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Description edit
“A dance of words . . . <full of> beauty, grace, sensuality and power. . . . In what is a seemingly impossible feat, the form is carved perfectly to the task—the book balances on the beauty. . . . Echlin is able, by imagination and art, to take the reader on a journey through eros and... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters/People edit
- Will: Add a description of this character.
- Ang Tasom
- Papa: Anne Greeves' father
- Mau: Cambodian taxi driver
- Anne Greves: protagonist/main character
- Berthe: French-Canadian housekeeper hired after the death of Anne's mother
- Chan: Serey's childhood neighbor now an old woman
- Sokha: Serey's younger brother
- Buddy Guy: blues singer
- Serey: Cambodian refugee living in Canada/other main character
- Tien
Quotes edit
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“I said, People do not really change; we are only undefeated because we have gone on trying.”
Anne Greeves to Serey -
“We pledged ourselves to each other with our bodies. In the darkness alone together, we said that we would care for each other until death. There was no one to witness to us and so we were witnessed only by the nameless missing and by the generations to come. And this was the night our baby was conceived, a soul leaving the dry sky of the ancestors to live anew in bones and flesh.”
Anne Greeves
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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Think of yourself as a solitaire, a unique gem in the crown of the king, the philosopher's stone.
Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers -
Why do some people live a comfortable life and others live one that is horror-filled? What part of ourselves do we shave off so we can keep on eating while others starve? If women, children, and old people were being murdered a hundred miles from here, would we not run to help? Why do we stop this decision of the heart when the distance is three thousand miles instead of a hundred?
Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers -
A man with a gun can force a child to kill. No one can force compassion. But it can be extinguished.
Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers -
The Buddha said, Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love. Overcome anger by love, overcome evil by good. Overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth.
Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers -
What I learned from my mother was that those we love can disappear suddenly, inexplicably. And then there is nothing.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
People keep secrets from each other all the time. People hide lovers. Women hide babies. Parents hide their weakness from their children. Children hide who they are from their parents. Who do we degrade with our secrets?
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
I fell in love with you, and my whole self became yours-without my wanting or not wanting it.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
Her eyes held my grief, and her body gathered in my pain and knit it into herself as if she were an old marsh creature weaving baskets from rushes.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
Each day I imagined you because if I did not, joy would vanish. You cannot disappear. Please do not disappear. No one can mend my sorrow. I love what I lost.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers -
This from Sophocles. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. This from St. Paul. What we think we become. This from the Buddha.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
First Sentence edit
Mau was a small man with a scar across his left cheek.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Kim Echlin (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: Add the language.
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: Add the page count.
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: Add the page count.
Awards edit
- Giller Prize (Finalist, 2009, Shortlist)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813.54
Subjects edit
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