I, literally, abandoned this book half-way through. I may not be an expert on good prose but I definitely recognize when I am NOT privy to such. This novel rests on the fact that it is an account of real events. A people's version of one of the "greatest-atrocities-of-the-twentieth-century." I don't intend to demean the subject matter here, but a lot of this book regurgitates, unquestioningly, a textbook understanding of the Khmer Rouge. The author blantly inserts generic socio-political backstory via her father's character and... dammit it's annoying!

Most memoirs tend to really get under my skin. It is bad enough now that so many people hold this democratic notion that everyone has a story to tell. Sure, such may be true, but most people can't tell a story.* Even worse, as is the case here, is when the author has such a compelling story that it is virtually an individual right to recount the events and a moral directive that we appreciate the text. The imperative of most memoirs of this type is a reductionist, monolithic, unreflexive projective vomit of "facts" where only the "truth" is of value.**

To be fair to this author, however, her writing is not as bad as a lot of memoirs. I'm giving her book two stars but I tend to be a harsh grader anyway. Just because I don't appreciate the book-as-written does mean that I am not engaged by horror and sorrow at what she has lived through under the Khmer Rouge.

For something more didactic regarding Cambodia circa 1975-1979, read "Sideshow" by William Shawcross.
Be careful, though, it's a little dated (yes, he refers to Cambodians as a "sensual race") and it also purports to be nonfiction. It doesn't suffer from some unblinking sense of entitlement, however. Shawcross is true journalist; an outsider to the story. He's not speaking from a point of unimpeachable privilege, he's not telling his story, but just a story and he's backing it up with research and careful analysis, as well as, managing to take out all the bullshit rhetorical devices.

* no, I cannot write either (and, yes, I am bitter).
** On this subject, I like "The Hazards of Memoir Writing" by Edward Said. Said responds to some of his critics about "erroneously" reconfiguring the past in narrative.

I did not know much of what happened in Cambodia in the 1970s before I read this book. This book is a first hand account of a girl living during the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge. This book isn't pretty but it is still one that is important to read.

This is an emotionally compelling memoir. Loung Ung recounts Pol Pot's seizure of power in Cambodia - well she tells her story, the experiences of a young girl, daughter of an upper middle class military policeman, and her family as they try to stay together and pass as peasants to survive the Khmer Rouge cleansing process. The story is told in the voice of a child which makes it especially powerful. While I only gave it two stars I'd still recommend it to most people. The reasons I didn't rate it higher: it was written long after Loung Ung had escaped from Cambodia so I am sceptical of many of the details regarding conversations and other less-significant incidents. No doubt many of these traumatic experiences are etched in her mind, but as with all memoirs one should recognize that the passage of time effects memory and recollection. Not a deal breaker for me though because the important parts of this book deal with her feelings and emotions which I'm sure she accurately recalls regardless of the details. Another petty criticism is that since it's told in the voice of a child, the reader doesn't get the broader picture - why was Pol Pot able to sieze power, how did Southeast Asia react, who was involved in organized opposition if there was any? But that's just me being lazy and not wanting to do background reading on my own.

This was a touching book. It was about struggle, hunger, trying times and a girl's strength to overcome. It's about a family's love, a woman's experience as a child in Cambodia. I was often in tears throughout the book imagining what it must have been like to go through such horrible things.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator. I definitely recommend this book to anyone whom wants to learn about this part of history, or really to anyone!

I read this book in prepartion to our trip to Cambodia in April. I would have read it anyway, however, because I love depressing autobiographies. This one was far different than any other I have ever read being that it was from a child's perspective. It retold her unbelievable story of escaping the killing fields during Pol Pot's reign with the Khmer Rouge. I think everyone in my generation needs to read this book. Many people my age do not even know Pol Pot's name, moreless that he killed over 2 million people...in the 1970's none the less! Her story will make you appreciate even the simplest things in life.

I visited SE Asia this year & visiting S-21 prison & the Killing Fields moved me more than anything else I saw.

& this book moved me more than anything else I read this year.

No child should suffer what Loung does and she doesn't flinch from telling things that show her in a less than favourable light - but if she hadn't been an extremely tough five year old, she would never have survived in one of the few funny lines in the book, Loung says she doesn't know how her far softer sister did!

Some recountings are like visualisations from when Loung was much older, but although they are a little jarring I think they are an important part of her story.

Most highly recommended!

Mit diesem Buch habe ich meine A-Z Autorinnenchallenge abgeschlossen und ich habe es nicht bereut. Ursprünglich wollte ich ja ein anders lesen, aber das andere lässt sich auch hervorragend in die 2019er Eu-Autorinnenchallenge einbauen.

