The Beauty of Humanity Movement: A Novel - Hardcover

Gibb, Camilla

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 159420280X ISBN 13: 9781594202803

Publisher: Penguin Pr, 2011

Synopsis

This deeply observed novel of contemporary Vietnam interweaves stories of a venerable soup seller, a young Vietnamese American curator, and an enterprising tour guide in ways that will mark all of their lives forever.

Maggie, an art curator who is Vietnamese by birth but who has lived most of her life in the United States, has returned to her country of origin in search of clues to her dissident father's disappearance. She remembers him only in fragments, as an injured artist from whom she and her mother were separated during the war. In her journey, Maggie finds herself at a makeshift pho stall, where the rich aroma of beef noodle soup lures people off Hanoi's busy streets and into a quiet morning ritual.

Old Man Hung, the enlightened proprietor of the beloved pho stall, has survived decades of poverty and political upheaval. Hung once had a shop that served as a meeting place for dissident artists. As Maggie discovers, this old man may hold the key to both her past and her future.

Among Hung's most faithful customers is Tu', a dynamic young tour guide who works for a company called New Dawn. Tu' leads tourists through the city, including American vets on war tours, but he has begun to wonder what it is they are seeing of Vietnam-and what they miss entirely. In Maggie, he finds a young Americanized woman in search of something quite different, leading him beyond his realm of expertise. In sensual, interwoven narratives, Maggie, Hung, and Tu' come together in a highly charged season that will mark all of them forever.

The Beauty of Humanity Movement is a skillfully wrought novel about the reverberation of conflict through generations, the enduring legacy of art, and the redemption and renewal of love. The story of these characters is tinged with longing for worlds and loved ones lost but also filled with the hope that faith can heal the pain of their shared country's turbulent past. This is the distinct and complex story of contemporary Vietnam, a country undergoing momentous change, and a story of how family is defined-not always by bloodlines, but by heart.

About this title

Review:

"A debunker of stereotypes and a seeker of the big picture, [Gibb] isn't satisfied with merely creating convincing characters and a bold plot. She educates and enlightens the reader. . . . Gibb portrays Hung as a figure of immense pathos and dignity. . . . A bittersweet story of old lost love is brought up to date, and that the beauty of humanity--sans irony--triumphs." --"The Gazette "(Montreal)"Gibb ties the strands of narrative together in the same way that Hung makes his pho - with care, with gentleness and with reality. She employs all the senses to create a vivid aesthetic tapestry of the concrete, and then infuses it with the abstractions of family and ambition and respect for elders. . . . Gibb has created her own 'Beauty of Humanity, ' andat the heart is the talented and loving Old Man Hung." --"The Globe and Mail"

Book Description:

'Compelling... The most moving, romantic, funny book I have read in a long time.' Daily Mail

Camilla Gibb returns to form with the stunningly evocative The Beauty of Humanity Movement, a novel of contemporary Vietnam, momentous change, and families defined not by blood, but by the heart.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 159420280X
• ISBN 13: 9781594202803
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 310