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What Members Thought
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 ...more
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 ...more
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 ...more
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 ...more
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
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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.
Mar 20, 2013
Susan
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
around-the-world,
canada-reads
Sep 15, 2013
Rosana
marked it as to-read
Vietnam.
Jan 25, 2019
Emily Goenner Munson
marked it as to-read
