yes, i guess she had to put 'a novel' otherwise this would look like a buddhist or self help tome. as such, the title was displeasing to me and i put off reading the book for as long as i could before bookclub.
with such a biais to start, i easily found myself not liking it. it was as if the author ate a delicious bowl of pho, became interested in making it at home, learned more and more about vietnamese cuisine, and eventually visited the country as a foodie tourist... the vietnam war and subsequent persecution under the communist regime was fortuitous plot extender.
beyond the idea of being so focused on your own misery, you become blind to the equal misfortunes of your fellow man - i didn't see any solid theme. like i said, it read more like a travel/cuisine guide. (and it irritated me that money was rarely spoken of. you can SAY you need beef and all these spices to make the pho, but where does the initial cash investment come from? when hung has his pots stolen, how does he procure another one? if they are so badly in need of money that lan sells hung's papers, how did she feed herself when hung turned his back on her?)
yup, i didn't like this one bit.