The Quiet American is set in Vietnam during French rule. Fowler, a British journalist, meets Pyle, a young American with big ideas about Vietnam. Both fall for Phuong, a quiet Vietnamese woman who just wants a stable life. Fowler is stuck in a marriage he can’t escape. Pyle wants to save the country — and win Phuong’s heart. Turns out, Pyle’s “help” involves funding bombings to push out the French. He’s not as innocent as he seems. Fowler finds out. Pyle ends up dead. Fowler gets his divorce, and Phuong comes back. But nothing really changes. The war goes on. People just find new ways to carry on. The book begins and ends with the same small moment — Phuong making Fowler a pipe — as if the world outside doesn’t matter.
The book reads well, and is short. I think that makes it a good little destination book. Even Anthony Bourdain agrees, suggesting one should read novels like this instead of guide books. So much of the literature around Vietnam involves the war with the US. So in a way it’s refreshing to read something a bit different. Although the theme of French colonialism isn’t exactly a stark change.