A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (Plot Summary)

Plot Summary

The story takes the form of an old man’s memories and final attempts to deal with the past as he nears his own death. Dao, almost 100 years old, is a Vietnamese man living in New Orleans, Louisiana. Believing that his death approaches, Dao summons the important people from past, including the ghost of his old friend Ho Chi Minh, the communist nationalist instrumental in winning Vietnam’s independence from France.

In 1917, Dao and Ho Chi Minh, then going by his given name of Nguyen Ai Quoc, were both young men living in London and Paris. In London, Ho worked as a pastry cook, and Dao worked as a dishwasher. Now, when Ho appears before Dao, his hands are covered with sugar because he is trying to make a special glaze. However, he is having trouble remembering how to make it properly.

Dao has reached the point in his life where, as is Vietnamese custom when a person is very old, he takes a “formal leave-taking” of his family and friends, who all come to visit him. It is also Vietnamese tradition to have a close family, but, sitting in his chair in the living room, Dao can see that some of his family have become too Americanized.

He overhears a conversation between his son-in-law Thang and his grandson Loi. Both served in the South Vietnamese army in the war. They think he is asleep while they discuss the murder of a fellow immigrant. The man owned a newspaper and wrote an article expressing that it was time to accept the communist government in Vietnam and to work with its leaders. He was murdered for voicing these opinions, assassinated as he sat in his Chevrolet pickup truck, which Dao sees as a symbol of his Americanization. Thang and Loi seem to be speaking in code as they mention that no murder weapon has been found. Lam, Dao’s daughter, who is married to Thang, also seems to be communicating in code as she speaks of how terrible the man’s death is. Dao deliberately pretends to be sleeping. He does not want to say anything about what he has heard, for he is a Buddhist and he believes in the value of familial harmony.

During his first visit, Ho asked Dao if he was still a Hoa Hao Buddhist. Dao became a Buddhist when the two men were in Paris in 1918. Dao believes that in Paris he embraced the past — the Buddhism of his ancestors — while Ho embraced his future. He recalls how Ho rented a dark suit and a bowler hat to wear as he paced the halls of Versailles, hoping to speak with Woodrow Wilson. He wanted to speak to the U.S. president, who was in the midst of the peace accords that officially ended World War I, about helping Vietnam get representation in the French Parliament — at the time, Vietnam was a French colony. In returning to the topic of Dao’s Buddhism, Ho notices the Chinese characters on Dao’s prayer table. They mean “A good scent from a strange mountain.” This is the saying of the Hoa Hao Buddhists. The Hoa Haos believe in simplicity, as expressed by this saying.

After Ho leaves that evening, Dao calls his oldest daughter to see if the doorknob that Ho touched is sticky. It is. After his daughter says good night, Dao recalls all the people who were important to him but who are now dead, including his wife and his firstborn son. In this village square, where the dead congregate, Dao smells a wonderful sweet smell from a strange mountain. Dao tries to explain to his daughter that the doorknob is sticky from Ho’s hand, but he is too sleepy.

The next night, Ho returns. The men talk of Ho’s attempts to make the pastry glaze, and then Dao asks if he has seen his wife, but Ho has not. Dao asks if Ho is disappointed that Dao did not become involved in Ho’s struggle, but Ho absolves Dao of any guilt he might feel. Dao knows that Ho is not at peace, and Ho explains that it is not over his inability to make the glaze. Dao tells him he should be at peace, after all, he won their country back from the French, but Ho replies that there are no countries in the afterlife.

The next day, Thang and Loi continue to talk about the murdered newsman. This makes Dao recall Ho’s talk the night before, of how the Vietnamese were fools to trust the Americans, who also fought against the Japanese in World War II. Dao speaks of the need for harmony, and he is reminded of the conversation he overhears between Thang and Loi. They also talk bitterly of foolishly trusting the Americans. It is clear from what they say that they were involved in, if not present at, the murder of the newsman. Listening to their talk, Dao suddenly wishes for death, believing that he has lived too long.

When Ho comes to visit for the third time that night, Dao suggests the two men pace, as they did in Paris, and talk about Marx and the Buddha. The two men walk, and Dao tells Ho of his suspicion that Thang and Loi are involved in the political killing. As he waits for Ho to speak, Dao recalls holding Loi as a baby and being repulsed by the sour smell of milk on his breath. He remembers Thang across the room, wanting Lam to take Loi away from him. Ho reminds Dao that he has never done anything political. Dao asks if there are politics in the afterlife. Ho does not answer. Instead, the sweet smell of the sugar on his hands grows stronger and stronger as Dao feels Ho close to him. He does not see Ho, but he feels as if Ho was passing through his body. Then he hears the door open and close softly. Dao is about to return to bed. He knows that Ho is right: he will never speak to his grandson about what he knows. He also remembers the recipe for the glaze that Ho has been so unsuccessful in making.