Kim Thúy’s book “Ru” follows the journey from life in Vietnam to life in Canada - among other things. It proved to be a huge bestseller in its original language of French, and is now available for English readers to share in the author’s experiences. The book has been described as a “song for Vietnam and a love letter to her new homeland of Canada,” and WatchMojo.com was lucky enough to chat with Thúy about the book.
WatchMojo - Tell us about your book “Ru.”
Kim Thúy - Ru is a tiny book about the learning process of the Vietnamese boat people who had the chance to a second birth, to a new life— the tragic moments, and the laughable ones, too. But it is also about the generosity of strangers’ helping hands, the quest for an ordinary life and the beauty of words—some foreign, some rich, some fragile, but all melodious.
WM - Give us some context as to the time period this book spans, and what was going on in history at this point.
KT - Ru’s trajectory is from 1968 until now, travelling through time, stopping at certain minutes longer than others, following the flow of memories more than the order of time. Many things have happened during this period of history: the bloody beginnings of the Vietnam War; the painful ending of the American War; the Fall of Saigon; the reunification of Vietnam; the chaos behind the Iron Curtain; the Vietnamese people hoping for life by defying the sea; the chances of the lucky few—and Vietnam emerging from the ashes.
WM - What made you want to impart your experiences to others in this novel?
KT - It was not written with the intention to be published or to be shared. And it was not about my personal experiences. Ru was born out of my love for words. And, I had the privilege to stop, sit down and play with words without worrying about the outside temperature or the Standard & Poor’s index. My husband wanted me to take a month off and find my way, to look for what I dreamt of doing. I did not have an answer and did not know where to look for it. So, I cheated: I spent my days writing, with the happiness of a child discovering a new toy and the guilt of a mother not spending enough time on scrubbing something, anything. I wrote about what I knew, about boat people, since it did not require research time during this short month off. But then, one month led to another, as one paragraph called for the next. And before I knew it, I was caught up in the whirl of words, like an addiction.
WM - Tell us about the most striking differences you have noticed between your life in Vietnam and in Canada.
KT - It is like comparing not an orange to an apple but fish sauce to an ice storm, or sea of mopeds to tanning salons, or street vendors to plastic gloves… almost everything is different. But when you arrive from a refugee camp, you don’t compare. You just feel thankful. That’s all. There’s no space or time for any other feelings. And after thirty years, once you’ve become a Canadian and start to feel again, then you find yourself just rich, incredibly rich to have lived in two such different places; and owned two such different cultures; and experienced two such different historical and political contexts.
WM - I read that “Ru” may be adapted for the big screen: explain to us, as an author of an autobiographical book, how this makes you feel.
KT - A producer has bought the rights. I see him from time to time, but mostly as a friend. To me, the movie will be an interpretation of Ru, more than an adaptation as such. I believe that it should be inspired by Ru more than based on it, so that the director can have the total freedom to create. I will be available during the process but as much as possible, I would like to stay in the background in order to avoid applying undue pressure on the production. Needless to say, I feel extremely flattered to have inspired someone, or to have been an inspiration. But then like a muse, we never understand exactly why we’re being chosen.
KIM THÚY was born in Saigon, and arrived in Canada in 1979 at the age of ten. She has worked as a seamstress, interpreter, lawyer and restaurant owner. She currently lives in Montreal where she devotes herself to writing.
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