Sunday, June 14, 2015

Vietnam - Marguerite Duras

February 2015 - Sa Dec Vietnam

As part of our Mekong river cruise we spent a morning in the town of Sa Dec. One of our stops was at The Lover's house.

I'll admit I never heard of this author, book or movie.
You can tell by the photo that it was the Lunar New Year period.


The French writer Marguerite Duras lived in Sa Đéc during a three- to four-year period between 1928 and 1932. Her mother ran a school at the corner of Hùng Vương and Hồ Xuân Hương, where a school still exists today (now it is Trung Vuong Primary School).





We were served tea as we were told the story of the lovers.


Duras met Huynh Thuy Le, the son of a wealthy Chinese family, and the two became involved in a love affair that became the basis for Duras's 1984 Prix Goncourt-winning novel, The Lover. The house of Huynh Thuy Le, at 255A Nguyen Hue Street, was, for many years an office for a government agency. In 2007 it was opened to the public, with guides offering tours in French, English and Vietnamese.








9 comments:

  1. I read the book years ago. I would love to visit this house.

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  2. You visited Marguerite Duras’s home? How exciting. She was born in Saigon, then called Indochine in 1914 and did not leave for France until 1932. During the war she worked for the French Resistance and her husband was sent to the concentration camp – but survived. She wrote many novels, plays, films, etc. she is super well-known in France, she died in 1996. What a great trip you must have had.

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  3. Even though I have not read the book, I think this would be an interesting place to visit.

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  4. I have heard of the book, but haven't read it. What a beautiful place and hearing the story in person must have been so interesting!

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  5. Wonderfully ornate house. Many thanks for taking me there :)

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  6. I've heard of the movie. What a beautiful place!

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  7. very interesting... thank you for taking me along on this wonderful excursion!

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  8. That building is very intricate. Thanks for the tour.

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