The Rent Collector: Camron Wright: Books – The Rent Collector

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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See All Buying Options. This page works best with JavaScript. Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. You can still see all customer reviews for the product. Top positive review. Reviewed in the United States on August 14, I had read The Rent Collector several years ago and had loved it. I actually started reading it around 4 in the afternoon and finished it at about am the next morning I just couldn’t put it down.

I decided then that when it was our turn to choose the book for our Book Group meeting, sooner or later, this would be it. Generally we don’t have unanimity on whether a book was enjoyable or important, and those discussions are always very lively.

But when we all love a book, the discussion seems to move quickly to dessert because once everyone agrees it was a good book, silence falls. Not with The Rent Collector. Everyone couldn’t say enough about the book, its characters, the thread of how important literature and literacy really are, the fact that this huge dump exists and people lived all around it and worked there The conversation even got a bit heated when our resident cynic was there was close to no likelihood that a person of the Rent Collector’s “talents” and influences could possibly exist in that setting most of believed that of course such a person could come forward in the most unlikely places and have a huge effect on so many people This book is a true find.

Top critical review. Reviewed in the United States on July 11, I feel the author did a grave disservice to the people in the story by adopting their voice to tell what is an important story. I just could not get past the white male American voice pretending to be the voice of a female Cambodian trapped in a life at the dump.

I see this book receives high ratings, but for those of you who also felt put off by the voice, hey, I’m with you on that. Sort by. Top reviews Most recent Top reviews. Filter by. All reviewers Verified purchase only All reviewers.

All stars 5 star only 4 star only 3 star only 2 star only 1 star only All positive All critical All stars. Text, image, video Image and video reviews only Text, image, video. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. From the United States. Verified Purchase. Showing 0 comments. There was a problem loading comments right now. The story is set in Cambodia just after the decline of the Khmer Rouge regime.

The two main characters, Sang Ly and her husband live in Stung Meanchey, a garbage dump, and to survive they pick through truckloads of trash everyday, looking for things they can sell. As you can imagine, the dump is filthy and dangerous, and life is uncertain.

Sounds grim, but surprisingly enough the message running through this story is one of hope, determination and redemption. Sang Ly wants a better life for her son and she is convinced that the path to this dream is learning to read. As an avid reader, I loved this about. I loved that the author highlighted the power of reading. Recommend for book clubs and Historical Fiction fans.

Our book club read this and really had our eyes opened to the desperation many people in the world face. The mega wealthy should hang their heads in shame for taking the unreasonable share of wealth that sustains their luxurious lifestyles.

The poor of this world suffer because of the greed of the ruthless wealthy. This story had a happy ending, but unfortunately that is not attainable to most of those starving who live in hopelessness.

The Rent collector is a wonderful story. I loved it! Loved it! Almost immediately I fell into the story, into the life of Sang Ly. I heard her voice as clear as a bell as she rose up from the dump, as real as a flesh and blood woman.

I loved the hope in the heart that beat in her chest as she and her husband eked out a bare existence by picking junk from the huge municipal dump in Cambodia to pay the rent, keep food on the table, and care for their chronically ill child.

There are no downers in this story of abject poverty, for the voice of Sang Ly somehow keeps the tone of the story uplifting. I never felt sorry for Sang Ly even though I normally would have. I think because she had a spirit that lifted her on wings of hope. She was also tenacious and brave. This story is beautiful, it reminds me of another story set in the midst of a German Nazi concentration camp, called Life Can Be Beautiful.

I think I shall keep this book forever, even as I seek to share it with everyone I know. Sometimes we are the hero. I so want my 8th grade students who struggle with reading to understand the power of literacy and the lessons that books teach us. Reading Guide Question Five. Reading Guide Question Six. Reading Guide Question Seven. Reading Guide Question Eight.

Reading Guide Question Nine. Reading Guide Question Ten. Reading Guide Question Eleven. Reading Guide Question Twelve. Reading Guide Question Thirteen. Reading Guide Question Fourteen. Reading Guide Question Fifteen. Since several pieces of classical literature and one or two contemporary pieces are referenced or quoted in The Rent Collector , I thought it may be of interest if I provide added history on those pieces.

Some I used in their entirety; others, I simply referenced. With one noted exception, all are in the public domain and readily available online. They are listed by their order of appearance. Dancing Monkeys , a short piece of literature I included in its entirety, is attributed to Aesop. If you trust Wikipedia and in this case I do , Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Some accounts say he was a slave, others a black Ethiopian.

Reamker , again simply referenced, is a Cambodian epic poem known among the Khmer people for its portrayal in dance theatre. In the Reamker, topics of trust, loyalty, love, and revenge play out in dramatic encounters among princes and giants, monkeys and mermaids, and a forlorn princess.

Moby Dick , by American author Herman Melville, was first published in A shortened version of the translated story is read by Sang Ly, and several lines of dialogue revolve around the plot.

Sarann , the story of the Khmer Cinderella, crafted to meet the specific needs of pacing and style for The Rent Collector , was patterned after numerous versions from an array of countries. If there is an interest, an actual Khmer version of the Cinderella story was documented and told by Dr. Jewell R. Coburn in her book, Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella. It was written by Joni Buehner, and is the one work referenced besides those I created that is not in the public domain.

