The Vietnam-Paris Connection
Viet Thanh Nguyen's new novel follows its hero from Vietnam to a Parisian salon. Today's Free Thinking traces those links with philosopher Peter Salmon and film critic Phuong Le.
Viet Thanh Nguyen's novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Its follow-up takes the lead character to Parisian salons and an underworld of drug dealing so Free Thinking tracks the French connection through film, history and philosophy as Matthew Sweet is joined by Viet Thanh Nguyen, by film critic Phuong Le and by Peter Salmon - author of a biography of Derrida - he's been investigating the ideas of the Vietnamese thinker Tran Duc Thao who inspired some of Derrida's work.
The Sympathizer and the new novel The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen are out now.
You can hear Phuong Le in a Free Thinking discussion about Marlene Dietrich /programmes/m000q8cq and about Billy Wilder /programmes/m000p1dx
Peter Salmon's biography of Derrida is called An Event, Perhaps. You can hear him talking about that in a Free Thinking called Derrida and post truth /programmes/m000nc7t
Free Thinking also has a playlist exploring different takes on the idea of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and Belonging /programmes/p03mb66k
Producer: Harry Parker
Image: Viet Thanh Nguyen
Last on
More episodes
Broadcast
- Wed 10 Mar 2021 22:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
Featured in...
Japanese Culture—Free Thinking
From the Tale of Genjii to Godzilla, Kenzaburo Oe to Yoko Tawada …
Belonging, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, Borders & National Identity—Free Thinking
Discussions/interviews: Slavoj Ε½iΕΎek, Xinran, Ivan KlΓma, Claudia Rankine, Pankaj Mishra
Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019
Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional
CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many
CLICK to LISTEN & SEE all programmes, images, clips & features from 2017's festival
Free Thinking Festival 2017: The Speed of Life