What do you think?
Rate this book
Never Fall Down
ŷ Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Young Adult Fiction (2012)This National Book Award nominee from two-time finalist Patricia McCormick is the unforgettable story of Arn Chorn-Pond, who defied the odds to survive the Cambodian genocide of 1975�1979 and the labor camps of the Khmer Rouge.
Based on the true story of Cambodian advocate Arn Chorn-Pond, and authentically told from his point of view as a young boy, this is an achingly raw and powerful historical novel about a child of war who becomes a man of peace. It includes an author's note and acknowledgments from Arn Chorn-Pond himself.
When soldiers arrive in his hometown, Arn is just a normal little boy. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever.
Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children dying before his eyes. One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. Arn's never played a note in his life, but he volunteers.
This decision will save his life, but it will pull him into the very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields. And just as the country is about to be liberated, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier.
Based on the true story of Cambodian advocate Arn Chorn-Pond, and authentically told from his point of view as a young boy, this is an achingly raw and powerful historical novel about a child of war who becomes a man of peace. It includes an author's note and acknowledgments from Arn Chorn-Pond himself.
When soldiers arrive in his hometown, Arn is just a normal little boy. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever.
Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children dying before his eyes. One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. Arn's never played a note in his life, but he volunteers.
This decision will save his life, but it will pull him into the very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields. And just as the country is about to be liberated, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published May 8, 2012
441 people are currently reading
15.3k people want to read
About the author
Patricia McCormick
18books818followersPatricia McCormick is a journalist and writer. She graduated from Rosemont College in 1978, followed by an M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1986 and an M.F.A. from New School University in 1999. Her first novel for teens was Cut, about a young woman who self-injures herself. This was followed by My Brother's Keeper in 2005, about a boy struggling with his brother's addiction and Sold in 2006. Her awards include the American Library Association Best Book of the Year, New York Public Library Best Book for the Teenage, and the Children's Literature Council's Choice.
She has written for The New York Times, Parents magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Ladies Home Journal, Town & Country, More, Reader's Digest, Mademoiselle, and other publications and has been an adjunct professor of journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and an instructor of creative writing at the New School University. She lives in New York with two children, a husband, and two cats.
She has written for The New York Times, Parents magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Ladies Home Journal, Town & Country, More, Reader's Digest, Mademoiselle, and other publications and has been an adjunct professor of journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and an instructor of creative writing at the New School University. She lives in New York with two children, a husband, and two cats.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,108 reviews
January 3, 2013
I knew about a movie titled The Killing Fields for years, but never knew that the movie was about one of the world's worst genocidal atrocities. This past summer I spent some time in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Cambodia during a month-long backpacking trip through Southeast Asia. We went to the Killing Fields at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, and I walked around in a stunned silence as I listened to the audioguide in my ear describe what I was looking at: The Killing Tree, where the Khmer Rouge slammed babies head-first against its trunk before throwing them in a ditch, enormous ditches that marked mass graves of almost 9,000 people at that one site, how bone fragments and shreds of cloth still surface after the rainy season and a Buddhist stupa (memorial) filled with human skulls, many of which have marks of being assaulted by an ax.
Never in my life have I felt like more of an ignorant American. How did I never learn about such recent history (1975-1979...people are just NOW being brought to trial for their involvement) in school?? The whole experience was so incomprehensible, this is actually my first attempt to put any of it into words.
So when I heard about this new YA novel, based on the true survival story of Arn Chorn-Pond, a few months after I got home, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy in hopes of better understanding what I saw and learned about at Choeung Ek.
It's hard not to give this book 5 stars, even though it was really hard to read. I wanted to cry or throw up after reading practically every page, and it's the first book I've read where I actually found myself questioning whether the material is "appropriate" for a young adult audience. Then I frequently reminded myself that this is, for the most part, Arn's story. This is what he really lived through in his attempt to survive the Khmer Rouge through his musical ingenious and pure luck. And everyone, young and old, should read his story so we can better understand what human beings are capable of, what they can survive and how we need to prevent history like this from ever repeating itself.
