The Khmer Rouge seizure of Cambodia in 1975 began a period of horrific cruelty and death. Pol Pot's regime evacuated families from Phnom Penh, forcing them into the countryside into forced labor camps and makeshift villages where they were starved, beaten and more often than not executed for even the smallest disobedience. The author was 10 years old when her world violently fell apart, beginning the execution of her father. Before she was even 16, her mother was thrown into a well and she had lost younger brothers and sisters to disease and starvation.

Having fortunately and successfully been sponsored to the America by the only one of her father's brothers to escape the Khmer Rouge, the author shares the story of her amazing survival and that of her remaining siblings during this tragic period of Cambodia's history. While it is not surprising that memories of that period in her life would be extremely painful, she writes without notes of any self-pity. If anything there is a sense of pride in being Cambodian that permeates. Amidst the terror, violence and sorrow, she shares glimpses of the gentle side of Cambodian culture and some of their language.

The subject matter is disturbing, but it's an incredible work and one I'm so very glad to have read.

This isn't a very well written book but the story is amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. I have read a lot about the Holucust but I didn't know much about the Khmer Rouge invading Cambodia, so sad.

When opening up a book about a first-hand account of growing up in the Killing Fields of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, one is prepared to read about war, death, suffering, loss and despair. What one is not always expecting are also moments of friendship, generosity, self-sacrifice, and family unity. Chanrithy Him gives a fair account of all of these experiences which she lived through from the age of about 6 to 16. Basically she grew up in an unimaginable hell. She honestly narrates all the loss and suffering she and her family endured, but she can remember moments of humanity as well. The episode that pierced my heart the most was her description of when she made it to the first of many refugee camps, this one in Thailand, where she found an English class taking place (for a fee). She couldn't pay to attend, so she would stand outside the classroom window and copy down everything into a notebook. Other refugees find her doing this and before long, there is a long line of people stretching down the alley, men and women and youths, all copying into their notebooks from the person in front of them. There is always hope to be found in the human heart, even in the wake of horrific circumstances.

This is a very interesting auto biography of a Cambodian child who was 10 when the Kahmer Rouge took over. The life was terrible and what she and her family went through was horrendous. For those who have very little if any compassion for refugees or immigrants, I highly recommend this book be read. Written in the first person it speaks not only to the injustices, but the hardships that such a totalitarian/communist leadership is like to live under. I also suggest those who want to get close to such countries read this book as a reminder as to why our country is democratic. Too bad more high school students don't have this on their required reading list.

Although the writing style was very simplistic and didn't have much depth, we can still see the tremendous impact that Him's experiences had on her. The monstrosities she faced should be recognized and known. I applaud her for digging up such dark memories which I'm sure were difficult to bear. An overall good book and it definitely opened my eyes to what the Khmer Rouge did.

*audiobook*
After a visit to Cambodia I wanted some more background stories. This book was very good in explaining the impact of the Khmer Rouge on a local family. It was a bit difficult to keep all the similar names apart.
For the audiobook, the voice was very clear and soothing.

I have always heard that terrible things happened to the citizens of Cambodia under the regime of the Khmeer Rouge, but I never knew many specifics about it. I just knew that Pol Pot was a ruthless dictator, but he had since been wiped off the face of the earth, leaving the country of Cambodia to lick their wounds and try to heal from the pain they experienced under his rule. If you ever travel to the country, you can see the effects of this portion of their history still bearing down upon the people there. Chanrithy Him's memoir of what it was like to live under this brutal regime gives the situation context. I was able to see what a struggle it was as this once technological country tried to revert back to an agrarian society. What people were comfortable with was taken away from them and they had to fight to find enough food for their next meal. There are some real heart-wrenching scenes in this story that I will never be able to forget, but it took a little while to get started. I would have enjoyed it more if not so much background about Chanrithy's family was given and more time was spent showing the struggle that she had to endure. Even with this small flaw in the narrative, it was a wonderful book to read, and showed me more about this little corner of the world that I would have never been able to get from a history book.

