Searing and hopeful, ‘Three Flames’ chronicles family’s life

Alan Lightman’s novel “Three Flames” follows the conflicting desires of one Cambodian family as they navigate a changing society.

|
Courtesy of Black Balloon Publishing
“Three Flames” by Alan Lightman, Counterpoint, 208 pp.

Modernity clashes with traditional culture in this novel about a family of Cambodian farmers. As the outside world imposes upon their remote village, old ways no longer seem tenable – but new steps forward are difficult to imagine. Weaving together six individual stories from one family, Alan Lightman examines freedom and obligation, heartache and forgiveness, and ultimately imparts a sense of hope with “Three Flames.”

The past intrudes upon the present early on when the family’s mother, Ryna, has a chance encounter with an old man visiting her village. Though decades have passed, she recognizes him as the Khmer Rouge soldier who killed her father. The soldier has aged, and as she observes his frailty and loneliness, she realizes that she now holds the power. In reconciling that power with forgiveness, Ryna embodies the quiet strength upon which her family has always depended.

In another story, the father, Pich, arranges for middle daughter Nita to be married to a wealthy businessman, despite her dream of attending university. And when the family’s rice crop fails, he sends eldest daughter Thida off to the city to work in a factory. Although she has no choice but to go, Thida comes to terms with her duties.

The men of the family do not escape the upheaval caused by changing times and expectations. When Pich’s story unfolds, it’s revealed that his harsh behavior is rooted in a mixture of traditional expectations and family tragedies. Kamal, the family’s only son, has no desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a farmer. Instead, he’s intrigued by the world beyond his village and choices his father never imagined.

But the brightest hope lies with the family’s youngest daughter, Sreypov. As she learns from the past and finds the strength to escape traditional expectations, she retains her individuality and finds her own path.

Sometimes charming and sometimes heartbreaking, Lightman’s novel is an accessible bridge into Cambodian culture for Western readers.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Searing and hopeful, ‘Three Flames’ chronicles family’s life
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2020/0128/Searing-and-hopeful-Three-Flames-chronicles-family-s-life
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe