Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... The Rent Collector (original 2012; edition 2012)by Camron Wright
Work InformationThe Rent Collector by Camron Wright (2012)
   No current Talk conversations about this book.  LyndaWolters1 | Apr 3, 2024 |   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. (  ) TheDivineOomba | Mar 1, 2024 | 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]. (  ) RachelRachelRachel | Nov 21, 2023 | 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. (  ) zmagic69 | Mar 31, 2023 |  ) hamiltonpam | Aug 17, 2022 | no reviews | add a review
AwardsNotable Lists
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 No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.23)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English
1
Uneducated and unable to retain work that pays enough to pay for normal housing, Sang Ly and Ki Lim moved to Stung Meanchey and are "pickers," they literally pick through garbage daily in hopes to find enough good waste to sell to buy food for the day and save for their rent. Yes, they pay rent for their three-sided temporary structure made out of cardboard and tarps.
When the Cow, the name given to Sopeap Sin, the Rent Collector comes by to collect rent, Sang Ly recognizes the woman can read. Striking a bargain with Sopeap Sin, whom she will learn is a former university teacher, Sang Ly hopes that by learning to read, she can give her son, Nisay a better life.
Camron Wright has penned an incredible story about a once-real place (the living quarters of Stung Meanchey and other waste sites have been closed) and the lives these people live and their struggle to simply survive. The characters are so likable and so grateful for every tiny little thing they find and own, it is hard not to look at one's self as glutenous and short-sided.
The Rent Collector is fabulous and the tales within the story are wonderful. This book should sit on everyone's shelf. (