Novel
កុលាបប៉ៃលិន
Not translated into English
Nhok Them · 1943
Synopsis
Before dying, his father advises the young Chét, in Battambang, to rely only on himself. An orphan, he goes to work in Pailin for Loueung Ratana Sambât, a precious-stone merchant who operates several mines, and wins the affection of the other workers. One evening, his voice attracts Nieuri, the owner's only daughter, a woman of great beauty, who rebuffs him on learning that he is only a worker; he falls hopelessly in love with her, under the jealous eye of Balat, a well-off man who covets her.
Context
A short novel of fewer than eighty pages, it belongs to the sentimental vein of the Khmer novel, which its translator says is deeply marked here by the author's religious training. Yet it depicts less a doctrine than the difficulties of Cambodians under French administration, and offers young women ideas on how to choose a husband. It is regarded, along with those of Rim Kin and Nou Hach, as one of the three classic novels of modern Cambodia and is on the secondary-school literature syllabus.
Who it is for
For those who want to discover the early Khmer sentimental novel, a short story of adventure and love between two social conditions.
Prizes and reception
His best-known book, it was translated into French by Gérard Groussin and published by L'Harmattan in 1995.
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