A Cambodian Odyssey [Paperback]

Haing Ngor (Author), Roger Warner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1989

Widely acclaimed in hardcover, this is a searing personal memoir of life in war-torn Cambodia, joining the ranks of the most important books on the Vietnam era.

Product Details

• Paperback: 478 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446389900
• ISBN-13: 978-0446389907
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #374,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Travel > Asia > Cambodia
  • #50 in Books > History > Asia > Cambodia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A man of extraordinary courage, November 12, 2000

By 

Michael S. Cann Jr. (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Cambodian Odyssey (Paperback)

This is an outstanding portrait of a man who survived the barbaric reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Anyone who has seen the movie "The Killing Fields" has a cursory understanding of the Khmer Rouge and their attempt to transform Cambodian society during their control of the country from 1975 to 1979. However, this film omitted most of the astounding atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge as anyone who has visited Tuol Sleng S-21 in Phnom Penh (as I have) can tell you. In this book Dr. Ngor relates his horrifying experiences of life under the Khmer Rouge in detail and in the process educates the reader as to just how horrible an existence it really was.

This book is remarkable because of the detail related by Dr. Ngor and the personal nature of its content. Many Cambodians to this day will not talk about his period in their lives. For many, the mental and physical abuse they suffered during this period was too painful to re-live ever again. As I read this book, I could not help but wonder how Dr. Ngor was able to keep himself together.

Dr. Ngor effectively puts the period of Khmer Rouge rule in historical context by explaining the historical events and forces which led to their capture of the country. These events and forces included the People's Republic of China, North Vietnam, the Vietnam War, the United States, and of course, the C.I.A.

I admire Dr. Ngor for his extraordinary courage, and I regret that I did not have the opportunity to meet him during his lifetime. May he rest in peace.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A heart breaking monument to one man's ability to endure..., October 25, 1998

By 

Rick Roman ([e-mail]) (Los Angeles, CA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cambodian Odyssey (Paperback)

I found this book in the DISCOUNT BOOKS section of a local book store. I had seen "THE KILLING FIELDS" and was familiar with the events in Cambodia and Vietnam. But the tale of Haing Ngor's life in that place and time did more than put a human face to the agony that was Cambodia then. As i read, it became clear to me that sometimes we are powerless to do more than endure the insufferable. To be silent when screaming is the only way to keep your sanity, to deny your past, despite torture, so that you may have a future. To endure. The book moved me, much the same way that "THE LONG WALK" by Slav Rawicz and "TOUCHING THE VOID" by Joe Simpson did. These people are my heroes, and I try to learn from their life experiences so that I can better face the stresses of a more ordinary life. To find "A CAMBODIAN ODYSSEY" in the "discount" pile was to find a Picasso original at a yard sale. It saddens me to think that more of us have not read it, have not taken the time to know this man and his story. Haig Ngor is gone now. He died in a small alleyway in Hollywood, shot by a gang of youths eerily similar to the young Kmer Rouge that he faced in Cambodia. He would not surrender the locket with his wife's picture in it, the one thing he had left to remind him of her and their life together. Don't let his story end there... Read the book and share it with a freind!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take heed, your problems are not so great., November 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: A Cambodian Odyssey (Paperback)

Haing S.Ngor truly led a charmed life. To have survived such harrowing brutality year after year is a testament to the man's grace. He was roasted over an open fire. He survived many tortures and untold hardships. Dith Pran, the man he portrayed in THE KILLING FIELDS, had a cakewalk by comparison. That film should have had as its center Dr.Ngor's exploits, as his horrific journey was ten times more intense. If you like to read true life stories of those who've really suffered, then this book is an excellent starter. What a tragedy to have survived Cambodia's terror...only to be murdered in Los Angeles!