Book 41 - Less Like a River

Title: Ru Author: Kim Thuy Genre: autobio segmented prose

So...I was disappointed in this book. It's been on my to-read list forEVER, and I was so excited to finally get to it - only to be sorely, utterly disappointed. The issue may very well be related to the translation itself, but overall I was not impressed.

And Here's Why!

So the narrative is broken up into these small chapters/chunks, ranging from one to about four pages. They relate to each other by loose association; for example, the author might talk about sons in one, then we learn about an uncle she mentioned in the previous anecdote, then something from her childhood, and so on and so forth. I WISH this was effective. I really do. Like the title, which according the various internet sources means lullaby in Vietnamese and small stream/flow in French, the narrative tries to flow from one story to the other, taking the reader on a fluid, non-chronological journey through the speaker's life and experiences, like a raft skimming the surface of a meandering stream. What actually happens is that, just as you're getting into the story and its characters, the author shifts to an entirely different path, effectively leaving the reader mourning the loss of what could have been and grasping for the newest train of thought. 

The themes are alllmost there. Identity, immigration, family, motherhood - we're exposed to tantalizing hints of wildly interesting subject matter before the author shifts to a new chapter, a new cast, a new mindset. For example, the speaker describes a Vietnamese waiter calling her fat and explains that his comment is truly aimed at the American dream, which has seeped into her voice, her actions, and the "precision of her desires". According to this nameless waiter, she no longer shares the Vietnamese "fragility". That's so interesting! She's been forced out of Vietnam due to societal and economic conditions, and becomes a stranger to her own people as a result of her own survival. UNPACK THAT SHIT.

But no. We move on.

Finally, the writing itself is tragically bland in most places. There are gems, though, which keep the reader hoping for greatness:

"The days followed one another like the links of a chain - the first fastened around their necks, the last to the centre of the earth."

"His mother ran across the rice paddy where traces of her son's footprints were still fresh."

More of that, please! I cringe at the beauty in French that is ultimately lost in the English rendering, but the lack of interesting language goes deeper than just the words, right into the content itself, so I really don't believe translation mishaps are the ultimate issue here.

In general, this book was almost at everything. Kim Thuy desperately needs a strong editor to coax the writing out of the shadows and into the full light of brilliance.

Rating: ☕☕ /5