First They Killed My Father

Loung Ung surived the killing fields of Cambodia and published her first novel on this topic, First They Killed My Father, in 2000. To the reader unfamiliar with Cambodia’s history, as so many of us are, her story is as distressing as it is stirring. Through the eyes of a terrified five-year-old child, Loung Ung takes her readers on a journey through war, isolation, incapacitating famine and the strength of a family’s love that brings her through it all.

Ung’s main character – the fragmented younger version of herself – transforms from a happy child to a desperate soldier and revenge-hungry monster in three short years. With only a child’s limited understanding of the war’s progress for guidance, readers are drawn into her panicky confusion as daily the world becomes more difficult and less familiar. She longs for the past that we enjoy without guilt; her rage is more powerful than any emotion we have ever felt. Only now has she found the words to express it.

The novel’s writing is neither exhaustive nor overly political as other accounts of the Khmer Rouge rule have been, and one might wonder if anything is lost in the inflated cultural translation. Instead, Ung’s goal seems to have been to immerse readers in the character’s experience, build identification with the Cambodian plight and provide an education in the realities of war. Family-oriented, and with a hopeful vision for the future, Ung’s story achieves a powerful commentary through a divulgence of the utmost valiant honesty.

With the truth indeed on her side, Ung’s straightforward prose shocks and enrages her readers. By braving the painful memories to tell her story, the horrors of the Khmer Rouge have not only become known to English speakers, but anyone previously lacking a way to connect with Cambodia’s past has found an articulate and moving rendition.