Vietnamese young student introduces her first novel

Tien Vo’s novel is first of all, not a nonfiction account. Regarding the question as to why she did not choose this more obvious track, Vo humbly stated that as a young writer and a senior at a competitive high school, she did not have a chance to fully approach every detail of the incident to be able to recount everything with perfect accuracy, and by giving her own creative spin to the story while maintaining the plot, she was able to more freely convey her own admiration and sympathy with the situation.

Backing to December 2014, a tunnel collapse in Da Dang- Da Chomo Hydroelectric site in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, Vietnam shook the nation and claimed the breaking news of national press for four consecutive days. Rarely did a tunnel collapse happen, and much more rarely there were survivors trapped inside waiting to be rescued. Throughout four days of the incident, no one knew if the mission was going to be a success, but many blessings stayed on our side as the twelve trapped workers were all ultimately rescued. The sensation stayed still though, whenever people thought about the real heroes of the story, those very own twelve workers.

There have since been a lot of talks surrounding what kind of obstacles these resilient human beings went through, how they did it, and where they drew such strength from. There have also been lots of follow-up interviews and reports on the health condition and reminiscence of these workers as they settled back into their daily lives. Few people, however, got a chance to conduct first-hand interviews with these heroes right after they survived the collapse. And among them, one person had the outstanding drive and talent to sympathise with the workers’ struggles and compose all details into one, though rather short in length, succinct debut novel, Beneath Stone and Water.

Among many other things, one highlight that Vo made sure to bring about in her novel is the confusing, awkward, yet utterly heart-warming and empowering relationship formed inside the tunnel.

As the book is set in intriguing parallel structure, virtually each section about life inside the tunnel is followed by a section of the action-paced happenings outside, with Hung as the protagonist, the lead of the rescue team. Hung trembles with guilt as he thinks about his wife, brother-in-laws, and teammates trapped inside. Like Mai, through four days he constantly reflects on his marriage with Mai, but unlike her uncertainty, his only concern is to safely rescue her and correct the things that he has done wrong.

As said, the beauty of Vo’s book does not stem from any immaculate factual details or intense use of technical terms, but from her thoughtful take on the power of human-to-human relationships in dire moments.

Danger and chaos seize life unexpectedly, making people weak and highly swayed. Yet the only thing that provides strength in these situations is having everyone come back to the human foundation of connecting with one another. A thought like this is commonly known in theory, but Vo’s careful display and delineation of the idea in Beneath Stone and Water can only be done with thoughtfulness and maturity rarely seen in her age.