The first half of this book is kind of dull and made me wonder what the point of the plot was and why I should care about the characters. The main character, Percival, was not likable or admirable in the least, which made the action seem pointless and without direction. The story picked up in the second half and made me want to finish the book. Although at various points Percival slipped back into his unlikeable ways, the intensifying action of the Vietnam War, complicating involvement of characters, and various plot twists made it interesting. It is certainly a unique story and I appreciate the glimpse it gave, via a Vietnamese (technically, Chinese) perspective, into life, culture, and politics in Vietnam during the 1960s and 70s.