Never in my life have I felt like more of an ignorant American. How did I never learn about such recent history (1975-1979...people are just NOW being brought to trial for their involvement) in school?? The whole experience was so incomprehensible, this is actually my first attempt to put any of it into words.
So when I heard about this new YA novel, based on the true survival story of Arn Chorn-Pond, a few months after I got home, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy in hopes of better understanding what I saw and learned about at Choeung Ek.
It's hard not to give this book 5 stars, even though it was really hard to read. I wanted to cry or throw up after reading practically every page, and it's the first book I've read where I actually found myself questioning whether the material is "appropriate" for a young adult audience. Then I frequently reminded myself that this is, for the most part, Arn's story. This is what he really lived through in his attempt to survive the Khmer Rouge through his musical ingenious and pure luck. And everyone, young and old, should read his story so we can better understand what human beings are capable of, what they can survive and how we need to prevent history like this from ever repeating itself.
January 19, 2013
general piece of advice to anyone who approaches the blank box with the intention of writing a pleasing-to-the-eye review: do not read first. it will make you walk away from the computer in utter discouragement.
arn chorn-pond was a young child when the khmer rouge decided to unleash on cambodia a mayhem that resulted in the extermination of one quarter of the population. notice that the khmer rouge were themselves cambodian. since the book is told from arn's point of view, in the first person, and arn is a young child, you don't get an explanation for why this madness happened, so for that i remand you to , where i will go myself after i finish writing this review.
as a grown up and a survivor, arn has been and continues to be an activist on behalf of his country and his people, which, i understand, are quite some way from healing (the internecine genocide happened in the mid-70s). patricia mccormick found him, interviewed him for two years, did a ton of supplemental research, then wrote this book in arn's own voice. arn never mastered english so the book is in broken english.
i tend to have little patience for westerners who tell other peoples' stories. i figure those other peoples can tell their own stories and the orientalizing and ogling comes across as invariably pornographic to me. not this time. although she put her own name as the sole author, mccormick acknowledges implicit co-authorship with arn chorn-pond in the back flap. mostly, though, the book is so sparse, so short, so perfectly distilled, you feel there is no pleasure in mccormick's writing except insofar as she can reproduce arn's voice. and this voice, gosh, this voice is amazing. truly genuinely amazing.
i have always been lousy at learning history, but i figure that one can learn history from stories people tell you and from stories you read in novels. i know something, now, about the cambodian genocide. i know something about the unspeakable trauma of child soldiers. i know something about what it means for a kid who has killed killed killed to be brought to america and asked to be an american kid. i know something about the terrible violence that comes not only from forcing children to kill but also from forcing them to go back to being children and behaving as such. these children have wielded unconscionable power. these children have led platoons. these children have made terrible, open-eyed, clear-minded choices. these children have survived unimaginable conditions through smarts, cunning, and a great capacity for reading people and circumstances. there children are geniuses and experts. you can't take a child like that and stick him in an american high school.
this book has made me think about our desperate compulsion to infantilize children, so that children have to find ways to be the much more mature beings they are in ways that are hidden from us. children, it seems, are asked from very early on to be multiple creatures: creatures that please their parents' understanding of childhood, their teachers' understanding of childhood, the commercial world's understanding of childhood, and, finally, and hopefully, their own understanding of themselves. i got all this from reading 's and then reflecting back on my own bedraggled childhood. in the light of stockton's book and of my own thinking back, this book was immensely poignant to me. also, it's gorgeous. i am now a patricia mccormick fan.
arn chorn-pond was a young child when the khmer rouge decided to unleash on cambodia a mayhem that resulted in the extermination of one quarter of the population. notice that the khmer rouge were themselves cambodian. since the book is told from arn's point of view, in the first person, and arn is a young child, you don't get an explanation for why this madness happened, so for that i remand you to , where i will go myself after i finish writing this review.
as a grown up and a survivor, arn has been and continues to be an activist on behalf of his country and his people, which, i understand, are quite some way from healing (the internecine genocide happened in the mid-70s). patricia mccormick found him, interviewed him for two years, did a ton of supplemental research, then wrote this book in arn's own voice. arn never mastered english so the book is in broken english.