This wrecked me. I started sobbing in the prologue and didn’t stop until the end. Khmer Rouge stories are so hard to read but makes me appreciate my life my parents provided me a little more. I think it was especially hard knowing we just passed the 49th anniversary that Khmer Rouge took over and hearing my parents’ own stories. Chanrithy came from the same province as my dad, the same age as my mom, and was even in the same refugee camp at the same time as my mom.

Here are some quotes that resonated with me the most (I listened to the audiobook so the sentence structure may not be the same as it is written):

”The cost of war is a lifelong legacy worn by children.”

”I want to be worthy of the suffering I endured as a child.”

”Only a few months ago these were weeds mixed with rice and fed to pigs. Today they are welcome food. Now we are worse than pigs.”

”A place where the only fight is to survive the revolution itself.”

”I know that I need her [mom] more than food.”

”Despite starvation, we haven’t completely lost our sense of sharing, a human courtesy the Khmer Rouge have yet to take away.”

”I want to have a say in my suffering.”

”Cambodia is a nation that houses the living dead.”

A memoir from Cambodia, this story is well written and, as you would expect in a story of genocide, sometimes painful to read. The author grew up in a relatively well-educated family in Phnom Penh, whose life was turned upside-down when the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975. The book is full of dignity and humanity, standing witness to the appalling lack of either from those in power at that time.

I liked this book. However, as it gives a detailed account of life in labor camps and under oppressive conditions, it is a difficult and sad read. With books like these, I tend to put myself in the middle of the story – so it was hard to be under the Khmer Rouge and their long, oppressive days in the fields. Some highlights of the book that left an impression on my mind:

•tHim’s life before the Khmer Rouge – and how her family lived an upper-middle class life in Cambodia.
•tHow the family was pushed out of their home and had to trek, by foot, to the country side.
•tOne of the saddest scenes was when she gets up one morning and sees her dad and uncles eating breakfast. She runs to get a bowl of rice and plans to join them. But when she walks into the dining room, they are gone. This is the last time she sees her father.
Soon after, we learn that he was killed.
•tHer experience with diarrhea and how her friend Cheng nurses her (including cleaning up the mess the illness has caused her to make) back to health.
•tLosing several family members, including her mother, one by one.
•tFinally getting out of camp, reuniting with her family, and emigrating to America.

I do have one critique of the book: Given that it was published in 2000, I would have liked to know how she turned out 20 years later. Her latest update seems to be around 1989/90. She does state that she’s helping other Cambodian refugees. But, how did things turn out for her, personally? Did she become a doctor? (I could see her being a psychiatrist.). Did she marry and have children? I looked her up online, and have not seen too many updates on her.
Nevertheless, this is a good book for students of history (whether one is in school, or one is a hobby historian). But be warned – it is quite traumatic to get through.

Initially, I read this to fulfill my requirements for an elective in college. It was recommended by my professor since our class tackles the political structure and history of South East Asian Countries and i prefer to review a book that focuses on the country of Cambodia.

This was an emotional read. It pertains to genocide during the Khmer Rouge. The depiction of what the author and her family went through was really horrible. And considering that this really happened, it makes you question the humanity of those who have started such atrocities. The cruelty, lack of regard for human life, scenes of hunger would make your skin crawl.

Reading this made me depress all throughout except the end part where the author and her sibling was then rescued by going inside the border of Thailand.

Overall, Ms. Chanrithy Him gives us the message that despite losses and suffering, there's still hope. That even being cast out in the dark, there would be light seeping through. This isn't about just describing the Khmer Rouge's horrible crimes but how survivors find solace and eventually overcome the savagery and brutality they've experience.


I got a 1 for the book report I prepared for this book [unfortunately I already loss my soft copy of it].

Wow, what a brutal book. I certainly hope that telling her story helped Ms. Him to deal with and process the memories of this terrible time that she lived through. I feel I must applaud her for being so honest about the things she experienced and saw without allowing her narrative to descend to the level of melodrama, as many of these type of memoirs do.

I had not known much about the history of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge before reading this book -- for most Americans, I think the events that were happening in Vietnam around the same time overshadowed these -- but I am glad to learn about what happened, brutal as it was. History such as this needs to be remembered so it will not be repeated.