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What Members Thought

Friederike Knabe
Finished it in one go. A totally absorbing memoir/reflection on life in Vietnam, escape with the boat people, finding something like a home but not really in Quebec... Unusual in structure, rich in imagery, the interconnected vignettes paint a portrait of the heroine, her family, her country and what it means to be connected and uprooted at the same time.

Towards the end of the book, looking back on her earlier life, the narrator muses "...after only thirty years I already recognize our old selv
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Claire
Reading Ru by Kim Thúy is like taking a long overland journey while looking up regularly to witness what passes in front of our eyes. Sometimes the view is stunning, sometimes it elicits sadness, it can be moving, nostalgic, perhaps an odour transports us back to a scene from childhood, a person reminds us of someone we once knew.

Reading it in French imbues it with a drifting, lyrical resonance, sometimes I drifted off as the excess of descriptive words were beyond my reach and I was too lazy to
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Marieke
Another Canada Reads selection. I've wanted to read this since it was published in Canada to rave reviews. All of my goodreads friends who have read this, appear to have loved it. I think those things built the anticipation for me a little too much because I feel a little let down by this book. It's beautifully written and perfectly short (read it in one sitting if you can...with a wee new baby I'm just glad I completed it in one day!), but was missing something...few themes got developed in a s ...more
Darcey
A very fast read, but a strongly-worded explanation of the experiences Kim Thuy encountered as a refugee to Canada. The imagery is excellent and this is a well-wrought tale, splicing information together in a way as to allow the most information to be transmitted about her experiences, including in as poignant yet succinct a fashion as possible. For anyone looking to understand the refugee experience and immigrant life, this is an excellent introduction to it.
Heather
Nov 30, 2012 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: own
Janine
Jan 14, 2013 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Rosana
Sep 15, 2013 marked it as to-read
Rusalka
Oct 28, 2013 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
KayG
Jul 05, 2014 rated it really liked it
Vietnam.
Elizabeth
Oct 05, 2014 rated it liked it
Shelves: canadian
Lisa
Dec 08, 2015 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: read-2015, world
Christelle
May 29, 2016 rated it it was ok  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: french
Pragya
Nov 16, 2017 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Louise
May 19, 2024 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: aty2024
toria (vikz writes)
Mar 02, 2018 rated it it was amazing
Kristin
Aug 29, 2018 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Angela
Jan 05, 2019 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Emily Goenner Munson
Jan 25, 2019 marked it as to-read
Karen Witzler
Feb 08, 2020 marked it as interested-in  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: canada, vietnam
mussolet
May 01, 2020 marked it as 2024-shelf-french
Shelves: 2021-sorted
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