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vpjto's review against another edition
4.0
Incredibly haunting. A different style of writing that takes a few pages to get tinto but is ultimatly very engaging.
bitterindigo's review against another edition
3.0
I'm of two minds about this book - actually, maybe of several minds. The writing itself deserves four stars easily, it's a beautiful book and the writing is exquisite. At points it was a bit like Fugitive Pieces, where the writing becomes so poetic that it nearly obscures the story. And then there's the romance. Anne and Serey meet when he is twenty-one and she is sixteen. They have a fairly brief relationship and then he goes back to Cambodia and she doesn't see him again until ten years later. I admit that I might just be too old and cynical for the 'love conquers (nearly) all' trope, for the headstrong woman who will do literally anything for the man she loves. The description of Cambodia, landscape and people, was vivid and affecting. Maybe because Echlin is not from Cambodia she felt like she could only tell the story from the perspective of a foreigner, which is fair. Maybe I just didn't like the character of Anne that much - she doesn't seem to think or care much about her actions affect other people, which is understandable when you're sixteen but somewhat less so when you're twenty-six. I think the story of the Pol Pot regime needs to be told often and extensively. I'm just not sure this lens was the most effective one for me.
londonmabel's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed reading about Cambodia, I cared about the characters--I was moved by the love story. It's about people going missing during and after wars/dictatorships so naturally it's a very sad book.
I wasn't crazy about her writing style, but that's subjective--it certainly isn't badly written.
I wasn't crazy about her writing style, but that's subjective--it certainly isn't badly written.
moma's review against another edition
4.0
Canada 1979: Anne Greves is 16 when she falls in love with the Cambodian refugee Serey. They get a passionate relationship, which ends abruptly when the regime of the Khmer Rouge falls. Without saying a word, Serey leaves Anne and goes back to Cambodian hoping to finds his family. After 10 years Anne decides to go after Serey trying to find him and restore their relationship.
A very beautiful and heartbreaking story about a lost relationship and a country that never recovered from the Khmer Rouge. Next to the love story, it gives a good image of Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese domination and the later regimes. The books invites you to investigate the history of Cambodia, specially about the Tuol Sleng prison. For those who are brave enough: the pictures mention in this book can be found at www.tuolsleng.com. (The photo-section doesn't work that well, so it takes a little time to see all the 114 photo's)
A very beautiful and heartbreaking story about a lost relationship and a country that never recovered from the Khmer Rouge. Next to the love story, it gives a good image of Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese domination and the later regimes. The books invites you to investigate the history of Cambodia, specially about the Tuol Sleng prison. For those who are brave enough: the pictures mention in this book can be found at www.tuolsleng.com. (The photo-section doesn't work that well, so it takes a little time to see all the 114 photo's)
accioemilia's review against another edition
3.0
I had no hopes for this book. I had to read it for my class about genocide and at this point, I am quite sick of genocide novels.
We had toyed with more fictional and literary novels about genocide, beginning with The Reader by Bernhard Schlink about the Holocaust.
This book has good bones; good messages, decent characters, and an important topic (the Cambodian genocide and the aftermath of the genocide). However, I really did not enjoy its delivery.
Echlin's writing style is odd, the stream-of-conscious-like structure combined with the second person narrator was too much to take in. It left me with an awkward feeling after every page.
It was easy to get through, a light and heavy read at the same time. There are many great layers to this book but I couldn't get past how much the actual writing and Anne Greves annoyed me.
It is possible that any novel set up with this style of free-writing (no quotation marks, lots of jumping around, etc.) reminds me too much of some of my favorite books and authors and this was a let-down from their works.
We had toyed with more fictional and literary novels about genocide, beginning with The Reader by Bernhard Schlink about the Holocaust.
This book has good bones; good messages, decent characters, and an important topic (the Cambodian genocide and the aftermath of the genocide). However, I really did not enjoy its delivery.
Echlin's writing style is odd, the stream-of-conscious-like structure combined with the second person narrator was too much to take in. It left me with an awkward feeling after every page.
It was easy to get through, a light and heavy read at the same time. There are many great layers to this book but I couldn't get past how much the actual writing and Anne Greves annoyed me.
It is possible that any novel set up with this style of free-writing (no quotation marks, lots of jumping around, etc.) reminds me too much of some of my favorite books and authors and this was a let-down from their works.
ldv's review against another edition
5.0
What I learned from this book is that our North American life is so easy, peaceful, and full of rights. But there are countries, like Cambodia, which are so devasted by war that there is no such thing as wrong or right (like Sokha's choice to join the soldiers) and that survival is fickle.
This book is amazing. Short enough to read in an afternoon, but so powerful it will stay with you. Unique POV, in that it is is first person, past tense, with another character as the audience (eg I did this, then you said that). Very effective.
Read it.
This book is amazing. Short enough to read in an afternoon, but so powerful it will stay with you. Unique POV, in that it is is first person, past tense, with another character as the audience (eg I did this, then you said that). Very effective.
Read it.
mikolee's review against another edition
3.0
Lovely book about a deep love between a Canadian woman and a cambodian man which spans a decade. Well written and painful account of the atrocities of the killing fields and the impacts on the peoples if Cambodia.