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Summary: SPEILBERG -- BUY THE RIGHTS QUICKLY!
Review: What a great story Loung Ung has courageously shared with us! I was totally captivated by her honest and real account of what happened to her and her family. I was reluctant to read the book (even though I knew it was "my" kind of story) because I feared depression. Not only was I NOT depressed, but I could have read thousands of more pages. I was so surprised at how strong I felt after reading the book. It is empowering to feel a real person who has suffered from genocide, not just nameless statistics. Getting to know Loung Ung was fulfilling. Yes she was Cambodian and spoke a different language and had different customs, but she was like every other five-year old that has ever lived. Read this story and feel more alive. Appreciate your own strength inside you, even though you may never be tested of that strength like Ms. Ung and her family and countless others who have lived before, live know and will live in the future.
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Summary: First They Killed My Father
Review: Luong Ung's story held my attention completely. I have many friends who survived the killing fields of Pol Pot and their stories match hers in many ways. Seeing the author interviewed on television recently caused me to seek out this book. I was particularly focused on certain points of her story: how wedges of class envy and racial differences were driven between people to help fuel the killing, how the children endured forced political indoctrination, the detailed, vivid description of starvation from a child's point of view, and the spirit to survive often being fueled by hate. Loung used her hate for Pol Pot and what had been done to her family as a source of strength to survive, but the hate she developed never extinguished her love for her family. As Americans, do we really think we are immune from having a killing field happen here in America? We need to read this story and learn from it. Human history is filled with holocausts and will continue to be filled with holocausts because that is as much part of human nature as it is human nature to forget the lessons offered to us by these survivors. Loung Ung presented the crucible of human frailties for us to examine and for her to find a way to heal herself of some of the pain of her losses. I am indebted to her for her courage and care to share this with me.
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Summary: Few of Us Have Walked In Her Shoes
Review: This book tore at my heart strings like no other I have read on the topic of genocide. I live and work in Cambodia and have heard similar stories over and over again from Khmer survivors of the Pol Pot period. But reading this poignant account made me realize so deeply what hell the people of Cambodia suffered through. When one reads what Loung went through you cannot help but be in awe of her survival skills and how strongly the whole family struggled to survive. What amazed me was the realization that this hell went on for not months or a year but for around three years for this family. This book is simply written, but be prepared to weep for this young woman and her family.
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Summary: A book everyone should read
Review: From 1988 to 1990 I was living and working in Cambodia with OXFAM UK. It was almost daily that I was told, by my Cambodian collegues/friends, accounts of the killings and suffering that took place during the Khmer Rouge time. When I read Loung Ung's book, I felt as though I was back in Cambodia, being told another experience that emotionally tears one's heart apart. I can not comprehend how a child at that age would be able to deal with such brutalities and loss of parents and siblings. Loung Ung's book describes, through a personal account, an historical period in Cambodia that needs to be remembered and told. I would hope that, through reading of this book, our society would become more aware and compassionate towards others. Loung Ung's book is a must to be read by all.
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Summary: Amazing, moving story
Review: First They Killed My Father is a compelling story of security, destruction, hope and survival. Apart from the specifics of location and time, this is simply a great read. That the story is true, and that it is recent, only makes it more compelling. I did not pick up the book because of an interest in Asia, or in the politics and history of Cambodia. I read the book because it sounded interesting; the book did not dissapoint. It is a classic story, someone happy becomes unhappy, faces extreme odds, and in the end finds happiness again. The success of the book is in the telling of this tale, in its immediacy and sheer presence. For those interested in Pol Pot and Cambodian history, I imagine this is a good book to read. For those of us interested in reading good stories, written well, this is a great book.
