Book
Year of the Rabbit
Year of the Rabbit is a graphic memoir by Tian Veasna about his family's survival under the Khmer Rouge, first published in French in 2011.[1][2] It is based on firsthand accounts from Veasna's parents and other close relatives.[3]
The story
The book opens on April 17, 1975, when Khmer Rouge soldiers enter Phnom Penh, at the traditional Khmer New Year and the start of Year Zero.[1] It follows Lina, her husband Khim, their son Chan and their extended family. Three days after the fall of the city, Lina gives birth to Chan in a makeshift shack in Ta Prom village, with the help of a midwife. Chan is the author.[1] Veasna was born in 1975, the Year of the Rabbit.[4]
The family leaves Phnom Penh on Khmer Rouge orders to return to its home village, told that American bombing is feared.[1] Stripped of money and possessions, they are sent into the countryside, where food is short and violence is a constant threat.[3] As city people displaced from Phnom Penh, they are classed as "new villagers." Khim is a doctor, Vuthy was a lieutenant under the previous regime and Lina's father, Kongcha, was a businessman. They hide their former identities in order to survive.[1] In the work camps, children are told to spy on their parents, and reading is taken as proof of being a class traitor.[3] The family is separated and reunited again and again as they try to reach Battambang, and they survive forced labor and hardship in the countryside before a dangerous crossing into Thailand.[1] The story ends with their escape and their later resettlement in France.[1]
Art and form
Veasna draws in fine pen and ink colored in pastels, with occasional touches of red, such as the crosshatched scarf of the Khmer Rouge uniform.[5] Crows appear throughout as witnesses to the genocide, and hunger is a recurring subject.[1] An all-seeing narrator moves among the characters rather than keeping to one point of view.[1] Full-page maps and survival guides break up the story, covering how to avoid trouble, daily life for the "New People" and market values under the Khmer Rouge.[5] The book also includes diagrams and explanations of Khmer Rouge ideology.[2]
Publication and editions
Gallimard first published the work in French in three volumes:[2][4]
- L'année du lièvre, Tome 1 : Au revoir Phnom Penh (2011)
- L'année du lièvre, Tome 2, Ne vous inquiétez pas (2013)
- L'année du lièvre, Tome 3 : Un nouveau départ (2016)
Helge Dascher translated it into English, and Drawn & Quarterly published the English edition in Montreal in 2020, in 368 pages, as ISBN 9781770463769.[2][5][3] Rithy Panh wrote the preface.[1] Sipar published a Khmer edition in Cambodia in 2017, in two volumes titled ឆ្នាំថោះ (ISBN 9789924340102 and 9789924340225).[2]
Reception
In World Literature Today, Alison Mandaville praised the book's focus on everyday life and its avoidance of gratuitous violence.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Asian Review of Books
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, IntYALitMonth: Cambodia, May 19, 2026
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Powell's Books
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Albertine Books, staff pick
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 World Literature Today, review, Summer 2020