In The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh, Kien is forced to go to war and leave his life behind. Through this, Kien had to leave his childhood sweetheart, Phuong, behind, ending their relationship. Kien fought and survived the Vietnam war while most of his platoons did not survive. When he returned to his hometown, Hanoi, he discovered that Phuong had went into prostitution, yet wanted to go back to him. After officially breaking their relationship, Kien pours all of his memories and sufferings into writing, like his father did well before him. A mute girl that lived nearby spent time with him and saved his manuscripts from being burned. Through this, she gave us this book and Kien left.
Kien brought to realization as the how the Vietnam war really was. Movies and books never actually go into detail as to what people went through during and after the war. Kien had suffered through the war, wanting to be killed and accepting his fate. Despite this, when he survived, he did not feel any better about escaping. He actually felt worse, survivor's guilt making his life less meaningful to him. Kien worked the horror out of his mind by writing, sharing his memories and pain with his readers. He shows us that Kien's postwar life was worse than his actual war life, and that he wants no more than to go back to living his prewar life.
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