First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) by Loung Ung Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.)
Book Review: Beautiful Story
Summary: 4 Stars
I am preparing for a trip to Cambodia and was told to read "First They Killed My Father" in order to better situate the history of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot's impact on Cambodians.
I would also recommend that all those who are about to visit this country or want to gain a better understanding of the realities of genocide read this book. I would also read Pol Pot etc to get a better historical account.
All in all, Loung is a beautiful writer and her courageous story shines throughout her vivid memoir.
Book Review: Waste of time.
Summary: 1 Stars
The only thing more tragic than Luong's story is her horrendous prose. Slow and full of purple prose, the book reads like a 9th grade English essay complete with various spelling and grammar mistakes. Her choice to write this book in present tense as a 5 year old is confusing. Giving her the benefit of a doubt that, okay, traumatic events stick with you, she employs faulty literary devices to explain to the reader the politics and atrocities of the war. This would have worked if she were LOOKING BACK. However, she uses dreams, day dreams (mostly putting herself in her family's shoes), artfully arranged clouds and adults speaking to children to convey what she "thinks" is happening. And don't get me started on her extra sensory perception abilities. How did she "sense" that her mother and sister had died while she herself stated that she wasn't even sure if her father was dead or alive? Her ESP is quite selective.
I went into this think I would 1) learn something about the Pol Pot regime and 2) experience a tragic story of a young girl growing up during this regime. What I got was a strange mix of memoir, fantasy and soap opera. She treats her readers like dunces--reminding you how a family member died every couple of pages, employs a metaphor then explains its meaning sentences later. I came away learning a tiny amount of Cambodian history and culture and am unsure on a few of the facts in this book. Everyone has a story, but not everyone can write a compelling book.
Book Review: A tear pulling story.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was really moved by this book. The woman lost both parents and two sisters to the Khymer Rouge. She survived by moving around and dodging the bloodthirsty Kyhmer Rouge. She kept moving and believing in herself, and this ultimately saved her. She credits he murdered father with helping her move on.
This is an incredible story of a middle class family in Cambodia who experienced all the material things before the revolution and much of the agony after. They left the capital with an auto until it ran out of gas. They sought shelter with relatives. Then they escaped to another village and pretended to be poor farmers.
The family was broken apart as the parents thought of how to save their children.
This is a truly sad but inspirational book. The author went on to great things, even though she suffered. An inspirational read.
Book Review: The Survival of the Cambodian Spirit
Summary: 5 Stars
My daughter has been volunteering at an orphanage outside Phnom Penh since July and asked me to read this book before coming to visit her at Thanksgiving so I can understand what the Cambodian people endured under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Loung Ung was only five years old in April of 1975 when the Khmer Rouge moved into Phnom Penh and her family immediately left the city. She had a younger sister, two older sisters and three older brothers. Her father worked as a military police captain, a position that put him and his family at risk should that information be learned by the Khmer Rouge. Luong's mother was half Chinese and as a consequence the family was also at risk because of their light skin color. Loung has written an extremely engaging book, which incorporates over 100 pages of family history and details of this family's life under the Khmer Rouge provided by a brother who was 16 in 1975. The Khmer Rouge killed an estimated two million people from 1975 to 1979 through systematic starvation, forced labor, execution and disease. This was a fourth of Cambodia's population. As Luong says, if you lived in Cambodia at this time, this would be your story, too. My daughter tells me everyone in Cambodia, including the 67 orphans at APCA, is happy. I can't wait to meet first hand the people of this country who endured the atrocities inflicted on them by the Khmer Rouge and came out the other side with their spirits intact.Book Review: This family's story is truly unforgettable
Summary: 5 Stars
First They Killed My Father is a poignant story told from the perspective of a child who is experiencing the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970's. This true story of the daughter of a high-ranking government official in Phnom Penh, who was in imminent danger because of her family's status. Her descriptions of the events are poignant, compelling and informative. The memoir is captivating and illustrates the dispersion of her family, the brutality that she had to endure, and the plight of many of the immigrants from Cambodia. Bolstered by the shocking bravery of one brother and sustained by her sister's gentle kindness amid brutality, Loung forged ahead to create a courageous new life. Harrowing yet hopeful, insightful and compelling, this family's story is truly unforgettable. The content is disturbing and violent, but it can be used in a high school classroom.