First They Killed My Father

I felt sick reading this book. Don't mistake me - it is a marvellous work of non-fiction and the pain in it is heart-rendingly real - it is precisely this that made me sick. First They Killed My Father is the story of the Khmer Rouge's murderous regime under Pol Pot as retold through the five-year old eyes of Loung Ung.

I confess I didn't know much about Cambodia - and had only fleetingly heard of Pol Pot during his death a few years ago - I know now what destruction his mad soldiers wreaked. Loung is scathingly frank - and so descriptive in her details that it makes me wonder how a child of five or six could recall so well. Do really scathing memories scythe their impression on our minds at such an young age in such vividness? In a desperate bid for survival - Loung tries everything - from eating live baby shrimps to stealing from her younger sister, Geak -except perhaps eating earthworms.

Be warned - Loung's details are descriptively gruesome - skulls are chopped, membranes are slivered, brains split open in graphic detail - I read this book during a bout of nauseous sickness and left me pining for a book that spoke of sunshine, little dogs and useless antics. Loung's endurance is one of the great surviving feats of our time - her courage is an inspiration but her book, sadly, I can't read again.

Recommendation: Pick at your risk. Make sure you are on a light stomach.

And check out Loung's website