When Heaven and Earth Changed Places

De: Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts - contributor

Narrado por: Nancy Kwan

This haunting memoir tells the brutal story of the Vietnam War from the perspective of an innocent victim whose childhood was dominated by violence, devastation, and conflicts between the teachings of her culture and the realities of war. Le Ly Hayslip—the youngest in a close-knit Buddhist family—was 12 years old when U.S. helicopters landed in her village. She was raped and "ruined" for marriage by Viet Cong soldiers, imprisoned and tortured by the South Vietnamese, and sentenced to death by the Viet Cong. Ultimately fleeing to the U.S. with her children, Le Ly finally found peace, and in 1986, she was reunited with her family in Vietnam. The story of her homecoming—interwoven with her memories of the war years—paints a vivid picture of a noble, optimistic woman and her native country.

©1989, 2017 Le Ly Hayslip and Charles Jay Wurts (P)2022 Phoenix Books

an honest expression of the realities of war.

This book gives insight into a peasant girl's experience of war. good to read to understand what 'taking sides' is really about, and how it matters less than loving and forgiveness. Very honest and real.

Why is the full version not available?

It’s significantly abridged! Narrator is great. The story is harrowing! Important piece of work.

Please provide the full version

The apparent honesty as she had to navigate endlessly changing power structures.

Th constant jumping from her early teens to her adult final visit back to Vietnam was disjointed. I would rather it had been presented linearly. I lost track of my own time line wrt hers.

Not enough

I was very excited to find this audiobook on audible.com initially, but I later found out that the reading did not include the complete book, which I need to have completed for class which left me to still need to actually buy the book and read it. :-(

Abridged version! Don't get if you want full book!

I can't give this a fair review because I was disappointed I missed the fact that it is abridged,

Wow

My heart is aching after listening to this book. It's incredible how strong this woman and others that lived through the war. It makes you appreciate woman, family and our lives today.

The person reading says the viet words in a Chinese accent. That is awkward. Other than that, a good read by her.

REAL LIFE IN WARTIME VIETNAM

Loved it but the structure left me confused at times, jumping back and forth through time.
A brave woman with a great story!

Tragic & Inspiring

A beautifully written and tragic story I found both an inspiring perspective on change, and an insightful guide on hope and forgiveness. Unlike other listeners, I had no issues with the performance, even at faster speeds. If you are not comfortable with accents it may be a problem, but for most outside of insular communities it should not be a concern.

Difficult to listen to

This book is quite remarkable, but the narrator and the condition of the recording make it impossible to listen to, I had to resort to the book instead. Too bad.

Bad

This is a horrible audible only because it doesn't read word for word of the book, and is skipped most of the book. I have no idea what was going on the entire time or where to read along to.