Issues
← Back to all issuesGranta 50: Fifty
Summer 1995
In 1985, Granta published James Fenton’s extraordinary account of the fall of Saigon. Twenty years after the first tank entered the city, Philip Gourevitch, Tran Vu, Paul Eggers, and Bao Ninh examine the aftermath of that terrible war. Also: work from some of our finest contributors – Redmond O’Hanlon, Norman Lewis, Germaine Greer, Timothy Garton Ash, Julian Barnes, and more.
From this Issue
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The Boat People
Philip Gourevitch
‘My grandmother lived in America for forty years before her death, yet she never stopped referring to herself as a refugee.’
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The Coral Reef
Tran Vu
'"So, our last night of socialism," Dzung said as he squatted down beside me. I pulled two cigarettes out of my pocket and handed one to him, but didn't reply.'
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Saviours
Paul Eggers
'Mr Thanh, originally of Saigon, conducted his camp-wide rat pogrom so thoroughly that the kids were reduced to throwing rocks at each other.'
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Savage Winds
Bao Ninh
'The war was almost over. On the other side of the plain, the enemy artillery base lay silent; no reconnaissance plane had yet appeared on the horizon.'
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Upriver
Redmond O’Hanlon
'"As far as I can see," announced Lary, "every law of nature is suspended in this goddamn country."'
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Gnossienne
Julian Barnes
‘Let me make it clear that I never attend literary conferences. I know that they're held in art deco hotels close to legendary museums; that sessions on the future of the novel are conducted with camaraderie, brio and bonhomie.’
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Never Saw Brazil
William Boyd
‘On one of the sunniest of bright May mornings, Senator Dom Liceu Maximiliano Lobo needlessly ran his comb through his neat goatee and ordered his chauffeur to pull into the side of the road.’
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The Shore
Richard Ford
'Our relationship, in fact, hasn't seemed to need more attention to theme or direction but has proceeded or at least persisted on autopilot, like a small plane flying out over a peaceful ocean with no one exactly in command.'
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The Hole
Romesh Gunesekera
'I let the tears roll down to the sides of my mouth, and licked them to harden my insides. I wanted to cry gushingly, but I couldn't.'
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Hemingway in Cuba
Norman Lewis
'I met Ian Fleming at Cape's annual party. Jonathan Cape made no secret of disliking Fleming, had read only the first chapter of Casino Royale and nothing whatever of his subsequent books.'
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Shanghai Express
Germaine Greer
'The next dawn broke over an immense stony plain where billions of blue, pink and white plastic bags bobbed like so many tethered pearly balloons.'
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Golden Kids Comeback
Timothy Garton Ash
'Hips. Some never have them. Most have them but lose them. A few have them and keep them.'
