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Book's Description
From a childhood survivor of the Cambodian genocide under the regime of Pol Pot, this is a riveting narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her family, and their triumph of spirit.
Customer Reviews
Very, very powerful ,14/02/2007
This was the second book that I read about the Cambodian genocide directed by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and I found it quite digestable and very readable. But don't let that lead you to think it's pleasant. It's not.
Loung Ung was very young girl when the Khmer Rouge "liberated" Cambodia. She sees her friends and family die all around her, and is forced to work long, long days, surviving in a world with little food and practially no medicine. You get a very good background on what her life was like before the Khmer Rouge, and that certainly does help you comprehend the full effect when her father is taken away.
This is a short read, and very quick. The language is very conductive for sensations and feelings about what is going on. You feel a lot of sadness and frustration, but in a few parts Ung offers a little comic relief, such as when she is "baptised" at a refugee camp by some priest, and is only then sort of explained what is going on. My only real complaint is that Loung Ung didn't go to great lengths to explain certain pertinent aspects of Cambodian culture, but that's splitting hairs a bit.
This book isn't as graphic as it could have been, making it a bit lighter for the more casual reader, but the atrocities are still frightful. When you read a book and realize that the author was barely able to comprehend what was going on, you get a sense how much children suffered.
I still prefer "Survival in the Killing Fields" to this book, and for that reason deducted a star, but this book comes in a very close second.
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First They Killed My Father: ,13/05/2007
This is an amazing book. YOu cannot bleive what these families go through, you will cry as you read it but it is well worth the read
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Gripping and Heartbreaking ,09/03/2008
Some people have criticized this book because they believe some small historical detail might be wrong. I say, who cares about that? The horrors that are described in this book eclipse any small misconceptions or tiny errors in fact. Cambodia's people were starved, enslaved, murdered, and robbed by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. It's a most outrageous and horrific story, but it was the truth for millions. Miss Ung did an impressive job pulling the story together into book form. My heart breaks for her family and hundreds of thousands of other families there.
This should be required reading for high school students everywhere.
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Amazing memoir based during Cambodia's struggle ,31/03/2008
When I started to read the memoir, it was very hard to put down. It is written in first person tense through the eyes of a young girl struggling through the Khmer Rouge insurgency in Cambodia. I am a 1st generation American whose mother grew up in war torn Vietnam, so I had an interest in the Southeast Asian set memoir. Now I am trying to find ones as good as this one, but set in with my mother's experiences. This book was an in depth way to learn about the people & the recent history of struggle which many Cambodian Americans no doubt have also lived through but not spoken of. It really reinforces that family and love are the most important things in life. It's a must read.
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quick reading ,12/04/2008
I read all but a couple chapters of this book on a flight across the US. It is easy reading and I could not put it down. The horrors this author went through will make the reader pause to count his blessings. I think this is a must read for anyone who is unfamiliar with Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
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"My beautiful girl" he says to me as his lips quiver into a small smile, "I have to go away with these two men for awhile"... ,06/09/2006
Sadly, Loung's father never returned.
It's really hard to intellectualize, and even harder to internalize the kind of cruelty war heaps upon families. It is incomprehensible when such unspeakable horrors happen to children. One thing rings loud and clear... God or the Universe, or whatever you wish to call it, has provided the human spirit with an incredible will to survive, regardless of circumstances.
This book is about the overthrow of the Cambodian Government in 1975 by Communist forces, and the capture of Phnom Penh in April of that year. It's a true story, as remembered by a small and very precocious child whose world was turned upside down. Although heartbreaking and difficult to read, you won't be able to put it down. Ms. Ung's parents would be very proud of her.
Highly Recommended.
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Recommended... ,09/05/2006
"First They Killed My Father" is Loung Ung's gripping tale of her survival of the Cambodian holocaust. Born to middle class parents, Ung was living a happy childhood in Phnom Penh when the Khmer Rouge rolled in in April 1975. Soon her family, and all city dwellers, were driven out into farming villages to work in labor camps. The family splits up for various reasons, and some don't survive.
This memoir is written from an innocent perspective -- a child's understanding of what is going on around her. It was my first introduction to the Cambodian holocaust and as such is lacking as a comprehensive portrait of all that went on. The political buildup and philosophy of the Khmer Rouge are touched on, but not exhaustively. Other books (and movies such as "The Killing Fields") are available for that. This is a moving and well written account and I recommend it.
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First They Killed my Father ,28/01/2008
Loung Ung does an excellent job of describing what happened to her family growing up in the killing fields of Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime. She is an excellent writer. Although her story is very tragic, it is one that we all should hear. God is truly using Loung's tragic life to create something good and meaningful. Loung is a fascinating person that I feel honored to have met within the pages of her book. Thank you for sharing your story Loung. Your book has changed my life.
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Review ,14/03/2008
The book is very well-written. Loung Ung wrote with compassion,spirtual, and horrenic activities growing up under the Khmer Rogue regime. She experiences tortues,stravation, and execution of her parents. This book is very interesting to learn what the author went through live under a horrendous communist movement. The author wrote this book in a sense to give the reader an image on the conflict of war that is going in Cambodia. Readers would not be able to put this book down since it give the readers a hint of life growing up in the Khmer Rouge. Ung had to move from different works camps at a young age, and she experienced a hardship growing up in Cambodia during the 1974 to 1979. Between these two years, she watch baby brother died of stravation and the loss of his parent by the Khmer Rogue. Having to travel a large distance to Vietnam, Loung experience the execution of her people. The book will change your prespective of life and the mistery of what the cambodia people been through during the killing field years. Highly recommened to any type of readers.
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She remembers for us to remember... ,15/05/2007
In the epilogue, Loung thanks her editor, because she's says without the editing, we'd all be reading a much longer book. In this case, I would love to read "the much longer book".... I can't say enough positive about the book, even though I know it has received criticism. It's a first hand account of the same stories I've heard first hand over.. Stories that deserve to be retold so that hopefully they never have to be experienced again. Whether you are an academic with an interest in Cambodia / Southeast Asia or the casual reader, you will be haunted a young girl's life.. in " First They Killed My Father".[...]
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