“The Girl - Fille” – The book is translated by a shipper who is good at French

The Vietnamese Women Publishing House has just released the book “Con gai - Fille” by author Camille Laurens, translated by Huynh Huu Phuoc. Phuoc is the shipper who spoke directly in French during the exchange with writer Marc Levy in Ho Chi Minh City in November 2022.

The book "Daughter - Fille". (Photo: Vietnamese Women Publishing House)

“The Daughter - Fille” unfolds the fate of a woman - through the character Laurence Barraqué, who faces changes in French society over the past 40 years. Born in 1959 into a middle-class family, Laurence Barraqué grew up with her sister in the northern French city of Rouen, with her father a doctor and her mother a housewife.

From a very early age, through language and his parents, Laurence understood that a daughter's position in life was always inferior to that of a son: When asked by the census taker in 1964 if he had any children, Laurence's father replied, "No, I have two daughters."

By the 1990s, as a mother, she wrestled with the question of what it meant to be a girl, and what lessons she should or should not teach.

“The Girl - Fille” is an interesting and unique work. Camille Laurens uses three-person narrative to describe and emphasize the thoughts, feelings and transformation from a girl to a woman. This helps to express the experience of women in the 20th-21st century in a unique and authentic way. To some extent, Laurence has become a representative of the life stories of countless women.

The author Camille Laurens, whose real name is Laurence Ruel-Mézières, was born in 1957 in Dijon. She taught in Rouen, then in Morocco from 1984. Since September 2011, she has taught at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.

In 1994, she suffered a personal tragedy, the loss of a child, which inspired her work “Philippe” (1995) and later “Cet absent-là”. Camille Laurens also published essays, notably “Quelques-uns” (1999), an essay on the problem of words. Several of her novels have been adapted into plays, and “Celle que vous croyez” was adapted into a film in 2019.

Since 2002, Camille Laurens has written for various newspapers such as Le Grain des mots, L'Humanité, Le Monde, Liberation. She was a member of the Prix Femina jury (2007-2019) and is currently a member of the Prix Goncourt jury.

Camille Laurens is considered one of the “grandmasters” of contemporary French literature. Pursuing the genre of “autofiction”, which she often calls “écriture de soi”, Camille Laurens has written many short stories and novels for more than two decades. And with “Con gai - Fille”, her literary talent has helped her to describe incisive moments of her childhood that influence her later adulthood, analyzing in a subtle and clear way the experience of women in a sexist society.

Translator Huynh Huu Phuoc.

The book was translated by Huynh Huu Phuoc, who goes by the name JB. The story of Huynh Huu Phuoc coming to “Con gai - Fille” was completely coincidental and is an inspiring story for many readers.

In 2022, one of the literary events that readers, especially young readers, are most interested in is French writer Marc Levy coming to Vietnam to interact with readers and attend a play adapted from his work in November in Ho Chi Minh City.

Huynh Huu Phuoc interacts with writer Marc Levy at Nguyen Van Binh Book Street, Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo taken from Nha Nam's clip)

During the exchange and chat with readers at Nguyen Van Binh Book Street, Ho Chi Minh City on November 9, everyone was surprised when a young man in a shipper uniform stood up and spoke directly to Marc Levy in French, without the need for an interpreter.

That is Huynh Huu Phuoc, a student studying a dual degree in French and Geography at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. Phuoc had just experienced family turmoil at the time, and had to work many jobs to earn money for his studies. Phuoc did not hesitate to take on any job, from working as a restaurant assistant, serving in a coffee shop, parking attendant, security guard, delivery man… Of all the jobs, delivery man is the one Phuoc has been working on the longest.

After the meeting with writer Marc Levy, the image of the French-speaking shipper was widely shared by the online community. And thanks to the kind hearts, Phuoc returned to school to complete his studies.

During his time back to school, Huynh Huu Phuoc completed his first translated book “Con gai - Fille” – a chance that connected him to the Vietnamese Women's Publishing House.

Sharing about the French-speaking shipper and his first translated book, a representative of the Vietnamese Women's Publishing House said: "The story of Huynh Huu Phuoc has strongly inspired everyone about the spirit of never giving up, no matter how life challenges you. Becoming the "godmother" of Phuoc's first book as a translator, we hope that Phuoc's story about studying and strong will to rise up will inspire young people about the will to overcome adversity and conquer their dreams."

Phuong Hoa (according to nhandan.vn)

Source: https://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/97651/%E2%80%9CCon-gai---Fille%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-Cuon-sach-do-chang-shipper-gioi-tieng-Phap-lam-dich-gia