aquelas que habitavam o Vietname.

[Ler com imagens e links no VI
https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...]

Talvez o filme que mais se tenha aproximado surgiu numa fase já mais tardia desta vaga, já como terceiro filme de Oliver Stone sobre o conflito, um dos poucos realizadores que esteve realmente na Guerra do Vietname, intitulado “Heaven & Earth” (1993). Ainda assim, e apesar de baseado em livros de Le Ly Hayslip, uma autora vietnamito-americana, acaba por surgir filtrado por Stone, dando conta da realidade que releva para os olhos americanos. Aliás, nesta altura os franceses quiseram também dar conta da sua posição no conflito, ou melhor, do que antecedeu o conflito, e deram-nos “Indochine” (1992), e ainda que como “Heaven & Earth” vá muito além de tudo o resto, mostrando uma realidade do Vietname até aqui desconhecida, continua a ser uma expressão francesa sobre o outro.

Não é só por tudo o que disse acima, mas é também muito por isso que este livro de banda-desenhada autobiográfico de Thi Bui, “The Best We Could Do” (2017), ganha uma enorme importância, porque é chegado o tempo de quem sofreu se expressar, de dar a conhecer ao mundo os seus sentires, explicar o que aconteceu, como e porquê, ainda que seja sempre o seu lado da história. Ainda há um par de anos Matt Huynh tinha feito uma incursão neste universo por meio de uma brilhante banda desenhada interativa, "The Boat" (2015), de que aqui dei conta. Contudo Thi Bui conseguiu chamar a atenção com este livro, e não é por acaso que Bill Gates o recomenda como um dos seus livros de 2017.

Viet Thanh Nguyen, o autor vietnamito-americano de “O Simpatizante”, o Pulitzer de 2015 que deu um dos primeiros empurrões para o que parece ser esta nova vaga de histórias sobre o Vietname, surge na capa desta banda-desenhada, dizendo sobre a mesma: "Um livro para despedaçar o seu coração e depois curá-lo". Não podia estar mais de acordo, pois se o livro tem um enorme valor histórico-social, capaz de nos ajudar a compreender os sentires de uma população que sofreu os piores males da guerra e da política, não deixa de ser uma belíssima narrativa, construída com grande virtuosismo. Se no início somos levados a desejar compreender a história daqueles personagens, e a meio conduzidos pela tentativa de compreender a problematização política, no final só o sentimento nos é dado, tudo se eleva, tudo se demarca, e o pensamento conduz-se apenas para a razão do que é ser-se humano neste nosso pequeno planeta.

E por isso, se inicialmente me pareceu algo condescendente a escolha de Gates, no final do livro tenho de dizer que "The Best We Could Do" foi uma das minhas grandes leituras de 2017.

Publicado no VI, com imagens e links:
https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...

4.5 incredibly beautiful painful and moving.

Maggie Gordon

The Best We Could Do is a memoir about Bui's family. It is a framework story, starting with the author becoming a mother and reflecting on her relationship with her parents. The strongest parts of the narrative were those dealing with her parents' pasts in Vietnam, though the book would have benefited from a bit more detail and introspection. On the other hand, it's still a strong entry into the graphic memoir genre, and from a perspective that has certainly been neglected in this type of books. The artwork is beautifully inked with great page layouts.

Ken Yuen

Very engaging. I don't know very much about the history of Vietnam, but found this story very interesting. I love a good immigrant story since my parents were also first generation in America.

At the heart of this, it's a story about family. And there's just something universal and beautiful about how we're all connected by struggles and obstacles and circumstances in life.

Risa C

Beautiful and devastating. A harrowing, inter-generational portrait of a family worn down by war and a complicated love letter to a culture and country that is both distant to and yet deeply sown in a refugee. I can't claim to know what being a refugee, being so violently uprooted is like, but this graphic novel portrayed the experience and its aftershocks in such tender and intimate detail that I know will stay with me for a long time.

Nadine 

This is an excellent nuanced no-holds barred insight into the migration of a vietnamese family to the USA. The migrants and their family history in Vietnam before, during and after the conflict are honestly conveyed in a non-euphemistic manner and no one escapes scrutiny. It shows that conflict, both on the global and home-front are ambiguous affairs despite their usual / frequent black & white characterization. Definitely a must for any student of history or where teachers are planning IDU (interdisciplinary units) between literature and history.

The very graphic portrayals, particularly in Chapter 1 (labor) make it unsuitable for middle school, mainly because it is just too far removed from their realities. 
Excellent for adults and YA.

National bestseller 2017 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Finalist ABA Indies Introduce Winter / Spring 2017 Selection Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Spring 2017 Selection ALA 2018 Notable Books Selection An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam, from debut author Thi Bui. This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves. At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: While adjusting to life as a first-time mother, she ultimately discovers what it means to be a parent—the endless sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures, and the depths of unspoken love. Despite how impossible it seems to take on the simultaneous roles of both parent and child, Bui pushes through. With haunting, poetic writing and breathtaking art, she examines the strength of family, the importance of identity, and the meaning of home. In what Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen calls “a book to break your heart and heal it,” The Best We Could Do brings to life Thi Bui’s journey of understanding, and provides inspiration to all of those who search for a better future while longing for a simpler past.

Eleanor Luhar

This isn't really a graphic novel, but kind of an illustrated memoir. It is not a fictional story with magic or monsters; instead, it discusses so many different aspects of life, growing up in different places during different times, and being a family.

BestWeCouldDoCover
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui - eBook (Review Copy), 330 pages - Published March 7th 2017 by Abrams
The events are not recollected chronologically, jumping from the birth of the author's child back to the childhood of each of her parents, and then all the way back through to the present. There are dates and locations noted throughout, but I did get a tiny bit lost on occasion. (If I'm honest, though, I didn't actually read the date on half the pages so it's kinda my own fault.)