i tend to have little patience for westerners who tell other peoples' stories. i figure those other peoples can tell their own stories and the orientalizing and ogling comes across as invariably pornographic to me. not this time. although she put her own name as the sole author, mccormick acknowledges implicit co-authorship with arn chorn-pond in the back flap. mostly, though, the book is so sparse, so short, so perfectly distilled, you feel there is no pleasure in mccormick's writing except insofar as she can reproduce arn's voice. and this voice, gosh, this voice is amazing. truly genuinely amazing.
i have always been lousy at learning history, but i figure that one can learn history from stories people tell you and from stories you read in novels. i know something, now, about the cambodian genocide. i know something about the unspeakable trauma of child soldiers. i know something about what it means for a kid who has killed killed killed to be brought to america and asked to be an american kid. i know something about the terrible violence that comes not only from forcing children to kill but also from forcing them to go back to being children and behaving as such. these children have wielded unconscionable power. these children have led platoons. these children have made terrible, open-eyed, clear-minded choices. these children have survived unimaginable conditions through smarts, cunning, and a great capacity for reading people and circumstances. there children are geniuses and experts. you can't take a child like that and stick him in an american high school.
this book has made me think about our desperate compulsion to infantilize children, so that children have to find ways to be the much more mature beings they are in ways that are hidden from us. children, it seems, are asked from very early on to be multiple creatures: creatures that please their parents' understanding of childhood, their teachers' understanding of childhood, the commercial world's understanding of childhood, and, finally, and hopefully, their own understanding of themselves. i got all this from reading 's and then reflecting back on my own bedraggled childhood. in the light of stockton's book and of my own thinking back, this book was immensely poignant to me. also, it's gorgeous. i am now a patricia mccormick fan.
February 1, 2021
سایه سرخ مرگ!
کشتار قریب به دو میلیون نفر در طول کمتر از چهار سال عددی بزرگ است که تاریخ از آن حیرت میکن�. عددی که بزرگترین خونریزها� جهان هم در برابر آن حتما متحیر میشون� و زانو میزنن�. این نسلکش� گسترده در حالی صورت گرفته که «خِمِرهای سرخ» میخواستن� «تاریخ صفر» را پایه بگذارند. کار اجباری و نظم سازمان یافته برخاسته از باورهای اشتراکی مکتب مائو سبب شد که شاهد جنایت بزرگی علیه انسانه� باشیم.
کامبوجیهای� که به مرور تصفیه شدند و فقط کسانی ماندند که برای «برنج» تلاش میکردن�. کپهها� جنازه زیر خاک و گورهای دسته جمعی و مرگ با تیشه همه تصاویری است که از روزهای وحشت بزرگ در کامبوج باقی مانده است. هرکس سواد داشته باشد، موسیقی بداند، دستانش زحمت نکشیده باشند، پوست صورتش به طبقه اشراف شباهت داشته باشد و آفتابسوخت� نباشد (قهوها� نباشد) محکوم به مرگ است تا در روزهای پس از تاریخ صفر زندگی اشتراکی برای باقی جامعه تجربه مثبتی رقم بخورد.
کتاب «هرگز نیفت» که نشر آرادمان آن را منتشر کرده روایتی است از این ماجرا! ماجرای کودتا علیه پادشاهی سینگهام در کامبوج و تسلط خمرهای سرخ بر مردم. روزهای کار بیوقف� در مزارع برنج و کشتار!
کتابی که روایتی اول شخص آن را شکل داده و راوی خود یکی از کسانی است که توانسته از چنگال سیاه مرگِ خمرهای سرخ تحت رهبری «پل پوت» زنده بماند و راوی روزهایی باشد که سینما میرفت� و زندگی برایش رنگ داشته تا روزهایی که جز لباسها� یکشک� سیاهرن� و موسیقی تشکیلاتی چیز دیگری وجود نداشته است.
این کتاب حاصل گفتوگو� پاتریشیا مککورمیک� خبرنگار آمریکایی با شخصیت راوی (آرِن) است. او حتی برای اینکه شرایط را بتواند در کتابش منعکس کند در کامبوج زندگی کرده و روایتی که شکل داده اثرگذار و مایه همذاتپندار� خواننده با کتاب است.
