First They Killed My Father

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers is a 2000 non-fiction book written by Loung Ung, a Cambodian author and childhood survivor of Democratic Kampuchea. It is her personal account of her experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime.

For the 2017 film adaptation, see First They Killed My Father (film).

First They Killed My Father

First edition
Author	Loung Ung
Cover artist	Loung Ung, Mary Schuck
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Memoir
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	2000
Media type	Print (paperback)
Pages	238 p.
ISBN	0-06-093138-8
OCLC	45831904

Overview

Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights and sassing her parents. While her beautiful mother worried that Loung was a troublemaker, her beloved father knew Loung was a clever girl.

When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army captured Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung's family fled their home and moved from village to village to hide their identity, their education, their former life of privilege. Eventually, the family dispersed in order to survive. Because Loung was resilient and determined, she trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans while other siblings were sent to labor camps. As the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia by overthrowing the Khmer Rouge, the surviving siblings were slowly reunited. Bolstered by the shocking bravery of one brother, the vision of the others and sustained by her sister's gentle kindness amid brutality, Loung forged herself a new life.[1]

Reception

The book was harshly criticized by Sody Lay, co-founder of the Khmer Institute Website, for historical inaccuracies and cultural inauthenticity. Reflecting on this negative review in an article for The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, Dr. Bunkong Tuon acknowledged the criticisms of Sody Lay's review, but defended Ung's work. Instead of dismissing Ung's text outright, the article argued that scholars should read First They Killed My Father not to garner historical facts about the Khmer Rouge, but rather to experience its emotional truth and to consider its subjective, narrative gaps and fissures as a signifier of trauma and a testament to the destruction perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge.[2]

Film adaptation

Main article: First They Killed My Father (film)

The book has been adapted into a movie that was produced and directed by Angelina Jolie. The film premiered on February 18, 2017 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.[3]

"The heart of it is Loung's story", Jolie states on the film. "It's the story of a war through the eyes of a child, but it is also the story of a country". To construct an accurate portrait of the genocide and war, Jolie used only Cambodian actors who speak their native language, Khmer. She gathered hundreds of survivors and their children to re-create their stories. The movie was filmed in Cambodia.

References

1. "First They Killed My Father (Ung)". LitLovers. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
2. Tuon, B. (5 June 2013). "Inaccuracy and Testimonial Literature: The Case of Loung Ung's First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers". MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. 38 (3): 107–125. doi:10.1093/melus/mlt032.
3. "Angelina Jolie Pitt to Direct Netflix Original Film 'First They Killed My Father'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

External links

• Booknotes interview with Ung on First They Killed My Father, March 19, 2000, C-SPAN
• Presentation by Loung Ung on First They Killed My Father, June 13, 2000, C-SPAN
• First They Killed My Father on Netflix
• .