Legends from Serene Lands: Classical Vietnamese Stories

The stories were written in a highly rhythmical and somewhat nostalgic style of French. The Vietnameseborn French novelist Marguerite Durashas argued that: "translationis something that is more like a musical performance, rigorously personal and even, if necessary, deviant". She insists that "musical errors are the most serious mistakes possible". I have tried to capture something of Pham's musicality in my own translation into English and hope that readers will enjoy this book.