The Rent Collector

by Camron Wright
Scott County Library paperback 264 pages
genre: adult fiction

Oh my. This book was amazing! I had gotten it from Carver County for Ann for her book club, but had also requested a copy through Scott County. She read and returned the one I got for her. I read this one but haven't had the chance to talk with her yet. I got the sense she didn't care for it much . . . I'm curious to know her thoughts.

This fiction story is based on real people and real events - set in a garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, here are the main characters:
Ki Lim (dad) and Sang Ly (mom) with baby Nisay (constantly sick with diarrhea) are pickers of trash - anything they can resell for money for food
The Rent Collector (Sopeap Sin) is a nasty woman who comes to get the money from the people living on the dump for the person who "owns" the land.
Lucky Fat - an orphan boy with a round face and a happy disposition
Maly - a girl who is coming of age and afraid to be sold into prostitution by her brother
Others in the dump - family members, the healer in the village, the foreign doctors, the Khmer Rouge, the gangs, and others play key roles.

Because this is such an amazing, wonderful book, I do not want to write any spoilers! Suffice it to say that I love literacy and how it can change lives. I love that the author based his story on real people (and included photos at the end!)

page 67 - When Sang Ly is trying to find "literature," her sister Narin remembers a memorized poem her mother had whispered to her over and over when she was young. "Laugh with me, monkey. Bring impish tricks and mischievous heart. Help sorrow waft and cheer restore before the sun sets red. . . . " It is lovely and it is an opening for Sang Ly to grow in her understanding of literacy.

page 80 - I'm no history buff, but the issue of people choosing not to "get involved" in other people's struggles is not specific to any one era or culture. This got my attention, though. "During the Khmer Rouge revolution in the mid to late 1970s, more than a million Cambodians were slaughtered by the vicious dictator Pol Pot and his government. Since that genocide, those who managed to survive have raised an entire generation of children who have been taught that to stay alive in the world, it's best to lie low, mind your own business, and let others do the fighting."

page 124 - I love love love different versions of the Cinderella story!!! I am too lazy to scan and include the pages of Sarann's story, but the characters mention "Ye Xian in China, Tattercoats in England, Aschenputtel in Germany, Critheanach in Scotland, Nyasha in Africa, Cinderella in North America" . . . and it makes me kind of sad that the Disney video is the story version most people have experienced. I could do an entire unit on these different Cinderella stories!

page 201 - I cried at this point. The healer has just given her a photo of her dad (who died the night she was born) and when she says that they live in the dump, he replies "It doesn't matter where you live, Sang Ly, it is how you live." This scene struck me as both poignant and powerful.

page 220 - More crying. Sopeap has written her story for Sang Ly. "Only later would I realize that there are no words harsh enough, no paragraphs wide enough, no books deep enough to convey the weight of true human sorrow."

This book is well worth reading! If, like me, you get curious about the author's son's film, find more at www.riverofvictory.com .

Reading this also made me think of Trash by Andy Mulligan.