There are several key themes and events in this novel. One huge factor is war; how it affected the family and their life together. There's also a lot about what it means to be family, what motherhood is and what childhood is, and also the loss of a loved one. Another massively important theme is immigration; Bui describes being a refugee, illegally sailing away from Vietnam after they surrendered, and trying to build a life as a family in a whole new country. So many people are ignorant of these issues and hardships, not realising how much some families go through just to taste happiness.

The colour scheme is rather clear - oranges and blues, mostly. It has a very watercolour-y effect, giving a sense of remembrance and recollection of the past. The art is really lovely in this - I feel it portrays the story fantastically, and is just beautiful to look at on its own.

I found it really interesting how Thi Bui focused so much on the lives of her parents before they met, emphasising how even parents are people with their own lives and pasts and problems. As she becomes a parent herself, she realises how her mother must have felt for all these years.

As someone with a pretty "boring" life, I was also really intrigued by the journey everyone in this book made. The migration to America, trying to build a life and earn money and keep safe - it was a pretty emotional journey! But Bui never dwells on these negatives, never moans or wishes for change. She just says everything as it is, which I really admire.

This is a really interesting read for anyone who likes history, learning about different cultures, or just wants to appreciate their family more. It discusses some huge issues - miscarriage, infant fatalities, immigration, war - that a lot of people could benefit from reading about. And the art is wonderful! 4 stars for this novel.

Maura

The impact that our family has on shaping us is endless. But how has their childhood effected the person they are today? Thi Bui retraces her parent's lives back to Vietnam where they grew up in the middle of the war. By learning her parent's stories and the sacrifices they've made for the life they have today Bui obtains a better understanding of why they might be distant, or not be able to say "I love you". 

Title: The Best We Could Do
Author: Thi Bui
Genre: Graphic Memoir
3 Word Description: Vietnam, Immigrant, Family

daisy

a solid 5 stars, i cried a lot while reading this

Nat Welch

Beautiful set of stories about a family surviving the Vietnam war and moving to the US.

Chrissy

this is a graphic memoir of this woman's life. Her experience leaving her country and coming to america and how her family and herself struggled to adjust to america. She reflects on her childhood and her parents. Having a child herself made her rethink her feelings towards her parents and the way they raised her and her siblings. She asks her parents questions and finds out stories and things about them that she never knew before seeing them in a different life and realizing that her parents did all that they could do to survive and give all that they can to their kids. 
I found this so interesting and moving. Learning the about the main characters childhood but also learning about how her parents got together and how their relationship came to be. But also learning about her parents childhood and what made them who they were when they met each other. I found this so special. I loved seeing her learn more about her parents and accepting them more and changing her feelings towards them that she had had for so long. That having a child herself brought her closer to her parents. 
Such a real and honest look at what its like for those who have to leave their country for a better life and to leave a place of war. A must read.

Shelby Doherty

** spoiler alert **
           Likes:
- Very quick and easy to read
- Amazing story of this families history, quite sad and scary
- I learned some about Vietnam's history

Dislikes:
- I am not used to this sort of writing (i.e. graphic novel) - did not take time to enjoy the illustrations and felt that text was brief and fragmented

Madhuri Gubbala

Immigration stories are hard to read but so informative. I learnt a lot about Vietnam through this book. The only perspective about the Vietnam war I had was because of American pop culture references and movies/stories. It was interesting to read from the other POV as well. But trigger warnings for child neglect, miscarriages, racism, sexism, child birth, starvation, trauma, PTSD, war, refugee crisis.

Luna

this didn’t give me a single quote for my essay but it did tell me i’m a sack of selfish garbage bc i can’t have kids so thank u

Léa Beauchemin-Laporte

Sameer Vasta

(Originally published on inthemargins.ca)

Growing up, I remember there being a series of accordion folders in my parents’ closet, each clearly labeled with the names of every single person in the family, most full and overflowing, all occupying a space where they could be easily found, easily accessed, and easily moved.

As I grew older, the folder with my name began to fill up as well. I learned at an early age that inside each of these accordion folders was our lives: our important documents—birth certificates, immigration papers, etc.—as well as some mementos that were worth keeping like commendations, certificates, and records of accomplishments. It was unsaid, but it was clear: if there was any trouble, these accordion folders were to help solve our problems, to keep us safe.

I always thought that this folder habit was just a manifestation of my dad’s obsession with being organized. After reading Thi Bui’s 
  The Best We Could Do
, I now know that this was a common practice for those who were used to being displaced, for those who lived in a space of uncertainty.

It’s a story I’ve told many times before, a story of how my family arrived in New York and we shared our apartment with a dozen other people, some leaving as they were able to find work in the city, more arriving after their paperwork to leave East Africa came through. The house was always full, never quiet, never still, always exciting.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the sacrifices of my parents and what they had to go through to in order for me to live the life that I have right now. I’m questioning myself more and more, wondering if my life reflects and respects the hardships they had to endure; I wonder how they would answer, truthfully, if someone asked them if it was all worth it.


  The Best We Could Do
 brought those questions back into the forefront of my daily reflection: have I lived up to the hopes and dreams of my parents when they first left their home country to come here? They will say yes, but honestly and truly, can any of us ever live up to the hardships they suffered, no matter what we do?

How can I honor their sacrifices, their decisions, their tumult? How can I fill that accordion folder with things that will make them proud?

(Originally published on inthemargins.ca)

The Best We Could Do An Illustrated Memoir

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