Ru

Ru is a wonderful little gem of the novel. It is is the story of one woman experience of growing up in Saigon, and eventually leaving ( with her immediate family) on a clandestine boat in search of a better live somewhere else. The journey is perilous as it leads her and her relatives through some tense moments at the sea and equally horrible time in the refuge camps of Malaysia but eventually they all end up in Quebec, Canada. The story is told through the series of very short vignettes, each recounting a small fragment of memory and just like memory it is not organized chronologically but rather by associations with smells, events, people or object and yet it is a complete and very moving account. The story is at times quite graphic and brutal but at times it can be very funny too. My favourite bit was when the forces of the Northern Vietnam sent some simple and uneducated soldiers to take the inventory of the possessions of the Saigon's family. All was going well until they came upon a draw full of women bras, mystified by such objects they came to the conclusion that these must have been coffee filters that were smartly design to serve two cups at the time and they even had handles :-)

The novel explores also a sense of belonging and cultural identity for a family and community that comes from such a different cultural, social, linguistic and historical background. Some adapt well and go on having a new, good lives others have their spirit broken beyond repair and they never make a new country truly their new home.

All of this is told in a beautiful, sensual and poetic way. The title of the book is explained as:

“in French, ru means a small stream and figuratively a flow a discharge – of tears, of blood, of money. In Vietnamese, ru means a lullaby, to lull” I read it like a beautiful lullaby to Vietnam, a childhood country of the author who clearly holds it dear in her life. It is a small volume that can easily be read in one afternoon but it will probably leave you wanting more, it certainly made me mark the name of Kim Thuy as a talent to watch.