The Circle of Hanh: A Memoir

by Bruce Weigl

Book Overview

With all the breathtaking imagery and lyric fury that characterizes his acclaimed poetry, Bruce Weigl recounts his struggles in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, which tore his life apart and in return gave him his poetic voice. Upon his release from duty he turned to alcohol, drugs, and women, living for years in a confused purgatory until he discovered salvation in poetry and in the love of his wife and their son. Yet it was only through a harrowing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802138055
• ISBN13: 9780802138057
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

a most powerful memoir of vietnam and its aftermath

this is an amazing book and an amazing story. it is the memoir of bruce weigl, a raw teenager when he fought in the US army in vietnam. it is a very personal account of his profound spiritual and emotional devastation that resulted from the war. in the end, despite enormous, seemingly insurmountable difficulties, he finally achieves some level of redemption by returning to vietnam to adopt an orphaned vietnamese girl as his daughter. weigl is one of the leading poets of his generation and this book soars with his poet's sensibility. this book helped me to understand better the personal experience of fighting in vietnam and its impact on american soldiers, as well as the vietnamese people.this is a very emotional, uplifting book which will fill you with hope.

The Circle of Hanh

When I read this marvelous memoir for the first time, I was struck with its florid style, which reveals Weigl as a gifted poet. Weigl's journey takes him from his boyhood in Lorain Ohio, through his tour of duty in Vietham, his visit to North Vietnam in the mid 1980s, and his subsequent adoption of a North Vietnamese girl, Hanh. Though his story is riveting and painful at times, the author manages to bring the important message that sometimes beauty and pain must coexist. "The Circle of Hanh" is especially comforting to post-September 11 Americans in its message that the stories we hear and remember and relate can save us, just as the author's story has done for him.

A beautifully written story of redemption

In the first part of "The Circle Of Hanh", Author Bruce Weigl is in Hong Kong waiting to board a flight for North Vietnam. The wait is an agonizing one, because the airport is terribly crowded and long lines of people spill over into branching hallways. The lines move at a snails pace. Weigl is very worried, because he must catch his flight; and time is running out. In North Vietnam a child is waiting for him: an eight year old girl that Weigl and his wife had been trying to adopt for a long time. The line slowly moves, and Weigl finally makes his way to the airline counter. He hands over his ticket and Visa, and is told that his Visa has expired. Weigl realizes that an error has been made on his Visa, because it had just been issued. He tries to explain, but is told that nothing can be done to help him. He must return to America, and get another Visa. Weigl asks to speak to a higher ranking Air Vietnam representative. The official comes and says that he can do nothing to help him either. Then Weigl makes a final desperate appeal to the Vietnamese official, explaining his mission to Vietnam. He had to go to Vietnam, and bring a little girl named Hanh to her new home. With a very brief time left before departure, the official allows him to board the plane for Vietnam. Weigl takes the last available seat on the plane. Those harrowing moments in Hong Kong cover only a few pages in this beautifully written book. Bruce Weigl is a poet, and a veteran of the Vietnam War. This book is a memoir of his life. We learn his story, from the time of his childhood; to the horrible destruction of the Vietnam War; and the devastation of his own life through alcohol and drugs. He regained control of his life through poetry and the love of his family. To redeem a life that too often had been wasted and lost, he wanted to give something of value. He wanted to give back something of what he had helped take away. He wanted to give happiness and a good life to a forgotten child from Vietnam. The story of his journey to give that happiness will touch your heart. This is a very moving memoir that I highly recommend.

Tremendous lyrical grace and power

I loved this book. Weigl's clear prose and lyrical grace and power tell the beautiful story of the redemption of a haunted veteran in the love he has found for the people he once helped try to destroy. This book left me with a new understanding and respect for the humanity and kindness of Vietnamese people, and a deep resonance of hope for all things human. In what seems a neverending galaxy of new books, this is indeed one of the most luminous stars.