Customer Reviews

For the Sake of All Living Things

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I served in Viet Nam, and I have read many books about that war. When I read John Del Vecchio's "13th Valley", it took me right back to the sights and smells of the country and experience - more so than any of the other books I have read. It, too, was a work of fiction, but it was one of the most real books I've read on experiencing the war.

If he did half as good a job in portraying the actuality of the Cambodian war(s), then I would also rate it as a masterpiece. If he used the same technique in For the Sake of All Living Things that he used in 13th Valley, then having all the facts match is of little importance, especially for a work labeled as fiction. In the Viet Nam book the historical battle details were fictional, but they drew from a composite of actual ones in such a way that they became as real, or even more so, than a more factual, historical accounting might have been able to achieve.

In 13th Valley he took the reader, step by step, down the road from a 'normal' guy-next-door to someone who has completely lost himself in the war. That story was the best portrayal I have ever read of how easy it is to go down that path. In for the Sake of All Living Things he takes a similar approach with an innocent Cambodian youth who is transformed into a hard-core Khmer Rouge cadre. If you have ever wondered how humans could be so cruel to other humans - then you will likely find some answers in watching that transformation.

I recommend this book at the top of anyone's reading list who has even a slight interest in war and/or the conflict(s) in SE Asia. The only qualification is for those who have a hard time sleeping after reading disturbing accounts - in that sense it is a very hard book that will not easily leave your mind. But in all other respects it is an 'easy' book, in that the pages will turn themselves until you suddenly find yourself at the back cover.

I read this book when I was 12, It made an Impression on me to say the least... It has to Be the best Novel I have ever read. It completly Changed my mind about the possiblity for creating a perfect society on earth. The reason One of the reviewers hates this book so much Is he is an appolagist for his Comrades... What Happened in Cambodia (Kampuchea) Is Not an issolated incedent... It happened in the USSR... It happened in Communist China with Mao's great Leap Foreward... It happened in the French Revolution... The Enlightened class ( Pol Pot and his fellow travelers) thought they could make a perfect society by killing everyone who didnt fit the mold of a dumb ugly peasant... The killed the rich... they killed anyone who was foriegn...they killed you if you spoke french or english.. They killed you for being a Doctor, Lawyer , Engineer, Wealthy merchant.. For being pretty... and by doing this and having everyone live in peace and harmony in the jungles creating a "New Cilvilization that would bring The Golden Age" their world would be perfect... Pol Pot killed over 2 million of his own people...he had only 6 million to start with... And he was a university professor... and those of you that think those radicals who spend their lives spreading poison by teaching soft minds... think again... Do your self a Favor and READ THIS BOOK.

If you have any interest at all in the Viet Nam war or South East Asia this is a must read. The book not only covers the horror of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge but examines the culture of the Cambodians. I read an average of 5 books a month and this is one of the best I've ever read.

This is simply put my favorite book. More than Asimov or Clancy, i think this book so....affected me, and isnt that what great literature should do. Do i think its factual - NO. But does its portraits represent a shocking reality, equally as bad as what is represented in the story, yes. Del Vecchio conveys the warmth of the family well, and in addition to the obvious gruesomeness of war, especially this civil war. Does anyone think you can understate what happened there ? He makes an attempt to enlighten through well thought out fiction, because frankly non-fiction would be pretty difficult for this subject.
Id love to hear about his research. Congrats to the author on two VERY fine books.

I had read The 13th Valley a long time ago; a great book. I tried to read this later one but, although it is very well written, I just couldn't stomach the cruelty of Khmer Rouge to their own people. Maybe I should try again, but I doubt I would have a different result. This does not say I don't think it should be read; it should, and remembered. I give it four stars for what it says, not fewer because I could not deal with it.

JCClark

Anyone interested in Asia should read this book. While many of us think we know about Viet Nam - most of us really don't. We know even less about the conflict in Cambodia. "The Killing Fields" brought Cambodia to the forefront a few years ago, but it seemed hard to believe. "For the Sake of All Living Things" goes even deeper to uncover the horror of recent Cambodian history. If more people read books like this one, perhaps history would not repeat itself so easily...

I loved this book, to put it simply. There is enough detail to keep you captivated throughout. A must read for anyone interested in the Vietnam Conflict timeline.

Gosh, it's 838 pages long, with 4 pages of references and recommended readings... it must be pretty authoritative, right??

But... the 3 page list of "major characters" lists the KK (Khmer Krahom- Khmer Rouge to most of us-) as all fictional, but not any others... and then there are the misplaced maps (wrong places in Text, and missing many of the towns/locales noted in the text). It's implied that the book is based on handwritten notebooks smuggled out of the country, but the degree of documentation is never clarified. The overall impression is similar to Tom Dooley's The Night They Burned Down The Mountain, only a good deal more graphic and horrific, without the religious overlay or "authenticity" loudly claimed by Dooley. In other words, a barely disguised political tract, an attempt to persuade... dare I say Propaganda?

I'm not familiar with any but a couple of the recommended books, but the list looks a little bit skewed, both politically and historically. For instance, nothing on the French colonization, WW II, or the particulars of the starvation of several million mostly N. Viets largely due to the French blockade, after the Viet Minh fought the Japanese as Allies. It seems to me that was the beginning of the cycle of mass murder that Mr. Del Vecchio says was still going on. (Copyright March 1990) That was when (1947-48-...) the Lao Dong (Ho's commies) were so successful at taking over. The vicious slaughter Really started with the French, in at least 5 separate rebellions/repressions Before WW II, ending up with battalions of German (yes, folks, good ol' Panzervolk)Foreign Legionnaires happily blasting through the jungle for 5 years before the first US advisors arrived. (See Devil's Brigade)

No quote from Eisenhower about how the vote would have been embarassingly lopsided (for Ho Chi Minh) if we had allowed that election to occur in 1954. No statement from JFK about how the South Viets would have to learn how to gain the support of their own people, or we would no longer provide war materials. (Listen in the early part of "JFK".) No mention of Ho's letters to Roosevelt and Truman, or the events leading up to the Tonkin Gulf incident. (OPlan 34A- Extensive infiltration, sabotage & murder in DRVN by Navy Seals and others, etc.)

Other than that, it's a glorious indictment of the crazy commies, with America's only faults being masturbatory guilt about My Lai and Kent State, and electing that goofball Nixon (he announced US intentions at the start of major bombing raids and the Cambodian invasion... "criminal stupidity"). We may agree on something...