Worth the Read discussion

Thanks to all of you who read this book! It was an engaging read with a nod to the power of stories. Here are a few questions to get you thinking. Please answer the questions you want and post your comments below.

1. Papa tells Raami, “I told you stories to give you wings, Raami, so that you would never be trapped by anything—your name, your title, the limits of your body, this world’s suffering.” How does the power of storytelling liberate Raami at different points in the novel?

2. Compare Mama’s and Papa’s styles of storytelling. When does each parent tell Raami stories, and what role do these stories serve?

3. How much did you know about the Khmer Rouge before reading In the Shadow of the Banyan? What did you learn?

4. Did you enjoy Vaddey Ratner’s writing style? Were you surprised to learn that English is not her native tongue?

I knew very little about the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia. I was a child when it happened, and I have vague memories of headlines. But unfortunately, very recent national and world events don't always make it even college classes, so if you were a kid when it happened you just have some foggy recall of a few phrases. From that perspective, this was a great first selection and a wonderful read for me. I was eager to fill in the gaps in knowledge. But like Griff who posted here earlier, I was blown away by Vaddey Ratner's writing style. Every paragraph was pure poetry. It was one of the saddest stories ever told in the most beautiful, lyrical, and hopeful language I've ever read. To read a story about the darkest period in a country's history and finish wanting to put it on your travel bucket list speaks to the power of story to elevate and liberate and to Ratner's writing style. It is hard to believe she can write like this in a second language. What a gift. Thanks Ashley and committee for a great recommendation!

What a great choice to kick off Worth the Read, as it is a real testament to the power of storytelling. When Papa tells his daughter, "I told you stories to give you wings..." we see again and again how his poems and metaphorical tales keep her going in the face of so much loss and despair. The stories from Papa and Milk Mother help Raami the child understand the natural and spiritual world, but it is also Mama's stories that get Raami through the atrocities inflicted by the Khmer Rouge. The first time Raami remembers her mother telling her a story is just after her mother whips her; Mama says, "Words, they are our rise and fall." Then she tells the tale of a mother's far-reaching love for her daughter, bringing a bucket of water to the girl with the moon's reflection so the girl could play with "her" moon. While this family has been torn apart and has lost almost everything, they are finally left with their stories, of which their oppressors could not deprive them. As Raami says at the end, the stories allow her to transcend boundaries and transform herself, which is what we the readers get to do in the pages of this bestseller.

To begin a bookclub and delve into the importance of stories is GENIUS! Kudos to the choice. GK Chesterton sums up this lovely and tragic novel in "Manalive": “I don't deny," he said, "that there should be priests to remind men that they will one day die. I only say that at certain strange epochs it is necessary to have another kind of priests, called poets, actually to remind men that they are not dead yet.”