لحن محاوره این کتاب سبب میشو� خواننده بیشتر خود را با کتاب و راوی آن نزدیک ببیند و حس نزدیکی به راوی را القا کند زیرا خواننده خود را به واسطه لحن شنونده بیواسط� روایت شخصیت اصلی میبین�.
مرگبارترین اتفاقی که میشو� سراغ گرفت در این کتاب در برابر دیدگان خواننده این کتاب نمایش داده میشو�. کشتار ۲۵ درصد از جمعیت یک کشور در یک تصفیه شبهانقلاب� و رها کردن آنها در گودالها� مرگ تصویری هولناک است که در «هرگز نیفت» به چشم میآی�.
تصویرسازی و توصیف جزئیات در این کتاب به قدری با دقت صورت گرفته که خواننده حس میکن� که خود در صحنه حضور دارد. هرچند در بخشهای� به قدری عمق فاجعه زیاد است که باور کردن آنها دشوار است، ولی اگر اندکی تامل کنیم، میبینی� که باور کردن آنها نهتنه� دشوار نیست؛ بلکه راوی از پس توصیف جزئیات یک حادثه برنیامده است.
شخصیت راوی (آرن) در بخشی وارد گروه موسیقی میشو� تا سرودهای انگیزهبخ� برای اهداف تشکیلات بنوازد. هنری که به مروری تبدیل به ابزاری برای سرپوش گذاشتن بر جنایتها� خمرها شده و قرار است به واسطه آن صدای ضرباتی که تیشه بر جمجمه افراد وارد میآور� را خفه کند. در واقع این کتاب که در ژانر مستندنگاری است انعکاس دهنده صدای ضربات دیکتاتوری شبهانقلاب� بر پیکره بشریت است.
«هرگز نیفت» از آن حیث که اثری است مستند، زمینه همراهی خواننده را زودتر فراهم میکن� و روند توضیح اتفاقات به شکلی است که خواننده پابهپا� راوی در دل حادثه وارد میشو�. روایتی از جنگلها� انبوه کامبوج و آب و هوای طاقتفرسای� که برای افراد بزرگسال خارج از توانشا� است چه رسد برای کودکان و دختران کم سال!
کودکانی که اسلحه دست گرفتند و تبدیل به تلها� برای شکار ویتنامیه� شدند. کودکانی که مسیرهای طولانی در جنگل راهپیمایی کردند تا بتوانند جیره غذایی خود را دریافت کنند. اینه� تصاویری است که این کلمات توانایی توصیف آنها را ندارد و کتاب بهترین راوی برای نشان دادن عمق فاجعه است. به نظر میرس� که زیادهخواه� عاملی است که چنین صفحاتی را در دفتر تاریخ ثبت میکن�.
این کتاب از آن دست کتابهای� است که نشان میده� مهم نیست آرمان و هدفی که در سر دارید چیست؛ مهم این است که از چه مسیری برای رسیدن به آن اقدام میکنی� که اگر این مسیر از روی خون انسانه� بگذرد آرمانتا� زیر سوال خواهد رفت.
کشتار قریب به دو میلیون نفر در طول کمتر از چهار سال عددی بزرگ است که تاریخ از آن حیرت میکن�. عددی که بزرگترین خونریزها� جهان هم در برابر آن حتما متحیر میشون� و زانو میزنن�. این نسلکش� گسترده در حالی صورت گرفته که «خِمِرهای سرخ» میخواستن� «تاریخ صفر» را پایه بگذارند. کار اجباری و نظم سازمان یافته برخاسته از باورهای اشتراکی مکتب مائو سبب شد که شاهد جنایت بزرگی علیه انسانه� باشیم.
