When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge

This was an entirely good read. One of the amazing things I kept realizing as I read is that Chanrithy Him condensed a number of harrowing years of into just ~300 pages, so the reader only hears about some of her experiences - there's probably much more that didn't make it to the pages of this memoir. Also, Him's story is only one of myriad others . . . there are thousands of Cambodian people who could likely tell a story even more devastating than Him's.When Broken Glass Floats kept me interested from cover to cover, and I enjoyed Him's writing style. It's likely I can't say anything positive that hasn't already been said, so I'll pick out a couple of things I wonder if other readers noticed.For one, the black and white family photos included in the book did not resemble the images I had of disease-stricken, starving children Him described. For instance - granted he is wearing a shirt in the photos, none of the pictures show Map (Him's youngest sibling) with a protruding belly - although towards the end of the book Him tells her readers Map fails to lose this effect of starvation even after his diet improves. Similarly, the photo of Ra on her wedding day shows a young woman who looks healthy (nice complexion, full cheeks, hair in an up-do, clean floral shirt), so I couldn't help but feel confused because this is far from how Him described her physically weak, skinny sister who was barely recognize at times. I realize the photo was taken during better times, but do people so sick and hungry recover to that degree so quickly? Also, the memoir chronicles countless dizzying days, months, and years of walking, working, and barely surviving from severe dehydration, starvation, infection, diarrhea, disease, and depression; personal belongings (books, valuables, etc.) were stolen, taken by the Khmer Rouge, and lost along the way. Under those conditions, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of doubt as I read about the photos Him had "managed to keep safe during the Khmer Rouge time" (p. 330) and the "cream lace blouse from Phnom Penh, which she (Ra) managed to keep safe during the Khmer Rouge time" (p.286). Given the circumstances described, this just didn't seem plausible. But who knows . . . not a major problem for me, it just caught my attention - as did the typographical errors I found from time to time.Great book . . . would have enjoyed a bit more of a history lesson. If that's what you're seeking you might look elsewhere, because this is a tale focused on a very strong and intelligent young girl's survival.

Awesome.This is a very human and moving book. It certainly brought tears to my eyes.I wouldn't recommend racing through it in a day. I took my time, and stopped a few times, simply to reflect and ponder on the awfulness of Man's cruelty to Man.We know the story line: revolution, war, and a foolish and thuggish regime turn an entire country backwards into some kind of experimental Agrarian Utopia. The worth of the individual is squashed.Liberty is suppressed. Eradicated. Even basic rights are ruthlessly exterminated. We brace ourselves for more and more horrors as the story is told.And yet. And yet. Mixed amongst the starving, the beatings, the random executions, the arrogance of the Elite, the blindness of the self appointed leaders, there is always that fragile flower of gentleness. Of beauty. Of human compassion, despite terrible risks.Some of the many passages that I found haunting in their emotional intensity, were the ones where a little girl, nine years old, alone, weeps for her father."Never before have I felt so much pain inside my body. My chest. My eyes. My throat. My grief encompasses every cell, touches every limb, every organ. For Pa has never left me for more than a day. Never. Now he's gone,and I have the deepest intuition that something is wrong."And again, later."During the day, I return to the orchard.I cry alone, calling out to Pa. Like the earth without the sun, I'm drifting in the dark, thinking of him, wondering where he is, what he's doing. Whether he misses us, misses me."Her father of course, was crudely executed. For being educated. A threat...The death of her little brother, age three, alone...The death of her mother...I ask the question if this book is relevant to the USA today? One could make the argument that it is unlikely that some regime will force march city inhabitants out into the country side to grow crops. Maybe. But I submit that the pre-cursors to such terror are unrestrained power and intellectual arrogance of a relatively small clique, unshakably convinced of its own superiority, wisdom and insight, and deaf to differing life styles and views. Is such intolerance and a trend towards reduced individual liberty present in America today?I leave that question to you, the reader to contemplate.Interestingly, I read this book just after having read "Anthem" by Ayn Rand.There is an echo there. An uncomfortable one.I would love it if Chanrithy Him would write a sequel. Detailing her transition into life in America? Contrasted with her early cultural values?

A book detailing a child’s survival in 1970 Cambodia is not a novel. Highs and lows orchestrated by the author are absent here. This is not a feel-good story. It is a stark revelation of what it meant to be a child under one of the most ruthless regimes in Asia.This is the early 70s, when Cambodia became an experiment in radical socialism, and the Khmer Rouge took power and attempted to return the country to its pure, peasant history. Intellectuals were persecuted, farmers lauded and the entire population coerced into forced labour, resulting in mass malnutrition, disease, death and genocide. Figures vary but the commonly accepted fact is that two million people died, which equated to 25% of the country’s population.Him’s experience tells her story from the inside. The explosion of the Vietnam war onto their own soil, the break-up of her family, the loyal bonds of blood and country, the grinding misery of starvation and physical deprivation all take us with her, step by uncertain step. Her description of the ‘hospital’ in which her mother lay is almost unbearable.All this seen through a child’s eyes, conditioned to good manners and respect, to be thrown into a feral environment. Survival, food and reducing empathy to its narrowest circles is at the heart of this moving and powerful narrative.It’s a tough read, taking the reader along a bleak journey, with small spots of sunshine lit by human kindness. Yet all is overshadowed by a power-hungry ideology and its crushing hold on the population.This is an important book, the human face of a political tragedy, and a sobering read for enthusiasts of dystopian YA.You’ll enjoy this is you liked: Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Minaret by Leila AboulelaIdeal Accompaniments: Fish-heads in rice, cold water and the theme to The Killing Fields.

This book is well written but difficult to read because of the true struggles of the Cambodian people illustrated in the telling of Pol Pot's murderous cruel regime. I am glad I hadn't read it before I visited this year as I would have gone around hugging everyone and saying how sorry I was for the way in which the world just let the Khmer Rouge get on with their wicked regime. The Cambodian people are rising above this slowly and with such dignity

Awesome. This is harrowing in places but unbelievably inspiring.What happened is completely inconceivable to those who weren't there and even more so as it was in living memoryTold from a child's perspective the horror unfolds in a way which creeps up on you as the totality of the experienceis magnified in the adult mind.A ' must' read so that we never forget.

interesting and thought provoking, how these people coped is amazing. a book that should make the reader grateful for our luck to live in England. This book was a lesson in history as knew nothing about Cambodia .

As sad as the stories are, this is another great life story of a not so nice time for Cambodia. This added to my love for this country having traveled through it.