First They Killed My Father

I put off reading this book for about 3 years because I thought it would be a depressing and difficult read. I was right, but the story is compelling and an important one to learn. I am happy for the author that she was able to heal through the writing process and that she continues to advocate for Cambodia.

What a devastating story. I did not know much of anything about the Cambodian genocide before reading this. My kids are older than the author, I cannot imagine them enduring what she did. They don't even want to do laundry. The human spirit is so tough.

This book was my very first book I've read about Cambodia and what happened during the Khmer Rouge. Before this, I had read a lot on North Korea, memoirs, biographies, non-fiction historical accounts, the gamut. It stuns and astounds me that so much suffering for so many people can come entirely from the actions of so few. Each story breaks my heart, but I read more because I feel like these people's stories need to be remembered and read and recommended to others as cautionary tales and as teaching tools and as stories of human resilience.

I almost think this one account is hands down worse than many of the accounts I've read from North Korea. Maybe it's the point of view, that of Loung Ung, child in a family of seven, who had to watch all this happen at such a young age. It was heartbreaking watching her entire world view change so dramatically from her relatively untroubled upbringing in Phnom Penh, to her confusion when they evacuated, to devastation, to hatred, to numbness. She saw so much, grew up so fast, endured so much.

While this was my first book involving Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, I don't think it will be my last. This was such a good book, but I will need to be careful who I recommend it to. It is decidedly not a happy story, does not have a happy ending, and it does not pull punches. I'm very glad to have read it, though.

Very powerful story. Definitely on my list of books you must read in your lifetime.

When I was in college, I took a course on political violence. For our unit on genocide, we discussed the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia and the over 2 million people they killed, all in the name of creating an agrarian society. We also watched the movie made shortly after the end of the war, “The Killing Fields.” This film was devastating and deeply effecting, and I have thought of it often in the several years since. It is what made me want to read this book, which has been equally if not more devastating and effecting. It's a beautifully written memoir from the perspective of the author as she was when the Khmer Rouge takeover and genocide occurred - a young child. Reading the events in her youthful voice made them all the more real to me, and even those not familiar with the war in Cambodia or the violence that happened there will both enjoy this book, be educated by it, and not be able to forget it. Highly recommended.