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'Seeing the Elephant is poignant story of a remarkable relationship between Frank Stevens, an Australian soldier sent to the Vietnamese Highlands to recruit and train the local hill tribes during the Vietnam War, and his Vietnamese translator, Minh.
'The story is told through letters from Frank to his grandfather. Seconded by the CIA, Frank has been sent to the Vietnamese Highlands to recruit and train the local mountain tribes to resist the North Vietnamese. Once Frank returns home the letters document his struggle to cope with life in Australia after the war.
'Nearly fifty years later, Minh, now living in Australia and seriously ill, reads through Frank’s letters and remembers the experiences that he shared with Frank, and discovers that even amongst his traumatic memories, there is consolation and joy.'
Source; Publisher's blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Seeing the Elephant Review: Portland Jones' Sensitive Buddy Story from Vietnam
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 6 August 2016;
— Review of Seeing the Elephant 2016 single work novel 'Frank Stevens is one of the first Australian soldiers in and the last out of the Vietnam War. He has been sent to train hill tribes during the conflict, and Seeing the Elephant (an informal expression for experiencing combat for the first time) follows his lifelong friendship with his translator, Minh. Told through Frank's wartime letters home and a dying Minh's recollections many decades later in Perth, the novel doesn't skimp on the brutality, confusion and psychological cost of the war, nor on the poignancy of an unlikely bond forged in the midst of trauma. ...'
-
Seeing the Elephant Review: Portland Jones' Sensitive Buddy Story from Vietnam
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 6 August 2016;
— Review of Seeing the Elephant 2016 single work novel 'Frank Stevens is one of the first Australian soldiers in and the last out of the Vietnam War. He has been sent to train hill tribes during the conflict, and Seeing the Elephant (an informal expression for experiencing combat for the first time) follows his lifelong friendship with his translator, Minh. Told through Frank's wartime letters home and a dying Minh's recollections many decades later in Perth, the novel doesn't skimp on the brutality, confusion and psychological cost of the war, nor on the poignancy of an unlikely bond forged in the midst of trauma. ...'
Awards
- 2014 shortlisted City of Fremantle Hungerford Award
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cAustralia,c
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cVietnam,cSoutheast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
- 1955-1975
- ca. 2016
