A nice little scene along the Saigon River today — a cluster of chess players sitting under a Yellow Flame Tree that’s looking a little autumnal as it sheds petals.
07.03.2026 17:48
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A nice little scene along the Saigon River today — a cluster of chess players sitting under a Yellow Flame Tree that’s looking a little autumnal as it sheds petals.
A long read — another ‘reconstructed narrative’ — this one about the slow demise of French restaurants in wartime Saigon, told in snapshots through the eyes of foreign visitors, including Richard West, Gloria Emerson, Jon Swain, Neil Davis and many others.
connla.substack.com/p/the-last-f...
A long read — another ‘reconstructed narrative’ — this one about the slow demise of French restaurants in wartime Saigon, told in snapshots through the eyes of foreign visitors, including Richard West, Gloria Emerson, Jon Swain, Neil Davis and many others.
connla.substack.com/p/the-last-f...
Very grateful for this mention in
Jim Anderson’s fav reads of 2025 — cheers Jim!
jimnosredna.com/2026/01/26/r...
Due out in many markets 24 March (but not North America, stay tuned for word on a future US/Canada edition), my very very short book on the PRC in the Xi era--deeply grateful to Minh Bui Jones for many things, Rana Mitter for his Intro, & Tania B, Cindy Y, David M & Victor M for the blurbs
George Orwell wrote that Mark Benney's 1940 novel The Big Wheel was about "the London sub-world, the dreadful civilization of pin-tables, cheap night clubs and furnished single rooms, where sport, crime, prostitution, mendicancy and journalism all overlap..."
neglectedbooks.com/?...
You can find this moving documentary online on a few different platforms—and it’s definitely worth a watch.
It follows the director Peter McDowell on a decade-long quest to pull together a more complete picture of what happened to his brother, Jimmy, who died as a civilian in Saigon in 1972.
“Bi sắt” — literally “iron balls”
Bi = balls (often small round balls, like marbles)
Sắt = iron
And if anyone in Ho Chi Minh City ever wants to join a pétanque league — the
CLB Bi Sắt Quận 10 meets in Le Thi Rieng park …. Most of the players appeared to have cycled there.
This Saigonese resident didn’t skimp on the Tet decorations ….
#tetroi #saigon #tet #hochiminhcity
Another out-the-front spiral staircase here — seen on Bac Hai street in the old District 10. Hard to see the detail in the fading light but the whole house has a very cool modernist design.
#urbandesign #saigon #modernistarchitecture
The outdoor spiral staircase is a common sight in some Saigonese / Ho Chi Minh City neighborhoods — an easy way to make a two-storey house have separate floors / entrances. This one is in Tan Binh Ward.
#saigon #urbandesign #architecture
𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬—𝐂𝐡𝐚: 𝐀𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩
𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐠 & 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝:
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬, & 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
⧉ 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: chajournal.com/2026/02/17/c...
。。。。。
And this one is a pic….
Continued….
Continued….
And a few clips below — all taken last night on the last day of the lunar year — from what I still call Phu Nhuan district but not actually sure what ward it is since the rejigging of the city’s wards.
#tet2026 #hochiminhcity #saigon
This house was down a heavily decorated alley in the Da Kao area (near Dien Bien Phu road)
Another alley here — off Nguyen Phi Khánh road in Tân Dĩnh ward.
Many of the communities in #Saigon pitch in to decorate their own hem (alleyways) for Tet (and other holidays). In the last couple of years more lighting has been added but this alley added a nice touch with these hanging threads (low enough for my helmet to be hitting them)
#hochiminhcity #tet2026
Personally I am most looking forward to the re-staging of cult classic Backlisted episodes about cult classic books — e.g. No. 130: Karoo by Steve Tesich.
A few pix of the zoo and gardens — and there are more images on the Substack.
I just reposted this old essay—originally published in July, 2025 by the Shanghai Literary Review—on the Substack with an added section featuring some of Richard West's observations of the zoo from 1966/1967 plus a brief anecdote from Michael Herr’s Dispatches.
connla.substack.com/p/one-day-at...
Nice one, I didn't know this film, and Ben Gazarra is always ace.
Happy to see the film is on YouTube: youtu.be/A9R-AgxeQMg?...
Our first Recovered Book from @bhousepress.bsky.social to be mentioned in Kirkus Reviews gets a starred review! Vengeance is Mine by Friedrich Torberg was written in exile in 1943. One of the earliest examples of Holocaust fiction, it's never before been translated.
There is a new book by Mark Bowles on the way. It's called How Do People Stay The Same. It is, as you might expect, a thing of beauty and wonder. Details here: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/campaigns/vi...
From the essay, a quick explanation of "the light at the end of the tunnel" as a phrase.
From 1967 to 1971, a recurring New Year’s Eve party in wartime Saigon proved to be an ironic, irreverent, and legendary interlude for those who knew the war would drag on for years to come.
connla.substack.com/p/the-light-...
I found this satirical poem called 'The Light At The End Of The Tunnel' in the second issue of the Vietnam Grunt (1968).
Below I'll also leave a lïnk for the essay I wrote about the Light at the End of the Tunnel parties held in Saigon on New Year's Eve from '67 to '70.
A few pix of the zoo and gardens — and there are more images on the Substack.
