Cambodian Interlude: Inside the United Nations' 1993 Election [Import] [Paperback]

Tom Riddle (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: White Orchid Press (1997)
• ISBN-10: 9748299368
• ISBN-13: 978-9748299365
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,416,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Cambodian Interlude, April 24, 2011

By 

Guillermo García - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cambodian Interlude: Inside the United Nations' 1993 Election (Paperback)

"Tom Riddle is fresh, simple, honest and always goes straight to the point. Unlike other books published about Cambodia, Cambodian Interlude is an inside publication with humorous details of the UNTAC. The book is read easily, like a best seller novel, but it is more than that. In fact, Riddle takes you very deeply indoor of the election process of 1993. He mixes with perfection a truly love account, the Vietnamese prostitutes and the city of Phnom Penh emerging from the tragedy and isolation. Highly recommended for somebody who wants to know more about Cambodia in a non academic way. Impossible to get bored".

Guillermo García, author of Norodom Sihanouk y el Hermano Número Zero: la tragedia de Kampuchea Democrática.

5.0 out of 5 stars Cambodian Interlude, September 8, 2008

By 

Mark Myword "Allen" (Stockton, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cambodian Interlude: Inside the United Nations' 1993 Election (Paperback)

A friend recommended this book to me. Looking at the cover and its title I thought it might be a dry and serious dull book. What could be exciting about an election in Cambodia? But I finished the book in 3 afternoons. What an interesting and engaging book! I couldn't put the book down once I picked it up, and I couldn't wait to get back to it when I had to stop to do some housework. To my surprise, it turned out to be a page turner. I liked the author's self-deprecating humor and his keen observation of the people in Cambodia. One learned about the culture, religion, history, and of course the political chaos through his humorous description. The author's motorcycle taxi ride accident was terrible but hilarious.

I think this book can be made into a good movie because it has all the movie elements: adventure in an exotic country, politics, Khmer Rouge, danger, and a heart broken love affair. Reading the book I couldn't help wonder if the story was actually true. Imagine my surprise, after a little detective work and communication with the publisher, to learn that it is in fact all true. I highly recommend this book!

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a droll insight into a country reeling from war., September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cambodian Interlude: Inside the United Nations' 1993 Election (Paperback)

Riddle offers an inside perspective into the chaos of Cambodia at this critical juncture in history. As far as I know, all that he wrote was true. As a minor character in the story, slightly disguised, I was able to see some of the same world that Tom Riddle saw while I was working at another humanitarian relief agency in Cambodia. Riddle examines the very nature of reality as he probes this isolated peasant society, plagued by war induced poverty and destruction, and overlaid with the sudden arrival of a weakly organized UN military and technical support force of around 20,000 people from many different countries.

Riddle taps into many different realities as he looks at the worlds of a myriad of different characters trying to make sense out of the chaos they are experiencing. It is offset with his own ironic humor, personal life crises, and the participant-observer perspective.

The idealism of the United Nations is a paradox of its inefficiency, political agendas, and bureaucracy. You get an international version of "Catch 22" in this book. The career bureaucrat is offset by the author as the naive idealist. The brave young Cambodian woman recovering from war and life in a refugee camp is struggling to help her family survive and save her country. She is offset by the romantic notions of the author, hopelessly in love with her. Peaceful interludes of Cambodian life are interspersed with violence and disarray. The oppressed Cambodian society seeking to find itself is continuously falling back on the international community and even the traditionally adversarial Vietnamese population for energy and direction.

This nonfiction account of social chaos reads like a lighthearted Franz Kafka. It transcends the war journalist's perspective that is our usual source of information about social crises such as these. As a participant-observer in life's international fast lane, the author is able to bring unusual insight into unusual life experience. Whether you seek information about Cambodia, the United Nations, the impact of war, a good adventure story, or a cross cultural perspective on human relationships, you will find this fascinating reading.