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Summary: A Holocaust Awakening
Review: I read this book in one night sitting in a local bookstore. I later returned to purchase it after not being able to get thoughts of this horrid Holocaust and Loung's family out of my mind. I am quite embarassed: Why is such a horrid event overshadowed by what seems to be "THE" (read as "the only") Holocaust (Nazi Germany)? Why is this history of the Far East political realm downplayed in American classrooms, television media, and film? Though my high school history brushed over the Khmer Rouge, I was clueless about the full impact of that regime. I cannot help but try to learn more about the history and impact of communism, America's role in that impact, and what, if anything, we can do globally. Loung's contribution awakens the thought that not a whole lot remains stable (politically or otherwise) for any nation - change, good or bad, is inevitable. It is my hope that histories such as these will prevent such tragedies from reoccurring. In light of Eastern European problems, my hope is not long lived. This book touched my mind and my heart. Thank you, Loung.
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Summary: A gripping account of hell on earth
Review: This is a book that should awaken Americans to the hell that Cambodians endured between 1975 and 1979. The author tells her tale of misery caused by the murderous and inhuman Khmer Rouge and their bizarre leader Saloth Sar (Pol Pot). The author remembers the ordeal of her family and citizens of Phnom Penh being forcibly evicted into the hinterlands of Cambodia where many died of starvation, exhaustion and execution while working in labor camps to create the "agrarian utopia" devoid of technology, money and educated people. The author tells of the tragedy of being separated from her family at such a young age and later learning that her mother and father as well as two sisters died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. The book is powerful by reminding the world that genocide on a mass scale is not an isolated European phenomenon. It happened in Cambodia, yet the world and the media seem to forget this sordid episode in the history of the world. This is a story of survival against long odds. How anyone could survive an ordeal that the author describes in this book is beyond me. When I think I might be having a bad day, I need to simply remember that many people in the world have it a lot tougher than many of us do. Indeed, the fall of South Vietnam and Cambodia in April 1975 is not exactly a shining moment in U.S. history. Our cowardice in leaving the Cambodians and South Vietnamese to their own fates after propping them up and encouraging active resistance against the oommunist forces has to rank as one of the sadder days in our history. Having recently visited Cambodia, I have seen some of the killing fields and talked to many who have had their families destroyed during the period of 1975-1979. Almost every Cambodian family has been affected by that period. The author is to be lauded for writing a great book. It is an angaging read and can be read in one or two days. The book is riveting and makes one sad to think that this sort of thing happens in our world. The tragedy of the killing fields must be made known to the world and this book achieves that task. There are lessons to be learned so that this human tragedy can't happen again
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Summary: The story of an exceptional young woman
Review: I could not put it down. Loung's story is unbelievable. While I was reading her story I grew with her. In the beginning, you feel the sadness and pain she is going through. Towards the end the little girl grows out of this sadness and becomes incredibly strong and you as the reader experience this development with her and you stop crying when she does. Loung Ung is an exceptional young woman. I admire her work, accomplishments and her strength.
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Summary: Amazing Story of Survival
Review: This is truly an extraordinary book and I would highly recommend it. When I began reading the book, I was drawn in by the descriptions of this young child's world...the sights, the smells, the tastes. I was pulled into the story right from the beginning. As the author begins telling the story of the world collapsing around her, I found I could not put the book down. As the story evolves, you ask yourself, "How can a young child survive all of this?" I cried as Ms. Ung described what happened to her family and the world around her. I think this is a must read for everyone.
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Summary: An Incredible Narrative of Tragedy, Courage, and Survival.
Review: Having traveled extensively in Asia and keenly recalling the tragedy of Cambodia from media accounts and as depicted in the movie "The Killing Fields," I was attracted immediately to this subject matter. However, even then I was unprepared for the enormous impact this book would have on me. Anyone with respect for human dignity will surely be affected by this insider chonicle of the unspeakable atrocities committed against average, ordinary, and innocent Cambodian families and individuals. And yet, despite the enormity of the physical and psychological terrors, in the end, the triumph of a child and her siblings bravery, perseverance, and spirit leads to a story of ultimate survival and confirmation of light over darkness. This is an important book, not only in detailing the author's incredible individual ordeal, but also reminding us of the terrible consequences of a fanatical totalitarian fringe gaining power in any society. And finally this is a tough story, but also one to celebrate and learn from. It should be recommended reading in Universities around the world in the hope that the architects of tomorrow's societies be well aware of the dangers of fanatical extremism.
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