Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos [Paperback]

Outhine Bounyavong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1999

Outhine Bounyavong is one of the most prominent contemporary writers in Laos. His stories are animated with Laotian virtues of simplicity, compassion, respect for age, and other village mores; they breathe with a gentleness that is fresh and distinctive. Outhine is interested in his own memories, in how to behave with compassion, and in the chain of life among men and women that reaches into the earth. Rather than writing through an ideological lens, Outhine focuses on the passions and foibles of ordinary people. Their good luck, disappointments, and plain but poignant conversations reveal the subtle textures of Lao culture. The tragedy of war and the threat of environmental degradation are themes woven into his stories. This book presents fourteen of Outhine Bounyavong's short stories in English translation alongside the Lao originals, marking his formal debut for an American audience. It is also the first collection of Lao short stories to be published in the English language. Peter Koret's Introduction explores the history of modern Lao literature and considers Outhine's writing within this broader context. Outhine Bounyavong was born in Laos in 1942. The author of four collections of short stories, he has had a long career as a journalist, editor, and translator. He lives in Vientiane.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Lao (translation)
Original Language: Lao

About the Author

LIT

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press; 1ST edition (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295977361
• ISBN-13: 978-0295977362
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mother's Beloved, August 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos (Paperback)

This book of 14 short stories by the late Outhine Bounyavong, a noted Lao author, is the first book of contemporary Lao short stories available in English. These deceptively simple stories tell of ordinary Lao people, their customs, traditions, and values, and show the impact of political, economic, and social changes since independence. Despite occasional infelicities in translation, this book will be valuable to those interested in Laos or in Southeast Asian literature. This bi-lingual English-Lao edition should be of particular interest to Lao emigrants and their children. The older adults will be happy with the Lao version, and their children can capture a sense of their parents' former lives through the English translation. Peter Koret provedes a useful introduction to Lao literature and Outhine's place in it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stories from Laos, June 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos (Paperback)

This book contains fourteen short stories and had just average entertainment. If you want to learn about the Lao culture it will help you understand and it is a good book for that purpose. Unfortunately, the stories were not very exciting. Each one had a nice moral or a lesson to learn and put a smile on my face. But, if you are a busy person it might not be worth your time to read this book. It was not a bad collection; I just expected more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay collection of stories, July 23, 2005

By 

Wendy (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos (Paperback)

I thought this book was going to be more of a collection of "folk" stories from Laos. Stories about the turtle and hare. But in actually it is made up of more short and simple stories. The book is written in a very simple term and gave a bit of insight into what Laotians value among themselves and others. It is mostly about giving to the community, being a part of the community, being proud of being a "civil servant". There are observations of corruption in one story. But it is worth a read, as there doesn't seem to be anything like this out there (written by a Lao author). I would keep this book in support of seeing more Lao writers in the future.