Hanoi Stories

by Pam Scott

After three brief business trips to Hanoi in 1993, Pam Scott became enamoured with the city, Vietnam's intriguing capital. In 1994 she made a more permanent move, and lived and worked there for the next eight years. What she discovered was a more interesting, challenging and wonderful place than she could have imagined.

In Hanoi Stories, Pam tells of an unexpected side to this city, and of the people she came to know and love. During her time in Hanoi, Pam moved outside the cloistered expat world and became involved in the lives of everyday Hanoians - cyclo drivers, postal workers, university students, and ordinary families.

She also opened Hanoi's first English language bookshop and, among other things, took singing lessons, went ballroom dancing, had her fortune told Hanoi style, and ate some of the city's more exotic offerings.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2004

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Australian travel writers seem to specialize in laughing at their own predicaments, which Ms. Scott does as well. A fun, well-written book that should appeal to everyone.

[Alla Vergun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book returned me back to Hanoi from the first page. A nice book for someone who is going to travel to this amazing city or just wants to refresh her / his memories if already visited Hanoi.

[Paulina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I bought this book in Hanoi, it immediately captivated me. Pam Scott put into words what I was experiencing: seeming chaos combined with an endless assortment of new sights, sounds, and smells. Furthermore, by simply sharing her personal experiences, she gave me a better understanding of Vietnamese society and culture. Scott writes in a colloquial, accessible style; I felt as though I were reading a letter written by a friend in a foreign country. I greatly admire Scott’s willingness as a divorced woman with grown children to leave a comfortable life in Australia to begin a new chapter of her life in a foreign country – even though family and friends saw her as “slightly crazy.” She arrived in Hanoi with an open mind and an open heart – and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the experiences she had and the people she met during her eight years there.

[Odyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I got lucky to pick out from a shelf filled with books about Vietnam. I got this from Bookworm Hanoi. As I skimmed through the pages, I found out that the book was written by the founder of Bookworm!! How cool was that? This book is so relatable to me now that I live in Hanoi. I highly recommend this book to expats living in Vietnam.

[EC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hanoi Stories reads like a book-length travel email from your aunt Heather, with the exception that you actually care about Heather.

The plot is composed of a series of (supposedly) entertaining but shallow episodes (The time I slept in a small room! The time I ate dog meat! The time I rode a cyclo! The time I went to a wedding!) interspersed with token reflections on their meaning (I had to sleep in a small room. But Vietnamese have to sleep in smaller rooms. So I shouldn't complain. But I have complained, for about 200 pages, and it got published. So, in conclusion, I am still a saint for having slept in this small room) strewn with copious exclamation marks.

Scott provides the reader no insight into her character or sense of change as the plot progresses, and despite her positive attitude toward the locals of Hanoi, Scott still perpetuates an 'us and them' divide in her writings that is both irritating and harmful.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some of the stories were quite interesting until page 105 when the writer decided to go to a restaurant to eat DOG ! I mean, I know it is quite common for Vietnamese, Koreans, etc. to eat all sorts of animals. But one can say NO to eating dog.

[Daniele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and funny peek into the life of a very active expat woman in Hanoi.
Pam writes about ordinary life in a compelling way, recommended to anyone interested in understanding more about Vietnamese society.