Questions About The Rent Collector

by Camron Wright (Goodreads Author)

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Rent Collector, please sign up.

Answered Questions (13)

Camron Wright It's fiction, but inspired by the modern day journey of Sang Ly, a real person who lived in the Stungmean Chey dump in Cambodia.…moreIt's fiction, but inspired by the modern day journey of Sang Ly, a real person who lived in the Stungmean Chey dump in Cambodia.(less)

flag

What is the profanity like in this book? Thanks

Heather I think I may have seen one mild obscenity. So VERY little.

flag

How did Sopeap Sin come to own the properties that she gave away at the end of the story?

Jen

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)

flag

Does anyone have any The Rent Collector book club questions?

Sara
1) What’s the difference between Sopeap Sin and Sang Ly? How are they different?
2) Do you see parallels between the story of Jesus Christ and Sopeap? …more
1) What’s the difference between Sopeap Sin and Sang Ly? How are they different?
2) Do you see parallels between the story of Jesus Christ and Sopeap?
3) Do you see the Bible as the original literature, the words that are written in poetry, parables, narrative, hyperbole, etc. as giving the same enlightenment to humanity as all literature that followed?
4) Does the reader assume the "tar" the Healer used finally cured Nisay? his mother's faith?
5) At the end, during Sopeap Sin's visit to her former home, the current owner had lost his father and an older brother - seems too much of a coincidence - anyone see the connection to her family who died?
6) Since the rent collector/teacher lost everything by the KhmerRouge, how did she amass the wealth to buy the properties in the dump & have all of her books?
7) Why did Sopeap Sin become so bitter?
8) What has made Sopeap Sin so mean?
9) What can you take with you from having read this book?
10) Maybe the Cinderella story ends a bit differently--and is that right or wrong? Maybe more right than the initial hope?
11) Who knew a story that took place in a dump could feel like a fairy tale?
12) What is the Rent collectors secret?
13) How did Sopeap Sin come to own the properties that she gave away at the end of the story?
14) Does the author need to be female or Cambodian or even poor to write this story?
15) Have you ever found a classical book of literature that isn't about a journey-whether actual or within?
16) Did you know that there are actual people in Cambodia who live in a dump?
17) Did you know that they literally dig through the trash and then go to the recycling plant for their meager amount of money?
18) We have heard of the Killing Fields, and just that name tells us how atrocious it was, but what happened afterward?
19) The ending. If someone wants to be left alone in peace, can't we just let them go?
20) But that is what literature is all about, right? A different impact on different people?
21) What would you do? How would you feel? How can they live like that?
22) Is life so conflicted for everyone everywhere?
23) In reading of Sang Ly, an uneducated, dirty young mom, living in a garbage dump, picking through trash to make ones living, did you wonder how could this possibly have anything to do with my life?
24) What happened to the rent collector once she was released from the camp/commune?
25) How did she recover from Pol Pot's regime enough to be a landowner?
26) The constant struggle, the danger, and the filth. How could one have hope in their situation? How could one not?
(less)

flag

Hi, my daughter is reading this in her senior year of high school, as I normally dont have time to read all my kids books ahead of time, I am always curious to know what to expect as far as language and sexual content? Thanks

Lonna Pierce There is only a small part about selling a young girl into sex work in the city as a very sad result of extreme poverty. (Sang Ly and others work to s…moreThere is only a small part about selling a young girl into sex work in the city as a very sad result of extreme poverty. (Sang Ly and others work to save her from that fate.) The book is mostly a powerful work about words and the transformative effect of stories on people and on culture. It is a treasure trove of literature references and a young adult would find it extremely moving and inspirational.
(less)

flag

Load 5 more questions