Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

First They Killed My Father: Film tie-in by Loung Ung

31 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

this book was a very hard thing to read. it includes almost every content warning you can imagine. I can't believe i did not learn about this in any of my schooling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

This is the second book I read about the events that happened in Cambodia (this first was Survival In The Killing Fields - I actually recommend you start with that one as it gives so much extra context to experience things from an adult perspective first).

This book was pretty powerful. Seeing the chaos and hardships through the eyes of the most vulnerable (a little girl) was an eye opening experience. I respect the authors strength and bravery during those times. This book is about a family trying to stay together and survive during a collapse of their society. It's easy and enjoyable to read but the heavy content makes is challenging at times. It's written so vividly that you feel as though it's fiction.

It's crazy that this happened not so long ago. This book truly illustrates the dangers of communism and a tyrannical government. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in crimes against humanity and recent history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Vomit

trs01's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and War

term_free's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.25

This book is very eye-opening to the true nature of the great tragedy that is the Cambodian genocide. The way this book is written expands the impact with its extremely well-written and gut-wrenching imagery. The young age of Loung puts a small damper on getting the full picture of what was really going on and the

visions that the young loung

has, makes me question things a bit, but other than that I think this book is really good on expanding your knowledge and awareness of this terrible event in Cambodian history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Genocide, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and War

raebelanger's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and War

paperlove's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

4.25

Ich kannte mich zuvor überhaupt nicht mit der Geschichte Kambodschas aus und war dementsprechend schockiert, über den Genozid der 1970er Jahre dieses Landes zu erfahren.
Die Erzählung ist sehr einnehmend aus Kindersicht der Autorin geschrieben, und war für mich emotional manchmal nur schwer zu ertragen. Von Völkermord, Zwangsarbeit, bis hin zu sexuellem Missbrauch und Tod ist wirklich alles dabei, was nicht nur die Autorin und ihre Familie, sondern das die Bevölkerung von Kambodscha damals ertragen musste.
Anders als in einigen Rezensionen kritisch erwähnt, hat mich der Schreibstil überhaupt nicht gestört, sondern sogar eher dazu geführt, dass ich manchmal den Eindruck hatte, das Geschehen hautnah mitzuerleben - mit all seinen schrecklichen Facetten.

Ich hätte mir allerdings gewünscht, dass man ein paar wenige historische Hintergründe zu den Motiven der roten Khmer erfährt. Für mich war nicht ganz klar, welches Ziel sie verfolgen und warum sie Millionen ihrer eigenen Landsleute entweder ermorden, oder unter unter schrecklichen Umständen infolge Krankheiten oder Hunger sterben lassen. Es gibt dafür natürlich absolut keine Rechtfertigung, und dennoch hätte es mir geholfen, ihre Taten aus ihrer Sicht besser einzuordnen.

Alles in allem aber eine sehr empfehlenswerte Erzählung, die ich vermutlich nicht mehr so schnell vergessen werde. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Rape, Death of parent, Murder, and War

mer3bear's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Rape

Minor: Vomit

alyssatuininga's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Another heartbreakingly sad memoir, this one about a young girl who survived the Cambodian genocide.   I enjoyed learning about this time period in Cambodia but this was a really rough one. As always I have a hard time reviewing memoirs but this one was well-written, easy to follow, and informative. I did find it being set in the present tense a little off-pointing and found some of the mature insight weird in a child's voice and perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

gaeliloveweiss's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

swjessie10's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

This was a wonderful book. It was very emotional for me, especially due to my family connection in Cambodia. It was sad to hear about the awful experiences of war, genocide, and killing during the Khmer Rouge. The author told the story well in her first-person, present tense narrative. It follows her as a young child and what happens to each family member during the 4 years and then what happens when they find safety again, some as refugees. 
It was both hard to put down (because I wanted to keep reading) and something I needed to put down to give myself an emotional break.

There are some gruesome details regarding the killings and attacks, painting a picture in your mind. 

I learned so much about the Khmer Rouge as well as Cambodian culture before, during and after the Khmer Rouge. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape