Thiên An Nguyễn

“In Vietnamese, the word for water and the word for a nation, a country and a homeland are one and the same: nu’o'c.”
― Le Thi Diem Thuy, The Gangster We Are All Looking For

“Time is always bearing down on us; nevertheless, had I understood in my youth that we can never relive the same moment twice, things might have turned out differently. Had I understood that, I would never have said goodbye to someone, and someone else might still be alive. If only I had known that the moment you think everything has ended, something new is beginning.”
― Kyung-sook Shin, I'll Be Right There

“I have been feeling very clearheaded lately and what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colors. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads.

It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“Each time I thought about him, the idea that I would never be able to reach him spread through my mind like a shadow.”
― Kyung-sook Shin, I'll Be Right There