Part 5, p. 135 - 180 Summary

At the beginning of the chapter, Kien urges himself to keep writing, discovering a difference between the artificial and contrived ideas he has during daylight and the painfully surging memories of war that fuel his writing at night, both of which are occasionally interrupted by recollections of happier times. He also begins to visit a bar called The Balcony Café with increasing frequency where he encounters other drunken ex-soldiers and a maltreated young prostitute. her determination to get drunk reminds him of the two occasions in his life that he has gotten drunk. The first occasion was at the Saigon Airport on the day that he had the experience with the dead girl mentioned in Part 4. The second time that he got drunk followed his encounter with a soldier who taunted him about being involved with a prostitute, which...