Rating: 
Summary: a missed opportunity to tell a good story
Review: Admittedly, this book is about a family, so it's bound to be subjective. However, it's extremely apologetic towards the author's family members and their actions and circumstances, may they be good or bad. I didn't find this book a good read, because in my very private opinion, this is not a honest attempt to tell the story of a family. The author lives in the United States and neither her nor her Vietnamese relatives still in Vietnam have anything to fear either from American government or Vietnamese government at this point in time (2002). Reading this book, I couldn't help feeling that many facts were omitted or presented in a particular way so as to force the reader into a predetermined path of making a judgment. In most cases, I disagree with the author's appraisal of life in Southern Vietnam, as it's obviously biased.
Rating: 
Summary: Beginner's guide to Vietnamese History
Review: After having recently started to work in Vietnam, I wanted to get a feel of the Vietnamese history spanning this century. Not interested in a text-book style carricature, I purchased this book to get an overview of the events that shaped the emergence of modern Vietnam. Mai Duong's narrative is comprehensive, successfully covering the macro events of the colonialism, subsequent communist revolution, and its ultimate collapse, and the emergence of the modern Vietnam. The book succeeds in giving an impression of the circumstances that normal households went through, allowing the reader to feel and be part of the true-life story within. Must-read for people wanting to get an overview on the current Vietnamese history - with a social angle.
Rating: 
Summary: A Personal Account of the Impact of history
Review: Duong Van Mai Elliott has given the world as intimate an account of the entire breath of Viet Namese history as you'll ever encounter. It is remarkable how close to the ground her family has always been throughout her country's efforts to break the bonds of colonialism, regardless of the oppressor. She casts history accurately, relates its impact on her forebears and brings the whole discussion front and center in the conflicts that arise among siblings as they come to terms with some who embrace Ho Chi Minh, others who embrace US personnel.
Mai's own story is full of that heart-rending division as she comes to term with her husband's family, who while very supportive of their daughter-in-law, really are not aware of the enormous drama taking place in the souls of this family. It is not like the Viet Namese to be outwardly emotional, and so their resolve to be brave in the face of often crushing personal sacrifice leaves you stunned.
One of the things I got from this book was that the US never stood a chance. The Us never understood what the central issue was for the Viet Namese people, inspite of having liberated themselves from similar colonialism in their own history. Replacing one colonialist for another, be they kinder or crueler, was not the point: they were still colonialists, and too often the US opted for choices based on ideologies instead of on the human factor, a point the Viet Minh knew was more powerful than bullets.
The war decimated Viet Namese as well as Americans, a point too often overlooked in the rush to build monuments to people who had no business there to begin with. The killing fields that would follow in the wake of the US departure would exact a toll on the humanity of a remarkable people. Time would show that the ideologues of Uncle Ho were little better than oppressors from afar. Mai saw it up close and personal.
The familial rifts remained. Still there is so much healing needed. This book will not resolve anything for the reader. Imstead, it shows that history happens to real families. Holocausts impact real people. The numbers and the monuments don't tell the story at all.
Rating:
Summary: THE SACRED WILLOW
Review: I am a Vietnam vet that thoroughly enjoyed this historic background as portrayed by Mai Elliiot in this remarkable book. I have always been amazed our government prepared us so lightly for a conflict that needed the knowledge Mai exhibits for this far-away land we tromped into so blatantly. Only a vet could begin to comprehend the extent of Mai's wonderful treatment of her native people's travails and create the respect one has to garner for their toughness and leathery resiliency.
I flew helicopters in the Mekong Delta in 1966-67 at Vinh Long, with the Outlaws of the 175th Aviation Company--a very lucky assignment. I grew familiar with the terrain this VN author describes and the torment of her citizenry in this conflict. Every vet and family member of a Vietnam vet should have this book in their library; hurry up and buy it before it is past!! My book of the same title as my unit covers our flying experiences as youthful US Army Aviators.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended by a Vietnamese friend; did not disappoint
Review: I did not realize the importance of reading a book written from a Vietnamese viewpoint until I began reading other books on Vietnam written from Western viewpoints. Certain events, such as the lasting meaning of the Tet Offensive of 1968 and Vietnam's engagement of the Khmer Rouge are shown in a completely different light in "Sacred Willow".
