Authorship: the opus unicum of a promising writer The author of the novel, Suon Sorin, was born in 1930 in the Sangker district of Battambang, Cambodia.
A New Sun Rises Over the Old Land is his only known work of fiction. He is believed to have died during the Khmer Rouge period.
Literary style: a Cambodian zeitgeist The book is about 100 pages-long and is divided into 19 chapters, each of them 3-6 pages. Except for the
conclusion and
prologue, in which cyclo rider Sam is on his way to attend a National Congress as a delegate, the entire book is set in
flashback three years after the independence of Cambodia. It is a form of Cambodian
zeitgeist which can be read as a prescriptive tale. Looking back in time, it also looks back with both praise and criticism at the evolution of Cambodian society. Thus, the author is more concerned with types and class than the individual, his novel trying to encompass the problems of this society as a whole. the novel is a "singularly illuminating historical document of the new nation-offers a fresh view into a period of profound transformation in Cambodia." His main character's aspiration for a good life – guided by ethics, hard work and harmonious relations – echoes Sihanouk's promise of modernisation, as well as the ambiguity of his tenuous ideological balance between monarchism, conservatism and “Buddhist socialism”. Sorin highlights Chinese and Vietnamese origins of the capitalist class through their names, and contrasts them with Sam.
Significance: the beacon of hope of Cambodian literature In the literary movement of the Cambodian novel which emerged since the publication of
Sophat by
Rim Kin in 1938, the Khmer novels multiplied in 1960s with various tendencies. Whereas
Soth Polin had given into the
pessimism of
existentialism, in such books as
Life is pointless, Suon Sorin represents the hopes that were shared by many young Cambodians of his generation in the Sungkum as their country strived for independence. While some, such as David Chander, have praised the novel, others, with retrospect, have criticized the novel as
political propaganda too naive and plain: "the glorification of the Sihanouk regime comes across as very toadying." While not aiming directly at Suon Sorin, Jacques Népote and Khing Hoc Dy assert the quality of modern Cambodian literature (as opposed to the earlier classical literature) was “normally very poor” and that style of the writing from this period was often “careless and demagogic”. The literary promotion of Sihanouk's policies was equaled in the visual arts by Cambodian painter Nhek Dim. == Reception ==