کامبوجیهای� که به مرور تصفیه شدند و فقط کسانی ماندند که برای «برنج» تلاش میکردن�. کپهها� جنازه زیر خاک و گورهای دسته جمعی و مرگ با تیشه همه تصاویری است که از روزهای وحشت بزرگ در کامبوج باقی مانده است. هرکس سواد داشته باشد، موسیقی بداند، دستانش زحمت نکشیده باشند، پوست صورتش به طبقه اشراف شباهت داشته باشد و آفتابسوخت� نباشد (قهوها� نباشد) محکوم به مرگ است تا در روزهای پس از تاریخ صفر زندگی اشتراکی برای باقی جامعه تجربه مثبتی رقم بخورد.
کتاب «هرگز نیفت» که نشر آرادمان آن را منتشر کرده روایتی است از این ماجرا! ماجرای کودتا علیه پادشاهی سینگهام در کامبوج و تسلط خمرهای سرخ بر مردم. روزهای کار بیوقف� در مزارع برنج و کشتار!
کتابی که روایتی اول شخص آن را شکل داده و راوی خود یکی از کسانی است که توانسته از چنگال سیاه مرگِ خمرهای سرخ تحت رهبری «پل پوت» زنده بماند و راوی روزهایی باشد که سینما میرفت� و زندگی برایش رنگ داشته تا روزهایی که جز لباسها� یکشک� سیاهرن� و موسیقی تشکیلاتی چیز دیگری وجود نداشته است.
این کتاب حاصل گفتوگو� پاتریشیا مککورمیک� خبرنگار آمریکایی با شخصیت راوی (آرِن) است. او حتی برای اینکه شرایط را بتواند در کتابش منعکس کند در کامبوج زندگی کرده و روایتی که شکل داده اثرگذار و مایه همذاتپندار� خواننده با کتاب است.
لحن محاوره این کتاب سبب میشو� خواننده بیشتر خود را با کتاب و راوی آن نزدیک ببیند و حس نزدیکی به راوی را القا کند زیرا خواننده خود را به واسطه لحن شنونده بیواسط� روایت شخصیت اصلی میبین�.
مرگبارترین اتفاقی که میشو� سراغ گرفت در این کتاب در برابر دیدگان خواننده این کتاب نمایش داده میشو�. کشتار ۲۵ درصد از جمعیت یک کشور در یک تصفیه شبهانقلاب� و رها کردن آنها در گودالها� مرگ تصویری هولناک است که در «هرگز نیفت» به چشم میآی�.
تصویرسازی و توصیف جزئیات در این کتاب به قدری با دقت صورت گرفته که خواننده حس میکن� که خود در صحنه حضور دارد. هرچند در بخشهای� به قدری عمق فاجعه زیاد است که باور کردن آنها دشوار است، ولی اگر اندکی تامل کنیم، میبینی� که باور کردن آنها نهتنه� دشوار نیست؛ بلکه راوی از پس توصیف جزئیات یک حادثه برنیامده است.
شخصیت راوی (آرن) در بخشی وارد گروه موسیقی میشو� تا سرودهای انگیزهبخ� برای اهداف تشکیلات بنوازد. هنری که به مروری تبدیل به ابزاری برای سرپوش گذاشتن بر جنایتها� خمرها شده و قرار است به واسطه آن صدای ضرباتی که تیشه بر جمجمه افراد وارد میآور� را خفه کند. در واقع این کتاب که در ژانر مستندنگاری است انعکاس دهنده صدای ضربات دیکتاتوری شبهانقلاب� بر پیکره بشریت است.
«هرگز نیفت» از آن حیث که اثری است مستند، زمینه همراهی خواننده را زودتر فراهم میکن� و روند توضیح اتفاقات به شکلی است که خواننده پابهپا� راوی در دل حادثه وارد میشو�. روایتی از جنگلها� انبوه کامبوج و آب و هوای طاقتفرسای� که برای افراد بزرگسال خارج از توانشا� است چه رسد برای کودکان و دختران کم سال!
کودکانی که اسلحه دست گرفتند و تبدیل به تلها� برای شکار ویتنامیه� شدند. کودکانی که مسیرهای طولانی در جنگل راهپیمایی کردند تا بتوانند جیره غذایی خود را دریافت کنند. اینه� تصاویری است که این کلمات توانایی توصیف آنها را ندارد و کتاب بهترین راوی برای نشان دادن عمق فاجعه است. به نظر میرس� که زیادهخواه� عاملی است که چنین صفحاتی را در دفتر تاریخ ثبت میکن�.
