| Survival in the Killing Fields |  | Author: Haing Ngor
Creator: Roger Warner
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
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Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 217,973
Media: Paperback
Pages: 528
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0786713151
Dewey Decimal Number: 959
EAN: 9780786713158
ASIN: 0786713151
Publication Date: December 26, 2003
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Product Description
Nothing has shaped my life as much as surviving the Pol Pot regime. I am a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust. That's who I am," says Haing Ngor. And in his memoir, Survival in the Killing Fields, he tells the gripping and frequently terrifying story of his term in the hell created by the communist Khmer Rouge. Like Dith Pran, the Cambodian doctor and interpreter whom Ngor played in an Oscar-winning performance in The Killing Fields, Ngor lived through the atrocities that the 1984 film portrayed. Like Pran, too, Ngor was a doctor by profession, and he experienced firsthand his country's wretched descent, under the Khmer Rouge, into senseless brutality, slavery, squalor, starvation, and disease-all of which are recounted in sometimes unimaginable horror in Ngor's poignant memoir. Since the original publication of this searing personal chronicle, Haing Ngor's life has ended with his murder, which has never been satisfactorily solved. In an epilogue written especially for this new edition, Ngor's coauthor, Roger Warner, offers a glimpse into this complex, enigmatic man's last years-years that he lived "like his country: scarred, and incapable of fully healing."
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
Deeply Touching and Informative November 16, 2004
A reader (Austin, Texas)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
This book describes the graphic brutality of life under the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Its author, the actor who played the Cambodian journalist in "The Killing Fields", suffered far worse tragedies and torture than the subject of that film did, yet miraculously he survived and thrived after the fall of the regime. This book is shocking in its candid (but never lurid) description of the brutality and injustice of the Khmer Rouge regime, but it is also deeply touching as the story of the destruction of this man's family. The love story of him and his wife, who survived the horrors together until a cruel and ironic twist of fate separated them forever, is worthy of Shakespeare, but the author describes all events simply, honestly and with humility. He also gives a clear and intelligent description of life in Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge, which helps to make this book worthy reading for the historian. I strongly recommend Survival in the Killing Fields.
The best book on Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge February 13, 2007
N. Jacobs (Fish Creek, Wi USA)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
If you are interested in reading the memoir of someone who survived the reign of the Khmer Rouge, then I can't reccommend any other book higher. I have read two other books from survivors, but Ngor's book was by far my favourite.
What sets Ngor's book apart from the others that I have read is that Ngor was an adult when the Khmer Rouge took over. His memories are very lucid, and he fully comprehends what is going on around him. He watches his young wife die in his arms, those close to him betray, and everyone around him suffer. There are no high points throughout the entire odysey. Ngor brings you to the senseless and incomprehensible suffering that pervades every aspect of life under the Khmer Rouge.
One element I particularily enjoyed about Ngor's book is the extensive descriptions of Cambodian culture, attitudes and behaviour. Cambodian society (from what I can gather from what I have hitherto studied) is highly formal, with a rather complex series of formality set up for intereaction with others and a rather reserved character in regards to expression of feelings. The most important of which in this context being "kum," which is a sort of bitterness and longing for revenge, that becomes evident in a lot of what is happening. You will leave this read with a feeling of not only being inside of what is happening, but also for the actual mechanisms guiding behaviour.
This is, however, not a pleasant read in the least. The descriptions of the atrocities are beyond anything that I was expecting, and for that reason, I would seriously warn others that this is not for the faint at heart. Luckily, Ngor offers notes at the beginning of graphic chapters so that one can skip over them. You will lose sleep, and I can guarantee you that it makes any of those goofy horror movies like "Hostel" and "Turistas" look like a day at Disneyland. This horror is real, and not far in the past. Being that my normal area of study is Russian history, I have read a lot about the horrors of communism and tyranny, but nothing from the basements of Lyubyanka Prison or Mao Tse Tung's Cultural Revolution comes close to the abominable atrocities of Pol Pot's Cambodia.
Ngor also describes his role in the classic movie, The Killing Fields, as well as his integration of life in America. An afterword by friend Roger Warner ends the book on a particularily haunting and sad note, but rightfully so, none the less.
There are a lot of truely excellent books available by survivors of the Killing Fields, and this is the quintessential starting point for those who wish to learn more.
A Must read for any human being September 4, 2004
Chanda Choun
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This book by Oscar-winner Haing Ngor is deep, personal, and insightful. One can learn much about the character of the people of Cambodia and what led to the horrible genocide that the people committed to themselves.
Read this book and travel to the depths of human psychology, depravity, and struggle. My parents were children of the Killing Fields, and I was born in the refugee camp that you will see Ngor work at in the book. His story was emotionally stirring...
Read This Book March 13, 2005
Jason (Gainesville, FL USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I've read many books on war and suffering and it's rare that one moves me enough to write a review. Dr. Ngor's memoir is arguably the most powerful book that I've ever read. It's not pretty, and the ending is not nearly as happy as I would have liked (or a Hollywood movie would have), but it does give a ray of hope in the face of such unspeakable horror. Ironically, I found the account of Dr. Ngor's troubled later life as a celebrity, trying to deal with his past, just as moving as his suffering under the Khmer Rouge.
A Great Book July 20, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Read this book!!! ...especially if you are thinking of visiting Cambodia, which everyone who travels to Asia should do (and probably will do soon, judging by the number of hotels being built in Siem Reap). Words cannot describe the horror for the people who had to live through the Pol Pot regime. Haing Ngor tells you his personal story in a very conversational, personal manner, throwing in some political beliefs here and there and even some humor. You can't read this book and not be moved.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
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