A review by mer3bear
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced
(not giving a star rating bc it feels wrong due to subject material)

First They Killed My Father is a super captivating narrative and (autobiographical) account of a girl who is 5 years old in Phnom Penh when the genocide starts in Cambodia. Very interesting read bc my mom  is from Phnomh Penh turned 6 the month the invasion happened. While the narration being from a child’s point of view threw me off at first, it ended up growing on me and I think it added a lot to the writing. I have a hard time critiquing stories like this because obviously it is based off real experience. A lot of the book especially in the dialogue serves to educate the reader (presumably non-Cambodian Americans) about the cambodian genocide and so I feel like because I already know all of that stuff it didn’t give me the same emotional reaction that I know other people had. 

I know personally my mom doesn’t like the book because she says it makes it seem like the genocide wasn’t that bad but mind you there are graphic descriptions of mass executions and graves, beheaded babies, people dying of starvation and dysentery, rape, not being able to breath from choking on the scent of rotting corpses everywhere, child soldiers, and slaves etc. Definitely a very heavy read but I also think it should be mandated reading for Americans who walk around literally having no idea what’s going on ever and especially for ones who become tourists in southeast asia. The book is well loved and criticisms come from inaccuracies in some historical elements towards the beginning but I think the emotional truth behind it all is super important. Not a fun read but def required reading for worldly knowledge and whatnot.
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