Survival in the Killing Fields [Paperback]

Haing Ngor (Author), Roger Warner (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2003

Nothing has shaped my life as much as surviving the Pol Pot regime. I am a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust. That's who I am," says Haing Ngor. And in his memoir, Survival in the Killing Fields, he tells the gripping and frequently terrifying story of his term in the hell created by the communist Khmer Rouge. Like Dith Pran, the Cambodian doctor and interpreter whom Ngor played in an Oscar-winning performance in The Killing Fields, Ngor lived through the atrocities that the 1984 film portrayed. Like Pran, too, Ngor was a doctor by profession, and he experienced firsthand his country's wretched descent, under the Khmer Rouge, into senseless brutality, slavery, squalor, starvation, and disease—all of which are recounted in sometimes unimaginable horror in Ngor's poignant memoir. Since the original publication of this searing personal chronicle, Haing Ngor's life has ended with his murder, which has never been satisfactorily solved. In an epilogue written especially for this new edition, Ngor's coauthor, Roger Warner, offers a glimpse into this complex, enigmatic man's last years—years that he lived "like his country: scarred, and incapable of fully healing."

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

For his role as the journalist Dith Pran in the film The Killing Fields (1984), Haing Ngor, a Cambodian doctor with no acting experience, won an OscarR. In playing the part, he drew on his own tormented life as a war slave during the Cambodian civil war, which makes the agony seen in the film seem mild. Funded and fueled by Chinese Communists, the Cambodian Khmer Rouge were a gang of brutal thugs who dispossessed, robbed, raped, tortured, and murdered so many of their countrymen/women that somewhere between a third and a half of the population was decimated. Ngor himself was tortured three times and lost a finger for calling his wife "sweet." Before each of the three tortures, the listener is warned that it will be violent, but this highly compelling account has few equals among stories of cruel, sadistic oppression masquerading as ideology and should be heard in full by anyone who cares about freedom. Unlike most programs written with a collaborator, the narrative voice here is distinct and wholly convincing, and British actor Crawford Logan's authoritative reading is terrifyingly real. This is a very demanding program, but it is of such high merit and rare importance that it deserves a place in every collection. Highly recommended.?Peter Josyph, New York
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Review

"The best book on Cambodia that has ever been published."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (December 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786713151
• ISBN-13: 978-0786713158
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 7.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > History > Asia > Southeast Asia
  • #32 in Books > History > Asia > China
  • #50 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Criticism

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge February 13, 2007

By N. Jacobs

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are interested in reading the memoir of someone who survived the reign of the Khmer Rouge, then I can't reccommend any other book higher. I have read two other books from survivors, but Ngor's book was by far my favourite.

What sets Ngor's book apart from the others that I have read is that Ngor was an adult when the Khmer Rouge took over. His memories are very lucid, and he fully comprehends what is going on around him. He watches his young wife die in his arms, those close to him betray, and everyone around him suffer. There are no high points throughout the entire odysey. Ngor brings you to the senseless and incomprehensible suffering that pervades every aspect of life under the Khmer Rouge.

One element I particularily enjoyed about Ngor's book is the extensive descriptions of Cambodian culture, attitudes and behaviour. Cambodian society (from what I can gather from what I have hitherto studied) is highly formal, with a rather complex series of formality set up for intereaction with others and a rather reserved character in regards to expression of feelings. The most important of which in this context being "kum," which is a sort of bitterness and longing for revenge, that becomes evident in a lot of what is happening. You will leave this read with a feeling of not only being inside of what is happening, but also for the actual mechanisms guiding behaviour.

