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

3/5 rating. 238 pages.

Book #50 of 2022. Read December 26, 2022.

This is Loung’s story of living through the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge.

Loung’s young life was absolutely haunting and heartbreaking. Coming from a middle-class family living in Phnom Penh, Loung’s father had worked as part of Lon Nol’s government before they lost power. As the deadly Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot decimated the people and forcibly removed the majority of the population, Loung lived a sadly normal life under the regime. She suffered daily under enormous work conditions all while given either just enough food to make it to the next day, or often, relying on eating foraged food. This statement even overstates their amount of food as starvation was common and stooping down to eating earthworms to survive was not out of the question.

As the title betrays, the regime killed her father, and multiple other family members did not survive. This book really opened up the barbarity of the Khmer Rouge and the evil that was perpetrated on the Cambodian people. I learned a lot, but was deeply impacted by the death and suffering within Loung’s life.

Quotes:

“From 1975 to 1979 – through execution, starvation, disease, and forced labor – the Khmer Rouge systematically killed an estimated two million Cambodians, almost a fourth of the country’s population.”

“If you had been living in Cambodia during this period, this would be your story too.”

“My stomach curbs with nausea at the thought of death. But I do not know how to go on living with such sadness.”

“It seems like a lifetime ago when I was rich and spoiled in Phnom Penh, when children stole from me and I did not care. I could afford to be stolen from, but I judged them hardly for doing so. I thought thieves were worthless, too lazy to work for what they wanted. I understand now that they had to steal to survive.”

“I wonder if she knows that I choose her to fight with because I know she will always love and forgive me.”

“All around us, groups of five to ten people sit together and quietly consume just enough food to live for another day.”

“I cannot allow myself to cry because once I do I will be lost forever. I have to be strong.”

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