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Bezig met laden... The Rent Collector (2012)door Camron Wright
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. I enjoyed this story of a woman living near a garbage dump in Cambodia, trying to heal her sick son, learn how to read, and get a little ahead. There's a sweet female friendship in this, and I appreciated that the characters were depicted as whole beings, not defined solely by their poverty. Some of the excerpts from literature pulled me out of the story, and I wanted to hear just a bit more about Sang Li's other friendships, and the lives of her neighbors. There are a couple uses of the d-word, and sex is alluded to, though not depicted. There are major spoilers for the book [b:Moby-Dick|153747|Moby-Dick or, the Whale|Herman Melville|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327940656l/153747._SY75_.jpg|2409320]. This reads like non fiction and as it turns out the characters in the book are real people but the story is made up. Some good basic history of Cambodia though it is very light. The narrator is a little too polished considering where she is in life. In the end a bit of an uplifting book with a lesson to be taught. The Rent Collector. Camron Wright. 2012. Sang Ly and her husband Ki Lim live with their sick baby in the largest garbage dump in Cambodia. They subsist, barely, by gathering and selling things they find in the dump. It is a hard, hard life but they love each other and their baby. They have friends and family near. Sang Ly accidentally discovers that the vile, hateful old woman who collects the rent and constantly threatens to evict them can read! She convinces the Rent Collector to teach her to read. Very gradually as Sang slowly learns to read, she slowly learns the story of how college literature professor from a wealthy family becomes a lowly rent collector and her life as well as the lives of her family are changed. A testament to the human spirit. Very uplifting. Writing is somewhat pedestrian geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
PrijzenErelijsten
Juvenile Fiction.
Juvenile Literature.
Historical Fiction.
HTML: Based on true events. Sang Ly lives at Cambodia's city dump and is grateful she can help earn a living for her family by sifting through the trash for recyclables and things that can be repaired and sold. On a good day, she can earn enough to buy food for her family. She needs enough good days so she can pay the rent collector, Sopeapâ??a grumpy old woman who shows no mercy and who is willing to evict any tenant who can't pay their rent on time. When Sang Ly is unable to pay her rent for the month, she fears her family will have to leave the dump and their shanty home, a place where her only possessions can be carried in two hands. Little does she know that a discarded children's book found among the mounds of trash would save her. When Sopeap sees the book lying on Sang Ly's cardboard bed, her mood changes. Sang Ly offers her the book if she is allowed to keep her family at the dump. An unlikely friendship develops between the two women, and Sang Ly learns that Sopeap knows how to readâ??something that Sang Ly has always wanted to learn. Being able to read could transform Sang Ly's world beyond the predictable confines of the dump and lead to a future with possibilities and hope. But the rent collector has a secret and tragic past, one that will not be easy for Sang Ly to navigate. With the help of her supportive husband, Ki Lim, and a helpful and humorous boy, Lucky Fat, Sang Ly embarks on a life-changing journey to give her young son, Nisay, a better life and future. The Rent Collector is about the power of literacy, the influence of the past, and finding hope, resiliency, and empowerment in the face of seemingly endless hardship Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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This was a great book - telling the story of Sang Ly and Ki Lim, who are garbage pickers, looking through the trash for anything that can be sold for a bit of money. They live on the outskirts of the landfill, renting their small hovel from Sopeap, a hard woman who is not forgiving. Sang Ly realizes that Sopeap can read, and convinces Sopeap to teach her - starting a relationship that grows as both women tell their stories.
I was impressed with the story - its a rare author that can tell a heartlifting story, but still shows the awfulness of the world around them. Mr. Wright doesn't shirk on how hard those who live off the landfill work - barely making enough money to survive, always in danger of those who are are willing to engage in violence to get ahead, those who will sell their own family to get a bit of money, and the chances of disease, either through getting injured while picking through garbage, or catching something communicable. Its hard life, and this book doesn't shy away from that.
As for the characters, at times, they were a bit cardboard, with Sang Ly always positive, Sopeap, always short tempered, but it doesn't matter much in this story, it works. ( )