21 articles are carefully crafted, filled with historical and geographical knowledge as well as the author's emotional memories and nostalgia. Borrowing the confessional writing style, the writer pours into the reader's heart his love for the West, the land and the people here.

The story begins with a trip to climb Tuong Mountain in Ba Chuc, An Giang by a group of repatriates. From here, the painful memories of the massacre in Ba Chuc caused by Pol Pot's army are recalled through the memories of the people in the group. The war has long gone, the landscape and nature have changed a lot, but Tuong Mountain still stands tall in the souls and memories of the survivors. From Tuong Mountain, the author leads readers to other mountains in Tri Ton district, with a resilient land that has endured many bombs and bullets of war, to the tomb of the heroine Neang Nghes (Khmer ethnic group) on the green Co To range, to visit Duc Ong's palace and hear about Quan Co Tran Van Thanh and the Bay Thua uprising. Through that, everyone suddenly realizes: "history is not far away but flows very close, flows in the very atmosphere that students are breathing" (page 24).

If history is to remind people not to forget their roots and the merits of their ancestors, then nature is the source of life, the environment for people to exist and develop. In the writings of writer Vo Dieu Thanh, nature plays a particularly important role, the foundation for all human activities and she has a multi-dimensional and profound perspective and way of thinking on this topic. Looking at the growth process of trees, she thinks of the learning of children; learning about the growth and special endurance of earthworms, about the perseverance of bees in finding honey or looking at corn fields on high mountains, she thinks of similar human characteristics, then summarizes humanistic thoughts and philosophies. Sometimes, she is startled, struggling with the dreams of the past and present. If when she was young, she always lived in the long flood seasons, she longed for dry roads all year round, then when she grew up, seeing the harshness caused by climate change, she longed to live in the middle of vast fields of water. That contradiction is not beyond the laws of the universe and nature, as she realized: "Because everything will be lost in the erosion of life, because nothing is forever with the infinite eternity of time" (page 116).

Writing about the Mekong Delta, rivers are indispensable and the author has let his emotions flow endlessly through the articles: "The River of Two Fates", "Looking Back at the River", "The Voice of the Immense", "The River of the Homeland Welcomes Tet", "Thirsty for the Memory Stream"... In particular, the article with the theme "Flower Season on the Rivers" tells readers not only about the richness of flowers but also emphasizes the characteristics of the West, when flowers are not only for viewing, for display, for offering but also for eating: "Flowers were discovered early and the people of the West soon put all the flowers and grasses into the pot of sour soup, the pot of braised fish sauce or rolled flowers and leaves with banh xeo, banh hoi and dipped in fish sauce with lemon, ginger, chili and garlic. From the pure white "soda" flowers to the sweet pink lotus flowers or the bright yellow "dien dien" flowers, the green "sầu đâu" flowers or the romantic purple-pink water hyacinth flowers, all are imbued with the taste of the river, the taste of the countryside and blended with young linh fish sauce" (page 136).

Gentle, delicate and full of emotion, the collection of essays makes readers love the land and people of the Southwest region more, sympathize with the author's thoughts and reflections, and hope that this land will forever retain its rustic and humane beauty.

CAT DANG

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/thuong-men-mua-hoa-tren-nhung-loi-song-a185981.html