Vietnamese literature is a minefield for any beginners as it’s choked full of propaganda for obvious historical reasons. There is also no trustworthy book-recommendation system in Vietnam, unlike the overly muscular Book Review Ecosystem in the West. To save myself (and others) time sifting the wheat from the chaff, below are authors I find to be interesting and less propagandistic (if their work sounds propagandistic, try to see if they’re hiding something in plain sight):

• Nguyễn Minh Châu: Deceptively simple prose blended with esoteric references to regional culture; this guy turns his Nghệ An childhood (one of poorest provinces) and his time in the military into tear-jerking passages
• Bảo Ninh: His one-hit-wonder remains a touchstone of Vietnam War literature
• Phùng Quán: His prose seems very cheeky, so don’t be fooled by his seemingly pro-Communist tone
• Trần Đăng Khoa: A clever guy who has been trying to escape people’s perception of him as a child prodigy for decades
• Viet Thanh Nguyen: An idealistic-second-generation-American-immigrant. Man doesn’t know much about what’s happening in Vietnam, though he offers a nice (albeit ultra liberal) outsider’s view on things
• Vũ Trọng Phụng: Cheeky satirist, probably the first edgelord in Vietnamese history