40 Men and 12 Rifles

October 15, 2023
Graphic novelist Truong, with translation by Homel, follows a young man's journey from privileged artist to soldier and reluctant propagandist during the revolutionary fervor of 1950s Vietnam. The title refers to an "armed propaganda unit" in the Viet Minh army, which fought the French occupation of Vietnam. Despite the description, these units also included women, artists of all stripes lending their skills to turn "the People's Army" from illiterate peasants into violent revolutionaries. But beyond creating portraits of Communist leaders and dehumanizing caricatures of their opponents, the APUs would also execute those not loyal enough to the cause. We enter this world of thought control and bloody conflict via a young painter named Minh, who spends his days painting nudes of his secret girlfriend in his studio in bustling and urbane Ha Noi. Minh's father tries to keep his son from the grip of the Communists by sending him to a family estate in the countryside, but there Minh realizes the revolutionaries have violently seized control, and he survives only by becoming a "friend of the Revolution"--getting combat training in China and being admonished for his bourgeoise habits like carrying a sketchbook. But the Communists find use for his talents, assigning him to propaganda work, which he deeply resents and tries to subvert--at the risk of his life. He finds favor with his fellow soldiers and the villagers caught up in the conflict by drawing and gifting portraits of those he encounters. All the while his artist's heart wrestles with the lies and dogma enforced by Party officials. It's a fascinating look at a troubling and complex time, and Truong's art has an appealingly clean, direct style, while his writing conveys wit and heart. Both affirming and chilling.

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Starred review from October 30, 2023
In this magnificently researched and crafted historical fiction, Truong (Saigon Calling) explores the conflict between art and war through the little-known story of the the Việt Minh’s armed propaganda artists. Minh, a handsome young painter, is living comfortably in 1950s Hanoi when civil war breaks out. His wealthy father pulls strings to smuggle him to the countryside for safety, but along the way he’s captured and conscripted into the People’s Liberation Army. He ends up assigned to the Armed Propaganda Unit, a group of “artist-soldiers” embedded in the military to create communist propaganda. “Your job is not to inform the people,” his superior reminds him, “but to form them!” Truong avoids simplistic conclusions as he depicts the brutality and censorship of the military regime, the pre-revolutionary injustices that turned many to communism, and the universal yearning for freedom. In expressive rose- and sepia-toned comics, he brings midcentury Vietnam to life, from cosmopolitan Hanoi with its streets full of pedicabs and French-style cafes to lush rural landscapes and bombed-out war zones. This is a Vietnam war story like no other.