by Loung Ung
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Product Description
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed. Harrowing yet hopeful, Loung's powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality.
Amazon.com Review
Written in the present tense, First They Killed My Father will put you right in the midst of the action--action you'll wish had never happened. It's a tough read, but definitely a worthwhile one, and the author's personality and strength shine through on every page. Covering the years from 1975 to 1979, the story moves from the deaths of multiple family members to the forced separation of the survivors, leading ultimately to the reuniting of much of the family, followed by marriages and immigrations. The brutality seems unending--beatings, starvation, attempted rape, mental cruelty--and yet the narrator (a young girl) never stops fighting for escape and survival. Sad and courageous, her life and the lives of her young siblings provide quite a powerful example of how war can so deeply affect children--especially a war in which they are trained to be an integral part of the armed forces. For anyone interested in Cambodia's recent history, this book shares a valuable personal view of events. --Jill Lightner
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Unforgettable, 2008-10-25
What a powerful, remarkable story that centers on a girl's will to survive. I won't forget this book, not for a very long time, if ever. I felt like I was with the narrator, right beside her, in the midst of the killing fields. Whenever I'm having a tough day now, and worried about some trivial thing, I remember this book. Fantastic. "First They Killed My Father" certainly isn't an easy read (in terms of emotional intensity), but it's one of the most important books I've read.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Powerful story about survival, 2008-10-05
Wow, I was blown away by this book. Despite the virtually universal good reviews, this book sat on my desk for months. I wasn't sure I was up to reading about the horrors of Pol Pot. I have seen the pictures of the Killing Fields and read about it before.
But my conscience bothered me and I eventually read it, thinking if it was too depressing, I'd simply chuck it. But like many, I was sucked in once I started - read it in less than a day - stayed up half the night reading.
Powerful story of survival and the incredible cruelty of Man brought about by ignorance and poverty.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
quick reading, 2008-04-12
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.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Amazing memoir based during Cambodia's struggle, 2008-03-31
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.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Review, 2008-03-14
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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