این کتاب از آن دست کتابهای� است که نشان میده� مهم نیست آرمان و هدفی که در سر دارید چیست؛ مهم این است که از چه مسیری برای رسیدن به آن اقدام میکنی� که اگر این مسیر از روی خون انسانه� بگذرد آرمانتا� زیر سوال خواهد رفت.
March 3, 2017
Part audiobook via overdrive app, part paperback
===
“You show you care, you die.
You show you fear, you die.
You show nothing, maybe you live.�
“Long time I been on my own, but now really I'm alone. I survive the killing, the starving, all the hate of the Khmer Rouge, but I think maybe now I will die of this, of broken heart.�
“All the time you fighting, you think only of how to survive. All the time you survive, you wonder why you don’t die. But now my life can be something different. Now, in America, I don’t have to fight. I don’t have to survive. I can chose a new thing: to live.�
====
An important story to tell but the way she chose tell it made it hard to get into the story sometimes. I felt kept at a distance during some things that should have had me feeling for Arn and what him and the others were going through.
Not that I had a stone heart throughout all this, I just wasn't as invested as I wanted to be.
I seem to be in the minority here and that's okay (we all don't love the same things after all)... would still recommend. You may feel differently about it.
===
“You show you care, you die.
You show you fear, you die.
You show nothing, maybe you live.�
“Long time I been on my own, but now really I'm alone. I survive the killing, the starving, all the hate of the Khmer Rouge, but I think maybe now I will die of this, of broken heart.�
“All the time you fighting, you think only of how to survive. All the time you survive, you wonder why you don’t die. But now my life can be something different. Now, in America, I don’t have to fight. I don’t have to survive. I can chose a new thing: to live.�
====
An important story to tell but the way she chose tell it made it hard to get into the story sometimes. I felt kept at a distance during some things that should have had me feeling for Arn and what him and the others were going through.
Not that I had a stone heart throughout all this, I just wasn't as invested as I wanted to be.
I seem to be in the minority here and that's okay (we all don't love the same things after all)... would still recommend. You may feel differently about it.
November 24, 2012
As was true with her National Book Award finalist, , Patricia McCormick uses her fiction writing skills and her journalistic writing ability to share a child victim's harrowing tale. In this case it is Arn Chorn-Pond, survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. Never Fall Down, named for one of the first things the captured boy learned to survive, travels the full arc of his experience, from the last days of normalcy before the Khmer Rouge takeover through the years of captivity, forced labor, and eventual conscription as a Khmer Rouge "soldier" when the Vietnamese invaded.
And as was the case with Sold, this is a young adult book with some adult themes, in this case, violence, death, murder, and other atrocities. At times the descriptions get quite graphic. Adding to the effect is McCormick's decision to tell it as Arn himself would after he has learned but not mastered all the nuances of English. The contrast of this young, naive voice in broken English and the brutality it witnesses is stark, adding to the effect. Example:
We walk three day. One long line of kid, all in black, one black snake with five hundred eye. Very tire, my leg heavy like boulder, my mind think only of the next step, then one more step, just walking, no thinking, no caring. Some kid die on the way. They die walking. Some kid cry for their parent or say they tire, they hungry. They get shot or maybe stab with the bayonet. Now we don't even look. We only walk.
In its way, Never Fall Down reminded me of Elie Wiesel's Night, where we start with a healthy, happy boy, and end with a shadow, physically and mentally. It would make a perfect companion read, in fact. It is short, easy to read, and wise in its straightforward style of narration. McCormick lets the horror speak for itself. And, as was the case with the young Wiesel in 1943 Hungary, Arn faces choiceless choices in his bid to survive, to someday reunite with his family. He uses considerable guile around adults and learns how to make himself valuable through his musical ability. Still, Death is at his elbow most every page of the book, and the motives of various Khmer Rouge soldiers are always suspect, lending the book a sustained sense of horror and suspense.
