Before I actually purchased this book, I had heard and read snippets about the place of what a great little read it is. Winner of Australian book industry’s New-comer of the Year award I still didn’t rush to the book store. It wasn’t until I sampled some of Alice Pung’s writing in The Monthly that I realised how much I appreciated her writing style and quick wit.
Unpolished Gem is Pung’s memoir of growing up in Melbourne within a traditional Chinese-Cambodian family. Amongst the good times and the bad, it details Pung’s reflections on Australian life as a traditional Chinese-Cambodian girl. Places and events are recognisable to all who have spent considerable time in Melbourne. Anyone who has grown up in a migrant household will relate to the work-a-holic parents, the expectation for offspring to succeed and the other challenges of assimilation.
What I especially loved was Pung’s humour. Her reflections are recounted and imagined in laugh out loud quality. Referring to her family as “wah-sers” (a habit of saying “wah” at anything amazing) and references to “Father Government” make this tale difficult to put down.
It is indeed a gem.
