A strange thing in Vietnam (and I presume in all Communist countries) is that there’s a lot of prestige attached to being a literary critic, even more than being an actual writer. Even children are taught to be more of a critic than to be a writer. All Vietnamese literature exams are to criticise and evaluate the works of dead writers.

I assume this is to reduce the tendency to original thoughts, and to enforce a mindset of self-criticism and to criticise anyone who goes against the status quo. All well and good for the incumbent, but it’s really hard to rise in Vietnam, a country where the nail that sticks out gets the hammer.