First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung

A daughter of Cambodia remembers. Soon to be a Netflix original movie directed by Angelina Jolie. Until age five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of an educated, high-ranking government official. When the Khmer Rouge stormed the city in 1975, the young girl and her family fled from village to village. Fighting to hide their identity, the Ungs eventually were forced to separate to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans. As half her family died in labour camps by execution, starvation, and disease, Loung herself grew increasingly resilient and determined - armed with indomitable will, she miraculously managed to outlast the Khmer Rouge and survive the killing fields. FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER is her astonishing story, a memorable human drama of courage and survival against all odds.

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.

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.

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.