Good reads in English for Cambodians

[Anchor Moy]

We started to discuss this on another thread, but thought it could stand alone as a subject here, so everyone can weigh in with ideas for Cambodians who read English, but who don't have the culture of reading. Samouth was saying that reading makes him go to sleep. Surely we can find some entertaining and reasonably light fiction to get people into the habit of reading - books or e-books.

Just to start things off.
Free e-books here:
http://gutenberg.net.au/

Orwell - http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#orwell
Would definitely recommend Animal Farm as from the other thread (thx JSP) and 1984 also.
But i just had a look at the other books on this site and didn't see much else (interesting.)

Also recommend:
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World https://archive.org/details/ost-english ... ous_huxley
John Steinbeck - starting with Tortilla Flat and The Grapes of Wrath eventually. It's not easy, but a great read and a non-reading friend of mine started reading with these books.
Mark Twain - Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Boys adventures in the South USA. Mark Twain is also for adults. Language might be a bit difficult.

Easy reading: Grimm's Fairy Tales
Check it out - you'll love it or hate it. Small stories about magic and other things. Free link here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2591/2591-h/2591-h.htm

[frank lee bent]

I immediately thought of Mark Twain- i fear the dialect may be totally non readable.

[frank lee bent]

Steinbeck and others

http://www.openculture.com/2011/09/popu ... books.html

I think ""the Grapes of Wrath"" would give a surprising picture of the USA in extreme poverty in the time of my Grandparents.

I am sure Khmer do not know USA has not always been rich.

[TheGrinchSR]

I think something a bit more contemporary is more likely to fire the imagination. Most of us don't start on the "classics" but progress through a lot of modern fiction before we get there.

The trouble is that talking to many Khmer friends who can (or are trying to) read English is that many books just aren't on subjects that they feel any kind of connection to. The simplicity of their worlds aren't captured in Western fiction to any great extent.

[vladimir]

Many novels have been adapted for non-fluent levels.

Penguin, Macmillan and Oxford offer graded readers to suit almost any level, and most bookshops (PBC, United Knowledge, Monument) here offer them.

I would imagine Steinbeck would be a popular one, simple style, and Khmer students love Oliver Twist, so relevant.

[frank lee bent]

One of the great things about reading for me as a little kid was just this though! It took me away from the world I knew and could relate to.

[Anchor Moy]

I was also looking for cheap/free stuff to download, but I agree with Grinch about modern subjects that are easy to identify with.

Here is a list of free e-books, a lot of them modern, but apparently they are not all free.*
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9592 ... ree_eBooks_

This one is free to download; the story of a young "free-spirited" Canadian woman who moves to the US - discovery of life and happiness etc.(This one's for Samouth who was wondering about life and success on another thread.)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1575 ... in-america

*Actually, most of these books are paying. But not the one above.

[StroppyChops]

Lord of the Flies

[Username Taken]

Short stories. Online.

http://fairytalesoftheworld.com/quick-r ... ried-wolf/

Plenty to choose from on that link.

[Samouth]

Wow. You guy are so considerate. I can't thank enough. You guys have been so nice to us. I will try to change to my lazy habit to read more books. This is such a big inspiration for me to grab a book and finish it as soon as i possibly can. I just downloaded 13 years in America. This one is really interesting. I will start with this one.