Read Your Way Around the World is a series exploring the globe through books. Hanoi has always been a city of tales and legends. Cradled by the silky Red River, Hanoi is also a city of loss and survival: It was destroyed time and time again during the French Indochina War, then the Vietnam War, when thousands of tons of bombs were dropped onto the city. But once in Hanoi, you will feel the energy of a city that constantly renews itself. If you prefer to get to know Hanoi via fiction, “Dumb Luck,” by Vu Trong Phung — a sarcastic novel set in Hanoi during the colonial period — is considered a classic of Vietnamese literature.

---

Persons: ”, Emperor Ly Thai, Luke Nguyen, banh, Huong, Ho Xuan Huong, Nguyen Quang Thieu, Vu Trong Locations: Hanoi, Indochina, Vietnam