It simply fit so well into the story, I asked Joni for permission to use it and she kindly agreed. The final version included in The Rent Collector aptly demonstrates the countless factors a writer must consider when crafting a novel.

Originally, I had Sang Ly read the short story, Long Odds , in its entirety on her bus trip to the province. However, the story’s length and unusual style so removed the reader from my own story, I worried about bringing them back. Next, I shortened Long Odds , but that wasn’t enough. Then, rather than have Sang Ly read it, I tried having her relate the story from her point of view.

Almost there, but not quite. In order to offer a more Asian feeling to the scene it is Cambodia, after all , I changed the names and location to protect the innocent. That all said, I highly recommend you give the original version a read. Haggard was a celebrated writer and his work is most entertaining. Pyramus and Thisbe are characters from Roman mythology, and a story of ill-fated love that is said to have inspired Romeo and Juliet.

Like Long Odds , noted above, I originally included the entire story, but later opted to reference only select parts. There are several versions, but I have linked just one. Others can be found online. Once again, for reasons of style and pacing, I chose to use the version slightly edited by Hans Christian Andersen There are other classical works from Cambodia and around the world mentioned only by name in The Rent Collector , but they are not listed here.

While The Rent Collector was inspired by the real-life journey of Sang Ly and Ki Lim, as portrayed in the documentary film River of Victory , I also relied on several wonderful books for reference and inspiration. A few of the more prominent are listed below.

 
 

The Rent Collector – Bucket List Book Reviews.The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

 
Full Title: The Rent Collector. When Written: Where Written: Salt Lake City, Utah. When Published: Literary Period: Contemporary. Genre: Contemporary Fiction. Setting: Various locations in Cambodia. Climax: Sang Ly finds Sopeap Sin in her old house and sits with her as she dies. Antagonist: Sopeap Sin. Aug 24,  · The Rent Collector, Camron Wright. The Rent Collector is the story of a young mother, Sang Ly, struggling to survive by picking through garbage in Cambodia’s largest municipal dump. Under threat of eviction by an embittered old drunk who is charged with collecting rents from the poor of Stung Meanchey, Sang Ly embarks on a desperate journey to /5(K). The Rent Collector is a story of hope, of one woman’s journey to save her son and another woman’s chance at redemption. Characters: Amazon rating: 4 1/2 stars. Genre: Fiction. Prey Veng Province on Wikipedia. Stung Meanchey. Khmer Rouge Revolution.

 

The Rent Collector Study Guide | Literature Guide | LitCharts.Fiction Book Review: The Rent Collector by Camron Steve Wright

 

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Sign in. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Literature Poetry Lit Terms Shakescleare. Download this LitChart! Teachers and parents! Struggling with distance learning? Introduction Intro. Themes All Themes. Symbols All Symbols. Theme Wheel. Everything you need for every book you read. The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive. In-depth summary and analysis of every chapter of The Rent Collector. Visual theme-tracking, too.

Explanations, analysis, and visualizations of The Rent Collector ‘s themes. The Rent Collector ‘s important quotes, sortable by theme, character, or chapter. Description, analysis, and timelines for The Rent Collector ‘s characters. Explanations of The Rent Collector ‘s symbols, and tracking of where they appear. An interactive data visualization of The Rent Collector ‘s plot and themes. Although Wright began an MBA, he gave it up to begin his writing career. Despite the success of his first book, Wright took a decade-long break from writing to focus on his business and design career, which over the years involved owning several retail stores and working as a designer alongside his wife for the McCall Pattern Company in New York.

In spite of American bombing campaigns against them, the Khmer Rouge gathered enough power to emerge from the jungles and overthrow the state government in Phnom Penh in , installing themselves as the new ruling regime under the dictator Pol Pot, who renamed Cambodia as Democratic Kampuchea. The regime immediately began evacuating cities, executing anyone who could possibly be perceived as a political threat—usually by having even the most tenuous ties to Western culture and thus Western capitalism—and establishing labor camps and training centers for child soldiers.

The Khmer Rouge was fundamentally isolationist, and desired to run a completely self-sustaining agricultural country based on a collectivist mindset.

However, their attempts to create their envisioned utopia largely failed, leading instead to widespread famine and disease, since they refused to even allow for foreign medicine. This, combined with their ethnic cleansing of any minorities, led to a massive death toll in the four years they held power.

In , Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia and quickly overran the weakened country, forcing the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot to flee to Thailand. The Thai government accepted their presence, viewing them as a defensive measure to help protect Thailand from the Viet Cong, whom the Khmer Rouge now opposed. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Khmer Rouge were responsible for the deaths of somewhere between 1.

After decades of slaughter and oft-changing regimes, conflicting parties signed a peace accord in and Cambodia was reestablished as a monarchy in , becoming the Kingdom of Cambodia once again and entering its most peaceful period in nearly 50 years.

First They Killed My Father is an excellent example, a memoir by Cambodian author Loung Ung detailing her childhood experiences as the young daughter of an elite family whose life was shattered by the Khmer Rouge, as well as her true story of survival as a child soldier.

Academy Award-winning actor Haing Nor also details his early life witnessing the Khmer Rouge execution squads and mindless brutality in his memoir Survival in the Killing Fields. Cite This Page.

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