Dieses Werk habe ich gewählt, weil ein Lesefreund mich darauf aufmerksam gemacht hat und weil ich am Schauplatz der autobiografischen Geschichte überall im Jahr 2015 war: Killing Fields, Pnom Penh, Die Gefängnisse, Tonle Sap der Norden Kambodschas... Auch durfte ich einem anderen, sehr alten Überlebenden des Foltergefängnisses in Pnom Penh die Hand schütteln und ihm seine Biografie abkaufen.

Doch nun von der Motivation zum Werk selbst. Stilistisch ist es doch etwas verwirrend gestrickt, weil die Autorin Präsens und Ich-Form eines kleinen Mädchens, der Protagonistin, gewählt hat, die dann aber nicht immer authentisch kindgerecht sondern oft wie eine erwachsene Schriftstellerin formuliert. Bei jedem komplexen Wort - teilweise präsentiert die Autorin einen ausnehmend komplexen Sprachschatz - und bei den öfter eingestreuten Konjunktivsatzkonstruktionen hat es mich als Leserin geschüttelt, weil dieser Stil so ambivalent und definitiv verwirrend ist wenn so etws ein 5-9 jähriges Mädchen formuliert.

Trotz dieser zugegebenermaßen ernsteren stilistischen Mängel hat Luong Ung aber etwas Wichtiges zu erzählen. Die Geschichte der Familie ist herzzerreißend, im Wohlstand beginnend und anschließend geprägt von permanenter Flucht, Hunger, Krankheit und Tod, erst stirbt die die Schwester, dann werden Vater und Mutter von den Soldaten abgeholt und erschossen. Anschießend irren drei voneinander getrennte minderjährige Kinder durch die Lager, finden sich zufällig wieder und machen sich auf, ihre restlichen erwachsenen Geschwister zu suchen.

Auch die Beschreibungen der Landschaft, der Leute und der Situationen sind plastisch realistisch und eindrücklich, das kann die Luong Ung sehr gut. Pnom Penh war 2015 genauso, wie die Autorin die Stadt 1975 so anschaulich geschildert hat. Hat sich fast gar nix geändert, bis auf ein paar Hochhäuser als Hotels. Auch ein paar Gedenkstätten als Lager habe ich gesehen und darin natürlich auch die Zeitdokumente der Insassen. Diese stimmen mit meinen Eindrücken deckungsgleich überein.

Das Thema der Kindersoldaten ist zudem ein spannender Aspekt in der Geschichte dieses Krieges der Roten Khmer gegen ihre eigene Bevölkerung. Auch wenn die Protagonistin als junges Mädchen zwar nicht authentisch formuliert, da sie in der Ich-Form von einem kleinen Mädchen gesprochen werden, findet das erwachsene Ich der Autorin aber dennoch sehr weise Worte, die sie kurz und knackig auf den Punkt bringt:
"Seine Regierung hat ein rachgieriges, blutdürstiges Volk geschaffen. Pol Pot hat aus mir ein kleines Mädchen gemacht, das töten will."

Eines sollte noch gesagt werden. Diese Familiengeschichte ist harter Tobak und nichts für zarte Gemüter, dennoch sollten wir auch auf einen solchen grausamen "Krieg" (eigentlich ja nur Konflikt in einem Land) hinschauen.

Fazit: Weil mir persönlich die Geschichte, die erzählt wird, immer wichtiger ist als die formale Struktur, bin ich über die Erzählkonstruktion sehr schnell hinweggekommen, und weil es zudem an sprachlich ausgereiften Sätzen überhaupt nicht gemangelt hat. Deshalb vergebe ich 3,5+ Sterne, die ich leichten Herzens gerne auf 4 Sterne aufrunden möchte.

P.S.: Die Biografie ist 2017 von Angelina Jolie als Regisseurin verfilmt worden und war 2018 für den Auslandsoscar nomiert. Läuft bei uns in Österreich in den Programmkinos

Шинэ хүүхэдтэй болох үедээ уншсан болоод ч тэр үү, амар тайван амьдрал, аз жаргалтай ирээдүй ямар үнэ цэнэтэйг ухаарсаар...

A heartbreaking and devastating story by Loung Ung. We really do not realise how lucky we are in comparison to some of the horrors others have lived through. This story will remain with me for a long time. Highly recommend.

Na een bezoek aan de Killing Fields in Cambodja, wilde ik graag meer lezen over deze vreselijke periode in Cambodja. Online werd dit boek onder andere aangeraden. En wat een heftig boek zeg. Het boek is geschreven vanuit het perspectief van een 5 jarig meisje (Loung) en wat heeft zij verschrikkelijke dingen meegemaakt.

