The Circle of Hanh: A Memoir

by Bruce Weigl

“A tender and courageous and truly haunting memoir—one of the very best to emerge from the American war in Vietnam. I loved this book.” —Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried   In this piercingly honest memoir, renowned poet Bruce Weigl explores the central experience of his life as a writer and a the Vietnam War, which tore his life apart and inspired his poetic voice.   Weigl knew nothing about Vietnam before enlisting in 1967, but he saw a free ride out of a difficult childhood among volatile people. The war completely changed his life; there was a before and then an irrevocable after. In the before, Weigl pretended to be dead in mock battles with his friends; in the after, he watched as a boy from his unit whispered to Vietnamese corpses while caring for their inert bodies as if they were dolls.   Weigl returned from Vietnam unprepared to cope with civilian life. He turned to alcohol, drugs, and women in an attempt to escape his confused purgatory, but only found himself alone, watching other people’s lives from the shadows. Eventually finding his way back into the world, Weigl drew solace from poetry and, later, from a family.   Yet, it is not until his harrowing journey back to Hanoi, to adopt a Vietnamese daughter, that Weigl finds redemption. This act of personal humanity and recompense to a nation he helped to destroy lies at the heart of his memoir. The Circle of Hanh is a “moving, singular, and highly readable” chronicle of a haunted life and, ultimately, a stunning work of healing (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Kathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my bookshelf for years, completing this memoir satisfies the V in my reading challenge for Vietnam as well as managing my need to better understand this war from a veteran's perspective. My husband of 51 years passed away six months ago with lymphoma caused by Agent Orange from his military service in Vietnam. He rarely spoke of his time there or his experiences. His worst memory nightmare was coming home through the San Francisco airport and being spit on.

The most difficult part for me was understanding the author's acceptance and love for Vietnam when my husband was never able to let go of his negative experiences there. And yet, I found this book beautifully written. The reader can tell quickly that Weigl is a poet. Through his difficult and painful memories not only as a child but also an 18-year-old headed off to Vietnam, he continues to return to his main story--traveling to Vietnam to adopt an 8-year-old girl and bring her into his home with his wife and son in Ohio, and how he grows through his life experiences.

I wish the author had further explained the mere mentions of the challenges with his son, how he met his wife (he tells how his grandparents met but not how he met Jean), and especially what was going on with his staying with his grandparents from time to time over several years and his parents secret about why he was there. What did I miss?

I liked this story, his explanation of the importance of stories and especially his explanation of why books were not important to "his people". This spoke volumes to me as I try to understand the "ignorance" in our world today. This made perfect sense to me and at the same time is terribly sad and eye-opening as I have been a lover of books and reading since I was 4 years old.

"Without my mother or father actually ever saying it this way, I grew up believing that books were useless because they were only words, and words didn't get work done. Words didn't put food on the table or clothes on your back. My people believed that reading history was a waste of time because we could not change what had already happened, and that what you learned in English class was a way of talking that you wold never use, and that science was a world where God didn't exist, a word that said we came from monkeys. 'Do I look like I came from a monkey?' my father said when I asked him. That was the long and short of it. There was never anything said in my house about how books could change your life, and if there had been, people would have laughed, or worse." p.48

[Margi · Rating 3 out of 5]

#unreadshelfproject2019 - Not a bad read. I've always wanted to read about the Vietnam war and the aftermath and I think this was a good book to start with. It broke the ground in an easy to read memoir. I found it to be quite moving. Weigl's determination to get to his adoptive daughter is a rather suspenseful part of the book. Weigel redeemed his time in the Vietnam war by going back and giving back to the country they took so much from.

[Todd Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not gonna lie, I was assigned this book for a college-level Creative Writing class and I had little-to-no interest in it. I had things going on in my life and why should I bother reading this book I've never heard of when there are so many classics out there I've been meaning to pick up for years now?

In the end, I read this book in a short two days and was really impressed with Weigl's style. His story of coming to love a country his native land invaded is interesting and there are quite a few shocking moments in his upbringing. It's definitely worth giving a chance, at the least.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vietnam veteran and poet of the Vietnam War, Bruce Weigl writes his autobiography. Surprisingly, the least interesting part of the story is his successful effort to adopt a Vietnamese girl. The middle of the book about a female babysitter who would rub against him sexually and his stories about Vietnam were far better. Way too much time was spent on a visa that was wrongly stamped. But I was totally involved in his life story otherwise.

[Kelly Lynn Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my Vietnam travel seminar. Also got to meet the author, who is incredibly friendly and funny in person.

I loved the circular structure of this book--it wasn't a simple circle, but circled back on itself many times over.

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was deceptive in a way. Felt simple in language and in narrative. But by the end I realized how carefully crafted it was. I could have read 100 more pages.

[Nancy Nelson]

This is one of my favorite memoirs--a grappling with the horror of war and the pain of childhood by an award-winning poet.

[Melissa Constantino · Rating 4 out of 5]

New beginnings

Despite the trauma in Bruce Weigl’s early life he finds a way to make peace with his pass and gives his daughter a new beginning as well.

[F. Service · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Unique view of war memoir writing and one that will move your heart toward love.