Blog / Catfish And Mandala: Andrew X. Pham

13 January 2012

I picked up a copy of Andrew X. Pham's book Catfish and Mandala when I was in Hoi An. I'd seen it on the 'Asia Interest' shelves years ago, without realising it involved bike touring. Ostensibly, the book is about a Vietnamese-American bike touring in the US, Japan and Vietnam. In fact, it's better described as a personal exploration of the identity issues faced by emigré Vietnamese.

Pham was born in Vietnam, but emigrated with his family while still a child. He's one of the so-called 'Vietnamese boat people'. His father was senior in the South Vietnamese Army, that, with the US, was on the losing side when Saigon fell in April 1975.

The book interleaves the story of the family's risky departure with that of the family finding its feet overseas and that of Pham's return to Vietnam to cycle.

The story is difficult at times, with Pham struggling to work out where he stands amongst the labels American, Vietnamese, or Viet-kieu (overseas Vietnamese). His siblings struggle with their identities in different ways: Two of his brothers are homosexual, which of course doesn't sit well with his traditional parents. His sister, after suppressing her femininity for years, runs away from home and returns as a gender-reassigned male, who eventually ends up taking his own life.

Pham's treatment in Vietnam is less than welcoming. As he retains his childhood facility with the language, he provides insights that other outsiders cannot. At times, he's scathing in his assessments, and one gets the feeling that he's not exactly enjoying his return to his homeland.

If there's a flaw to the book, or perhaps it's just how book marketing works, you feel like the cycling is an unnecessary addition to the mix to help the book become more than Pham's self analysis. It's even dubious Pham cycled what he says he did. He claims his one day ride on highway 1 from Quang Ngai to Quy Nhon was hilly. If he indeed took it down in one, it's an impressive 189km ride, but it's far from hilly.

Here's a couple of cycling-related quotes that stood out:

"Touring solo on a bicycle, I discover, is an act of stupidity or an act of divine belief. It is intense stretches of isolation punctuated with flashes of pure terror and indelible moments of friendship. Mostly, it is dirty work particularly suitable for the stubborn masochist."

"I take a shower fully clothed, a habit I picked up as I biked up the California and Oregon coasts. It is the fastest and most efficient way to get both body and clothes clean with the least amount of water. I soap the clothes, peel them off, soap myself, and as I shower I stomp on the dirty clothes. By the time I'm through, all I have to do is rinse out the laundry once, wring and hang it up to dry."

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