Memoir books from Cambodia
Recommended memoir books (5)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into memoir here are some memoir books from Cambodia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung EN
Description:
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed. Harrowing yet hopeful, Loung's powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet mir... continue
2.
The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam EN
Description:
A Cambodian woman sold into sexual slavery at the age of twelve describes the horrors she experienced until she managed to escape and discusses her role as an activist for the young women whom she has rescued from the region's brothels.
3.
The Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna EN
Description:
One family's quest to survive the devastation of the Khmer Rouge Year of the Rabbit tells the true story of one family’s desperate struggle to survive the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Immediately after declaring victory in the war, they set about evacuating the country’s major cities with the brutal ruthlessness and disregard for humanity that characterized the regime ultimately responsible for the deaths of one million citizens. Cartoonist Tian Veasna was born just three days after the Khmer Rouge take... continue
4.
Tomorrow I'm Dead : How a Seventeen-year-old Killing Field Survivor Became the Cambodian Freedom Army's Greatest Soldier by Bun Yom EN
Description:
In 1975, US troops had withdrawn from Cambodia, leaving the people defenseless against Pol Pot’s army, the Khmer Rouge. As the army took over Cambodia, thousands of innocent people were ordered out of their homes. In April 1975, fourteen-year-old Bun Yom was forced at gunpoint, along with his family, to march toward the steaming jungle. After a soldier separated Yom from his family, he had no idea he would not see them again for nine years. In his account of his involuntary journey from a normal childhood to enslavement in conditions so inhumane it seemed only death could free him, Yom shares ... continue
5.
When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge by Chanrithy Him EN
Description:
A survivor of the Cambodian genocide recounts a childhood in Cambodia, where rudimentary labor camps filled with death and illness were the norm and modern technology, such as cars and electricity, no longer existed. Reprint.