Ru a novel
A book of rare beauty: Ru is a lullaby of Vietnam and a love letter to a new homeland. Ru: In Vietnamese it means lullaby; in French it is a small stream, but also signifies a flow - of tears, blood, and money. Kim Thuy's Ru is literature at its most crystalline: the flow of a life on the tides of u...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Bloomsbury USA,
2012.
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| Edition: | 1st U.S. ed. |
| Subjects: | |
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| Summary: | A book of rare beauty: Ru is a lullaby of Vietnam and a love letter to a new homeland. Ru: In Vietnamese it means lullaby; in French it is a small stream, but also signifies a flow - of tears, blood, and money. Kim Thuy's Ru is literature at its most crystalline: the flow of a life on the tides of unrest and on to more peaceful waters. In vignettes of exquisite clarity, sharp observation and sly wit, we are carried along on an unforgettable journey from a palatial residence in Saigon to a crowded and muddy Malaysian refugee camp, and onward to a new life in Quebec. There, the young girl feels the embrace of a new community, and revels in the chance to be part of the American Dream. As an adult, the waters become rough again: now a mother of two, she must learn to shape her love around the younger boy's autism. Moving seamlessly from past to present, from history to memory and back again, Ru is a book that celebrates life in all its wonder: its moments of beauty and sensuality, brutality and sorrow, comfort and comedy. |
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| Item Description: | Includes reading group guide. "Originally published in French in Canada as Ru by Éditions Libre Éxpression, Montreal, in 2009"--T.p. verso. |
| Physical Description: | 141 p. ; 21 cm. |
| ISBN: | 9781608198986 (pbk.) 1608198987 (pbk.) |
| Author Notes: | Kim Thúy was born in Saigon and arrived in Canada at age ten in 1978. She has degrees from the University of Montreal in linguistics and translation and in law, and has been appointed a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec. In 2017, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Concordia University, for giving eloquent voice to the refugee experience, and the Medal of Honour of the National Assembly of Québec. |
