Not Just a Book, But a Stage, a Screen, and a Classroom.

Reflections on the First 30 Minutes of Reading

After immersing myself in one chapter and skimming through two or three others at random from "Beyond The Ocean's Call", I felt as though I had stepped into a Marketing & Communications masterclass. The author’s voice was that of a passionate lecturer, vividly laying out a matrix of work distribution and the figurative concepts of communication disciplines - clear, concise, and irresistibly engaging. From her words, I could almost see a full 360-degree Communication Sphere comes to life. She slices through each idea with precision, serving them up like sashimi - neatly arranged, complete, and visually striking.Then came the chapter on leadership. My immediate thought was: if Trang were to run a workshop on the art of leadership, it would be both fitting and invaluable. I was particularly struck by her use of the phrase “đong đưa” (“to sway”) to describe “Life in the name of one’s profession.” It perfectly conveys the act of stretching oneself to balance, to sustain equilibrium, while being the one who shines a spotlight on others. That resonates deeply with me, as my own profession feels much the same.

As the book moves through short chapters recounting different stages and episodes of her professional journey, the nicknames she assigns to characters feel like lively sketches - reminding me of the whimsical naming in Harry Potter, and at times the playful dialogues in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Yet her narrative voice transported me straight into the office of Don Draper and Peggy Olson from Mad Men, eavesdropping on their conversations, arguments, and reflections. It made me want to binge-watch the unfolding debates and wait eagerly to see what ideas would materialize next.

Her dialogue and narrative flow resemble a Wes Anderson film—most recently, I thought of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. It’s dazzling, almost theatrical in its artistry: colorful, vibrant, with characters delivering continuous lines against ever-shifting backdrops. At moments, I felt the urge to reach for a TV remote - just to pause, to take in every detail of the frame, to savor the aesthetic, and let the meaning settle in. Then I would find myself nodding, smiling, and flipping back to revisit the opening quotes of each chapter, testing them against the personal philosophy distilled at the end. In the end, I couldn’t help but conclude: this book is very much like a cinematic experience, one that invites a curious audience to return, again and again, for multiple viewings.