Life in Hanoi

by Pam Scott

Can you imagine what it's like to move to a country like Vietnam and reinvent yourself?Life in Hanoi is a series of stories of some amazing expats who did just that. Like the author, Pam Scott, these otherwise ordinary men and women took deliberate steps to invent a life for themselves in the exotic city of Hanoi. They came from a mixture of cultures and backgrounds, but they were not diplomats and high-flyers living in expat compounds on expense accounts. They all had one thing in common, a love of this beautiful Vietnamese city and its people.Life in Hanoi reveals that you don't have to be brilliant or famous or have some unique talent to try living in a completely different culture. All it requires is the desire and a little courage to step out into the unknown and dare to be different.

Genres: Nonfiction

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the stories of a number of people, expats and Vietnamese both, who live in Hanoi.

The book was conceived and executed by the author, Pam Scott, an Australian who lived for eight years in Hanoi and loved it. It seems many other people go there and love it too, a huge variety of people have made their lives in Hanoi and it is the patchwork of interesting individuals and charming backstories, from Pam's extended acquaintances, that make this book a very enjoyable reading experience.

It can be seen as a series of individual stories, because aside from the introduction and a few bridging stories by Pam, each individual story - be it the man who has fixed bicycles on a corner for 35 years,or the young Italian couple who started an Italian restaurant in Hanoi - is distinct with no crossover of other individuals.

I enjoyed the writing style and the light deft descriptions of the people. There was some real love in the descriptions of Hanoi and just enough interesting information about Vietnam in general. Makes me want to go there!

[Lisa Dyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an expat living in Vietnam, I really enjoyed hearing about other people's experiences of life as a foreigner.

I particularly enjoyed Pam's accounts of the people who she encountered in her life. It is interesting to find out the background of the local people who work as xe om (motorbike taxis), street food sellers, hairdressers and tailors.

I also liked finding out a bit more about the people who run my favourite businesses and charities such as Koto, Ipa Nima and Mediterraneo.

I did find Pam's writing style to be a little haphazard at times, jumping forward and backward in peoples stories.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first quarter of the book is stories about Vietnamese people in the author's life in Hanoi. The rest is stories of foreigners who have made a life working in the city.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories about Vietnamese were more interesting than the ones about expats but I found the format of the book somewhat monotonous and skipped through the last few.