Who has read this book? I bought this and started reading it, but it was kinda gruesuome. I exchanged it with a book on the History of Shintoism (hey, its my religion, gotta know bout it).

For those of you who have not, its about a young Khmer girl who's father was a government official of the liberal Lon Nol regime, but who had to hide their life of luxury after the Khmer Rouge came to power. Its basically a memoir.

What are your feelings on the book if you have read it? If you haven't, would you want to.

yeah i read the book.. i wasn't particularly impressed.. basically she romanticized the pol pot era and she painted herself as this brave survivor.. first of all, she was like 6 or something and yet she was able to describe certain situations in such incredible details.. makes it hard for me to believe

and i felt she was a bit racist toward khmers.. she made a lot of effort to distinguish herself from other khmers because of her "chineseness". granted pol pot and his croonies probably hated chinese people more than the khmers, but she made herself seem superior.. my dad is full blooded chinese. he's not all drama queen about it

overall, i applaud her effort in writing about the khmer rouge.. but like i said before, i would be more satisfied if she labeled her work as fiction instead of memior.. its too incredibly simplistic and way far from the truth. she wrote with the aim to shock and to tug on her readers' heartstrings.. i dont think her work was particularly very honest

this website does a great job in compiling reviews of the book. the overall sentiment is similar to mine.

http://www.khmerinstitute.org/

Maye be she wants to stress that Cambodian Chineses or Khmers mixed with Chineses were being more targeted by Khmer Rouges than say a pure Khmer. Likewise, Cambodian Viets were the most targeted by the Khmer Rouges. It seems like you have problem with people who like to express their full heritage. I bet you would accuse her of being a pure Khmer wannabe if she said she's pure Khmer, which she's not. It seems like you want her to ly about her true identity.

^during 1975-1979 everyone living in Cambodia was tortured. it was not some ethnic cleansing. if ethnic cleansing was the case, then half of my family would not have died. There are about 13-14 million cambodians living in cambodia (the size of Texas).nearly 1.7 million cambodians died and your trying to say that only mixed cambodians where tortured. EVERYONE WAS A VICTIM. everyone lived through comminusm. pure cambodians did NOT have an upper hand in this, if so what then? and that's good that loung ung told us about her other half. But she made it seem like SHE WAS the only victim cuz shes "chinese". have you ever seen how she looks like? SHE LOOKS LIKE A TYPICAL CAMBODIAN. even if ethnic cleansing was the only thing killing people then, she and her family would not have been victims (if that was the case). besides, everyone is mixed with something. THERE ARE NO PURE ONES.....so like i said earlier, EVERYONE WAS A VICTIM IN CAMBODIA. its just a slap in the face cuz she's saying that only mixed cambodians were victims. her being chinese had no impact of her family dying. Her father was one of the soldier. enuff said.

Did I said all mixed Chinese/Khmers were tortured. All I said were that they were more likely to be targeted than a pure Khmer. Don't put words in my mouth. Yes, agreed with you that people from all ethnic groups were victimized by KR. It's just that some groups are more likely than others. Unless, you yourself had lived through the Khmer Rouge, then you don't know what it was like back then. Hearing from second hands is not like living through it yourself. Trust me me on this. Here are the orders of people that the Khmer Rouge would likely to target at. No. 1 being the most likely.


1. Cambodian Viets
2. Khmers with ties to the old regime (Lon Nol)
3. Chinese/Mixed Chinese Khmers and Khmers who were "liberated" after the fall of Phnom Penh -- these two groups were tied in my opinion.
4. Pure Khmer.

have you read her book? do you know what was said in that book? NO ONE IS TRYING TO PUT WORDS IN YOUR MOUTH, WHY THE fu-k WOULD I? anyhow, what I am saying is that Loung ung stated that it was ethnic cleansing that cause the death of 1.7 million lives. WTF. That aint true. second of all, i didnt live through the khmer rouge (thank god), but YOU didnt read her book to see her misconception of cambodians. AND NO YOU DID NOT SAY ALL CAMBODIANS..you said MAYBE. well if you're not sure, i suggest you just stay quiet til you figure out to read first before suggesting your ideas or stating your opinions. I've read it throughly enough to see her mistakes about cambodia.

are you cambodian? are your not cambodian or 1/3 cambodian, if so, then you will not catch her mistakes about cambodia in her book.

She herself said she made some mistakes and false information writing that book because she was soo young. if you ask me, id rather ask my fu-kEN PARENTS about the happen, then believe a perspective of a 5 year old who cant recall. my sis was fu-ken 7 at the time loung ung was 5 and to my sis, it's all a blur and heartache.

most powerful people in cambodia are mixed...even back during the khmer rouge. if ethnic cleansing was the reason for the lives of 1.7 million peole, then pol pot would be dead then.

^
Hey I don't have problem with people crticize her mistakes, but I have problem with people, such as chiza, who like to silent others that would like to express their full heritage, except for Khmer. Yes, I my self part Khmer and part Chinese. Just b/c people say they are part Chinese or part whatever doesn't mean they are looking down on or racist toward the "pure" breed Khmers. Now, why should they (mixed blood people) have to deny their other heritage(s) besides Khmer and living a ly.

Update: Well, if she said it was all ethnic cleansing than she's wrong. It was part ethnic cleansing, starvation, and political purge that killed 1.7 million Cambodians. However, you can't deny ethnic cleansing did occurred to a certain extent --- especially for Viet-Khmers.

And, I take your word for it regarding her book b/c I did not read it.

^i think your putting your problem through chiza. peole may try to silent you cuz your mix but chiza was just stating that she blantly said khmers were ugly. "khmers have flat nose, dark, almond eyes, short. My mom is beautiful cuz she's tall, western nose, light skin....my mom is chinese" in the book, she recalls looking at people dead on the ground and would say to herself "i hate all you" stating 'all you khmers.' "we use to go to angkor wat all the time, it was built for self-glorifacation". "we always put our shoes next to eachother by the door step cuz we're chinese" ALL ASIANS DO THAT, as if khmers had no manners. anyhow, as for the mixed blood. pratically everone is mixed.

umm how am i silencing her because she wants to express her full heritage or whatever? I'm half chinese buddy.

luong ung took special effort to distinguish herself from other khmers as if the KR only targetted non-"pure khmer" .. overall, her book is racist toward khmers..she has a very superior attitude. this is not only my impression but other people have thought so too

you didn't read the book but i did... so that says the validity of your post right?

Sure. Okay.

^dont get it. what's that suppose to mean?

You guys, please calm down. This is to discuss the book, not another bloodbath between Khmers and Chinese and other reasons. Thanks.

All of a sudden I'm less interested in the book

WTF!!! You guys making are so noise!!! Turn off the light all...Then going back to bed....Its steal early. It just only one o"çlock...But you guys make up a noise already....I said that the KHmerRouge kill all....

yes but that is precisely the criticism against the book