Ik zou dit boek zeker aanraden aan mensen die meer over Cambodja willen leren. Ik vond het mooi om te lezen hoe zij Phnom Penh beschreef voor het Khmer regime aan de macht kwam (ook omdat ik net daar was geweest). Daarna beschreef zij mooi soms vanuit haar eigen perspectief als kind en soms vanuit een alwetend perspectief, hoe de oorlog verliep. Hoe bruut de moorden waren die om haar heen werden gepleegd. Maar ook hoe mensen werden mishandeld, uitgehongerd en geïndoctrineerd.
Wat een verschrikkelijk stuk geschiedenis. En wat vreemd dat dit stukje geschiedenis in Nederland niet wordt behandeld op school. En wat verschrikkelijk dat mensen zulke dingen bij anderen kunnen doen, onbegrijpelijk…

The Cambodian Genocide is not one you learn about in schools or often hear people mention when they are asked to recall genocides that have happened in the 20th century, but it should be. This book floored me. I had to often remind myself that what I am reading is a recollection of factual events and not fiction because they were so horrific and described humanity it is utmost cruellest form.

We see the story unfold through Luong's eyes, starting as a 5-year-old. She takes us along on her journey as a young girl living in opulence and stability, ripped away from everything she knows and thrown into a world of unrelenting violence and torture, totally void of any compassion and mercy.

The Khmer Rouge aimed to establish a classless communist state based on a rural agrarian economy and a complete rejection of the free market and capitalism. This resulted in the abolishment of money, religious practices, places of worship and schools. Universities and government buildings were either closed or turned into reeducation camps and prisons. Now living as part of a society that murders its citizens for being intellectuals, professionals and ethnic minorities, Luong and her family must hide their true identities in a desperate effort to survive. Anything that signified they were 'impure' would have cost them their lives and the Khmer Rouge did not extend any mercy to children.

There is a constant sense of hopelessness whilst reading and thinking about how this young girl will not only survive but escape a ruthless regime. And if she does, how will she be able to live a normal life after witnessing the atrocities she did. Thankfully she does escape and has been able to share her harrowing and brave story with the world. Luong's book is a difficult read but also an incredibly important one. Books like this fill in the gaps of history that would have been either forgotten or erased over time.

I think it is pertinent to mention here that there is a current genocide happening against Uyghur Muslims in China. If you do not know about it, please do your research and also raise awareness. If the excuse for lack of awareness and action during the Cambodian Genocide was lack of reporting and media, then we do not have that excuse. Especially when social media has the power it does today. The information is there if you make the effort to look it up and educate yourself.

This is a memoir of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia (Kampuchea) from 1975 to 1980. It’s harrowing at times and sad but an important record.

Loung was only 5 when it started. She was the sixth of seven children living comfortably well off in Phnom Phen. Khmer Rouge soldiers forced everyone out of the cities to work in rice fields. The goal was to create a rich socialist, agrarian society (probably the stupidest idea since communism itself). Loung has a clear memory of the time despite her age. She is one of those people who have a clear and active mind and a vivid imagination. Even at her age, she saw through the propaganda BS.

Loung and her family worked long hours while starving, staying silent because everyone was informing on each other for food. She talks about the emotional toll of living in fear all the time. It led to hate and rage for her and many others. The educated were persecuted, so Loung and her siblings had to act stupid and illiterate. Ethnic cleansing took place. Her mother was half-Chinese, so they tried to darken their skin with dirt. People got sick but since all the doctors and nurses had been killed, hospitals were just where you went to die. I’m surprised as many of the family survived as they did.

Though the Angkar says we are all equal in Democratic Kampuchea, we are not. We live and are treated like slaves. In our garden, the Angkar provides us with seeds and we may plant anything we choose, but everything we grow belongs not to us but to the community. The base people eat the berries and vegetables from the community gardens, but the new people are punished if they do. During the harvest season the crops from the fields are turned over to the village chief, who then rations the food to the fifty families. As always, no matter how plentiful the crops, there is never enough food for the new people. Stealing food is viewed as a heinous crime and, if caught, offenders risk either getting their fingers cut off in the public square or being forced to grow a vegetable garden in an area near identified minefields. ... People who work in these areas do not come back to the village. ... In the new pure agrarian society, there is no place for disabled people.

Among the many crimes that exist in the Khmer Rouge society, bartering for food is viewed as an act of treason. If caught, the trader is whipped into confessing the names of all parties involved. The Khmer Rouge believes one individual should not have what the rest of the country does not have. When one person secretly acquires more food than the others have there is an inequality of food distribution in the community. Since we are all supposed to be equal, if one person starves, then all should starve.

The narration is in present tense. I didn’t really like it. Luong noted that she tried it in past tense first but it didn’t feel immediate. Still, I would’ve preferred past tense.

Language: None
Sexual Content: Some descriptions of nudity and attempted rape
Violence: Executions, beatings, war crimes
Harm to Animals: Some pets get eaten. Others are hunted for food.
Harm to Children: Many orphaned; emotional abuse; some die of starvation and disease; soldiers kill infants and children for fun, etc. Victims of war crimes.
Other (Triggers):  Attempted rape of child; bombardments