La petite fille de Monsieur Linh

La petite fille de Monsieur Linh
This book, roughly translated as Mr Linh's Granddaughter is a heartwarming story about compassion and friendship. It was written by French author, Phillipe Claudel, who has a flair for exploring the intricacies of human relationships and their connection to one another. This much was evident from his other well-known book, Les Âmes grises, and it is touched upon again in this sad story.

The story is about an asylum seeker called Linh. He has lost his entire family in a horrid war and is now in a foreign country. All that is left of his relatives is his tiny granddaughter. After losing all other members, the little kid now relies on him to teach her the ways of this world. Unfortunately, this is somewhat hard as Linh himself is standing at crossroads. It's bad enough to be grieving the loss of close ones but the man also has to deal with the culture shock of a new country. To top it off, he's in a asylum seeker center which isn't exactly the most homely spots in the world.

Well, Linh ventures outside the center and tries to make sense of it all. Fortunately for him, he soon makes friends with a widower called Bark. They have an odd friendship where they understand each other without really knowing each other for very long. In their need for companionship and a longing for a sympathetic ear, they form a bond as they meet regularly for chats. Sadly, Linh is moved to a different facility. It gets really sad from here onwards where he tries desperately to leave, in order to meet his friend again, and is punished severely for it.

You have to love the way the author gets folks to empathize with the characters and themes in this book. He is intentionally vague about Linh's country of origin as well as the country that he ends up in. Instead of making it a political statement about the history or social trends of a certain country, he wanted it to be about people. Thus, he wanted to show the ease with which folks could identify with the plight of another irrespective of their nationality, language or race.

Admittedly this story is a tearjerker. It has all the elements which will either make you bawl like a baby or smile fondly – Linh's character, his attitude to his granddaughter and his friendship with Bark. However, there are little touches which will add to this tone. Claudel's portrayal of Linh is very tactful. He does not seek sympathy outright nor does he create a character full of anger and cynicism. Rather, he paints a man full of silent dignity and quiet acceptance of his past. In some South African stories that I have read, ones along these lines, I almost always come across angry tones. In such cases, folks will be very blunt about injustices and will make a point about making a change. Claudel's handling of such moments are gentler and perhaps for this reason they are easier to empathize with.