A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

By: Robert Olen Butler

Narrated by: Robert Olen Butler

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 1993

Robert Olen Butler's lyrical and poignant collection of stories about the aftermath of the Vietnam War and its impact on the Vietnamese was acclaimed by critics across the nation and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993. This edition includes two subsequently published stories - "Salem" and "Missing" - that brilliantly complete the collection's narrative journey with a return to the jungles of Vietnam.

©1992 Robert Olen Butler (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 1993

"Butler's literary ventriloquism, as he mines the experiences of a people with a great literary tradition of their own, is uncanny; but his talents as a writer of universal truths is what makes this a collection for the ages." (Amazon.com review)

Messages from Vietnam

How odd today to read short stories written by a white Midwestern American in the voices of Vietnamese women and men. The stories focus on the lives of Vietnamese during and after the Vietnam War, mostly South Vietnamese who have relocated to Louisiana. The stories are subtle and believable, even the ghost story. While there are questions today as to the propriety of white men writing from the perspective of different ethnic groups and genders, Robert Olen Butler has the empathy and imagination that makes fiction work—his Vietnamese narrators are compelling.

The stories deal primarily with family relationships: narrators dealing with grandfathers, husbands, sons, best friends and even an unborn child in the womb. There are plot twists and surprises, as well as cameos from celebrity possessions—John Lennon’s shoe, Elizabeth Taylor’s Puerto Vallarta movie set. The stories sometimes seem dated, 25 years after publication and long after the horrors of that particular war have faded in general memory. But they are well worth reading.

As with some other story collections, I had difficulty listening to these short stories in the car. It takes time to warm up to the characters in each story and to get a sense of who they are and what they think. Then, as we begin to enjoy their company, the story ends and we start again with a new narrator in a different context. This is frustrating, even in a book like A Good Scent, with interrelated themes.

Another quibble is with Butler’s decision to narrate the stories himself. It takes time to get used to his flat Midwestern voice, in story after story, speaking as a Vietnamese expatriate. He does a fair job, with good tone and inflection, but the novel would have benefited from professional actors as narrators.

Beautiful writing and interesting characters

These stories are subtle, unique, and completely captivating. The writing is simple and yet each character feels urgently alive. I loved this book.

what a trip into a post Vietnam world,

I loved the stories and I loved the narration. it gave me insight into a world unknown to me

A collection of beautiful short stories

I really loved listening to Strange Mountain. Each story gave a glimpse into tue sometimes beautiful and sometimes tragic experience of Vietnamese Americans and one story about an American who quit the war and stayed in Vietnam. Very lovely overall.

you will be transported

The best thing a book can do is to transport me into the world of people I do not know. If I can learn, think, feel... If I can come out of it missing the characters I met and befriended... If I can better understand a culture or religion, or both... If I can believe that I am changed. Then that is the book that deserves a solid 5 stars.

Robert Olen Butler served two years in Vietnam. After returning home to the USA he began writing stories which were published in several literary journals. In 1992 a collection of these stories was published as this book, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. I don't think I would have read it if that had not happened, so I am very glad to be on this journey, reading the complete list of winners.

This book is entirely different from any other book I have seen about the war. This one tells the stories of the immigrant experience, of the Vietnamese refugees who come to America and settled into communities in Louisiana. Each story is told in the first person, giving the book an intimacy and voyeuristic quality that allowed me to fully connect with each character. The cultures and customs are explored. The differences between the refugees who came from the north versus those who came from the south are highlighted in a quiet, respectful way. And I came away from the book with a much deeper understanding of the immigrant experience for the people who came out of Vietnam.

I am old enough to remember the war but too young to have much true understanding of it, so reading is my only real source of knowledge. I appreciate when a book can make me feel nostalgic for a time and place, especially when it is a time and place that I actually know nothing about.

My edition includes two stories that were not in the original volume, both of which take place later than the others. I loved them as much as the others. I found these stories compassionate, respectfu and unique. The characters were real and raw, not stereotypical in any way that I could see. I found myself surprised by the depth of understanding the white, American veteran author displayed for his Vietnames characters. His admiration for the people was palpable in every story.

BEAUTIFUL

I will enjoy this over and over, beautiful quiet, complex, heartbreaking, and hopeful. Some of the stories now reside in my heart.

Touching

I understand, as I usually do upon reading a Pulitzer Prize winner, why it was awarded. This collection of very touching short stories helped me to feel and understand the struggles on all sides of the conflict as they struggled to stop the invasion of the tyranny of communism - a struggle which my own father fought and rarely speaks of. It also helped me to understand the culture of my Vietnamese friends in a deeper way, and why they are so wonderful and have caused me to love and respect them so much, fostering an understanding of why there are some causes worth fighting for. At the end of the day we are all seeking the peace and prosperity which only comes from freedom. Highly recommend.

Stories full of soul

Would you listen to A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain again? Why?

Perhaps. There are some outstanding short stories. One in particular was about Vietnamese intelligence officers who are working with the Australian military. It is about a clash of values with devastating consequences.Other stories set in the United States were less compelling,

Would you be willing to try another book from Robert Olen Butler? Why or why not?

Likely

Would you listen to another book narrated by Robert Olen Butler?

I did not enjoy the narration style.

If you could rename A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, what would you call it?

It is an interesting, intriguing title so I would not rename it

RARE AND WONDERFUL STORIES!

The author, a white man who served in Vietnam, was the perfect person to read these wonderful stories. He pronounces everything properly and moves along in a comfortable way. I had recently listened to a novel about a stolen painting -- 32 hours of the main character being drunk or stoned. When the next day it won the Pullitzer Prize, I was ready to scream in the street! This book, however, is so deserving! This writing is so rich. Most of the stories are told from the viewpoint of a Vietnamese person,man or woman, elderly or younger, usually a Vietnamese who came to the U.S. -- usually Lake Charles, Louisiana -- to settle. Not all the stories are about war at all. Some are about family life, co-workers, romance, trying to fit the old teachings and ideals into the new American framework.

I thought I already knew too much about Vietnam. I have a half-Vietnamese step-daughter who un-friended me on FaceBook, who got into serious drugs, whose daughter photographed her pregnant belly in the bathroom to show all of FaceBook, etc. etc. As the third wife, I listened to sickening stories of cutting down our tortured soldiers in the jungle, the naughty little lizard who uses the F-word. I've been screamed at by a Vietnamese-American boss one-third my age. . . . Americans tend to assume that brown people who don't understand English probably don't have much to say anyway. Butler shows how wrong this is as he paints the most subtle thoughts of his sweet and interesting characters.

These stories call for more than one listen -- and not more than two stories at a sitting! They're pungent! And sometimes funny. Among my favorites was the sleepy girl at the restaurant and Mr. Cohen. I also loved the ending of the one about bringing grandpa home from the airport, how the family prepared a feast and was so excited to have this dear old man come to live with them after many years of separation. How could the husband offer some kind of healing to his wife? Listen and see! These stories are a treasure. Thank you, Mr. Butler!

Lovely stories

A warm introduction to a displaced people whose adaptation to a new country is richly rewarding for us.