This is, however, not a pleasant read in the least. The descriptions of the atrocities are beyond anything that I was expecting, and for that reason, I would seriously warn others that this is not for the faint at heart. Luckily, Ngor offers notes at the beginning of graphic chapters so that one can skip over them.... You will lose sleep, and I can guarantee you that it makes any of those goofy horror movies like "Hostel" and "Turistas" look like a day at Disneyland. This horror is real, and not far in the past. Being that my normal area of study is Russian history, I have read a lot about the horrors of communism and tyranny, but nothing from the basements of Lyubyanka Prison or Mao Tse Tung's Cultural Revolution comes close to the abominable atrocities of Pol Pot's Cambodia.

Ngor also describes his role in the classic movie, The Killing Fields, as well as his integration of life in America. An afterword by friend Roger Warner ends the book on a particularily haunting and sad note, but rightfully so, none the less.

There are a lot of truely excellent books available by survivors of the Killing Fields, and this is the quintessential starting point for those who wish to learn more. Read more ›

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply Touching and Informative November 16, 2004

By A reader

Format:Paperback

This book describes the graphic brutality of life under the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Its author, the actor who played the Cambodian journalist in "The Killing Fields", suffered far worse tragedies and torture than the subject of that film did, yet miraculously he survived and thrived after the fall of the regime. This book is shocking in its candid (but never lurid) description of the brutality and injustice of the Khmer Rouge regime, but it is also deeply touching as the story of the destruction of this man's family. The love story of him and his wife, who survived the horrors together until a cruel and ironic twist of fate separated them forever, is worthy of Shakespeare, but the author describes all events simply, honestly and with humility. He also gives a clear and intelligent description of life in Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge, which helps to make this book worthy reading for the historian. I strongly recommend Survival in the Killing Fields.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must read for any human being September 4, 2004

By JimBob

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book by Oscar-winner Haing Ngor is deep, personal, and insightful. One can learn much about the character of the people of Cambodia and what led to the horrible genocide that the people committed to themselves.

Read this book and travel to the depths of human psychology, depravity, and struggle. My parents were children of the Killing Fields, and I was born in the refugee camp that you will see Ngor work at in the book. His story was emotionally stirring...

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book March 13, 2005

By Jason

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've read many books on war and suffering and it's rare that one moves me enough to write a review. Dr. Ngor's memoir is arguably the most powerful book that I've ever read. It's not pretty, and the ending is not nearly as happy as I would have liked (or a Hollywood movie would have), but it does give a ray of hope in the face of such unspeakable horror. Ironically, I found the account of Dr. Ngor's troubled later life as a celebrity, trying to deal with his past, just as moving as his suffering under the Khmer Rouge.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book has changed me forever. September 24, 2010

By K. E. Chirdkiatisak

Format:Paperback

I came across this book because there has always been a nagging in my head, saying that although I was born Thai, I knew nothing about my neighbour. I was right. I have heard of the Killing Fields and Pol Pot and the genocide in Cambodia before, but I never actually known what happened, how and why and what role did Thailand played during that time.

I am shocked and ashamed of my own country that we let this went on for so many years; that our neighbour, whose every aspects in life are pretty much identical, were left to endure this hell for as long as we have been ignoring them.

Other reviews are absolutely spotted on about how the book describe so well about the event, the way the story were told and how absolutely incredible, and thus highly admirable, this guy has been through. I am not going to go over again on how good the book is as others had described it very well. But I wish this book is a compulsory reading for Thais and maybe for schools in other parts of the world because our generation were too comfortable and ignorant to realise how lucky we are. And our problems are basically non-problems.

Before reading this book, like what Dr. Ngor mentioned at some sections of the book that the Thais always look down on the Cambodians, he was right. But after this book, I have the greatest admiration for this country, its people and I hope all the best for its future it deserve - to make up of all the lost years.

And also, on the light of the recent (mildly)bloody red-shirt protest in Bangkok, this book draws a parallel between the Khmer rough and the red-shirts in the way that I cannot describe, although in much lesser degree. Had we learned something from our neighbour, we might been able to prevent so many recent mistakes. But we hadn't.... And this book could be our answer.

One of the best book written in all times... Read more ›