Live From the Gillers 2012: Measha Brueggergosman introduces Kim Thúy’s Ru

World renown Canadian-soprano and avid reader Measha Brueggergosman says that Kim Thúy’s novel Ru transports readers and is a fascinating account of life.

In her author video, Thúy says she loves the weight, texture and musicality of words: “They are like lego blocks of different colours and shapes that you can build into something.”

Ru, the translation from the original French novel by Kim Thuy that won the 2010 Governor General’s Award, means lullaby in Vietnamese and small stream in French. Moving between past and present, in fragmentary vignettes, it takes the reader on the narrator’s journey from palatial residence in Saigon, to a crowded and muddy Malaysian refugee camp, and to her new life in Quebec.

In their citation, the jury says, “Kim Thúy is a born storyteller, but she rewrites the traditional immigrant narrative in a completely new way, makes it whole and wondrous once more.”

ZOOMER APPEAL: Ru is based on the author’s own experience immigrating from Vietman to Canada, and offers fascinating perspective on family and culture.