In addition, Elliot's coverage of an unwieldly time span is impressively complete, even though the ealiest events comprise only a few chapters of this 500-page tome.
Elliot keeps her references to her experiences in America to the bare minimum necessary to flesh out the story, which I found appropriate in a book about Vietnam (not about the Vietnamese-American immigrant experience). There are several memoirs out there dealing with Vietnam, but none are as clearly focused on Vietnam, or have near as broad a depth as this book. I am utterly satisfied and excited to have this one in my personal library.
Rating: 
Summary: Vast fascinating saga, but limited outlook
Review: I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Vietnam. Well-written, the book is a history of how one family lived in Vietnam over several generations. The reader will learn the conflicts (politcal, cultural, and military) that each generation faced and how they responded to them to survive. What is also interesting in this fine book, is that Mai Elliot showed how important it was to the Vietnamese that the Japanese (for a time) ruled the French in Vietnam during World War II. It showed that the French could be defeated and raised the morale of those Vietnamese who wanted to drive the French out of Vietnam. Not many other books highlight this particular role of the Japanese on Vietnamese history in the second half of the 20th Century. Overall, this book will give beginning and advanced students of Vietnam both a relatively unbiased and informative view of Vietnam over the years. Furthermore, parts of the book are an adventure and demonstrate the hardships that many in Vietnam had to endure for so many years regardless of social status and education. Mai Elliot has made a solid contribution to the literature on Vietnam. One of the best Vietnam books out there.
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Summary: Great way to learn about Vietnam
Review: I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Vietnam. Well-written, the book is a history of how one family lived in Vietnam over several generations. The reader will learn the conflicts (politcal, cultural, and military) that each generation faced and how they responded to them to survive. What is also interesting in this fine book, is that Mai Elliot showed how important it was to the Vietnamese that the Japanese (for a time) ruled the French in Vietnam during World War II. It showed that the French could be defeated and raised the morale of those Vietnamese who wanted to drive the French out of Vietnam. Not many other books highlight this particular role of the Japanese on Vietnamese history in the second half of the 20th Century. Overall, this book will give beginning and advanced students of Vietnam both a relatively unbiased and informative view of Vietnam over the years. Furthermore, parts of the book are an adventure and demonstrate the hardships that many in Vietnam had to endure for so many years regardless of social status and education. Mai Elliot has made a solid contribution to the literature on Vietnam. One of the best Vietnam books out there.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: I've known Mai Elliott for nearly ten years and although I've always know she was a brilliant and insightful woman, I had no clue she had a full-blown work of genius in her. I know she put many hard, careful and thoughtful years into this history of her family and suffice it to say, her natural wit, intelligence and sensitivity shines through on every page. Not only is she a tremendous human being, she's a tremendous author. I haven't enjoyed a work of history as much as I have this one since I read Richard Rhodes, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb." And, frankly, I don't know what Amazon.com is charging for it but it's more that worth every cent.
Rating:
Summary: A marvelous, important work on Vietnam.
Review: The Sacred Willow is a beautifully detailed view of the Vietnamese twentieth century -- not from the perspective of Americans involved in the war years 1965-75, but from the perspective of one Vietnamese family. Duong Van Mai Elliott's family included mandarins and leaders of Vietnamese society -- as well as members of the Viet Minh. The memoir is poignant and dramatic, exploring the widely diverging experiences of the author, her relatives and friends between the 1940s and the end of 20th century. The reader who wants to "understand Vietnam" will not find a better book, or a more readable and absorbing one.
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Summary: A family history that also tells the history of Vietnam.
Review: The Sacred Willow is an excellent family biography and historical analysis of the origins of, and events surrounding, the Vietnam War. If you have shied away from histories of Vietnam as you are not interested in military history, I would highly recommend this work. This book is a social, rather than a military, history. Tracing the history of Vietnam from the era of the mandarins, through the French colonialization, through the communist insurgency, to the fall of Saigon and beyond, the author writes a history of her own family and in so doing, beautifully and subtly details the complexities and nuances of the origins of the Vietnam conflict and America's participation therein. The author's use of spare and straightforward prose enables the reader to look beyond the sheer horror of the war and its aftermath and reach a level of understanding as to how this tragic conflict could have occured.
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