As you might expect, happy endings are hard to come by for people who go through such trauma. Arn is no exception. Author McCormick spent countless hours interviewing not only Chorn-Pond but surviving family members, his American adoptive family members, and even former members of the Khmer Rouge he interacted with. Many of these people now live in a northern enclave of Cambodia, and McCormick and Chorn-Pond flew together to meet the most important one for what must have been a memorable reunion and interview to make this book as accurate as possible.
"I asked Arn difficult, probing questions about his actions," McCormick writes in the Author's Note, " -- the heroic and the horrific. I verified, as much as possible, the truth of his story. Then I wrote his story as a novel. Like all survivors, Arn can recall certain experiences in chilling detail; others he can tell only in vague generalities... So I added to his recollections with my own research -- and my own imagination -- to fill in the missing pieces. The truth, I believe, is right there between the lines."
It's a sobering truth, too -- one that once again reminds us there are no depths to which man is incapable of sinking.
And as was the case with Sold, this is a young adult book with some adult themes, in this case, violence, death, murder, and other atrocities. At times the descriptions get quite graphic. Adding to the effect is McCormick's decision to tell it as Arn himself would after he has learned but not mastered all the nuances of English. The contrast of this young, naive voice in broken English and the brutality it witnesses is stark, adding to the effect. Example:
We walk three day. One long line of kid, all in black, one black snake with five hundred eye. Very tire, my leg heavy like boulder, my mind think only of the next step, then one more step, just walking, no thinking, no caring. Some kid die on the way. They die walking. Some kid cry for their parent or say they tire, they hungry. They get shot or maybe stab with the bayonet. Now we don't even look. We only walk.
In its way, Never Fall Down reminded me of Elie Wiesel's Night, where we start with a healthy, happy boy, and end with a shadow, physically and mentally. It would make a perfect companion read, in fact. It is short, easy to read, and wise in its straightforward style of narration. McCormick lets the horror speak for itself. And, as was the case with the young Wiesel in 1943 Hungary, Arn faces choiceless choices in his bid to survive, to someday reunite with his family. He uses considerable guile around adults and learns how to make himself valuable through his musical ability. Still, Death is at his elbow most every page of the book, and the motives of various Khmer Rouge soldiers are always suspect, lending the book a sustained sense of horror and suspense.
As you might expect, happy endings are hard to come by for people who go through such trauma. Arn is no exception. Author McCormick spent countless hours interviewing not only Chorn-Pond but surviving family members, his American adoptive family members, and even former members of the Khmer Rouge he interacted with. Many of these people now live in a northern enclave of Cambodia, and McCormick and Chorn-Pond flew together to meet the most important one for what must have been a memorable reunion and interview to make this book as accurate as possible.
"I asked Arn difficult, probing questions about his actions," McCormick writes in the Author's Note, " -- the heroic and the horrific. I verified, as much as possible, the truth of his story. Then I wrote his story as a novel. Like all survivors, Arn can recall certain experiences in chilling detail; others he can tell only in vague generalities... So I added to his recollections with my own research -- and my own imagination -- to fill in the missing pieces. The truth, I believe, is right there between the lines."
It's a sobering truth, too -- one that once again reminds us there are no depths to which man is incapable of sinking.
January 7, 2014
The rich, they chase you if you steal their thiNgs. Poor people, they the one who share.
All the old clothes, our old lifE, one big pile, is on fire now. And gone.
"To live with nothing in your stomach and a gun in your face, is that liVing or is that dying a little bit every day?"
Be like the grass. BEnd low, bend low, then bend lower. The wind blow one way, you blow that way.
But now the Khmer Rouge, they win. They kill [my] family in my mind.
Death is just my daily liFe now.
I let him die. Because now I'm A ghost myself.
...to cover the sound of the kiLLing, but you hear it anyhow. Sickening sound. Skull cracking. You hear it every day. Death is every day.
One day you are comraDe. The next day corpse.
You not living. And you nOt dead. You living dead.
Why? Why I'm so bad? He didn't do anything to me. But I need to survive. I need to eat. Before, I kill human being, and now I kill this little animal. Why? Because every minute I have to think about surviving. Every minute.
But now my life can be something different. Now, in America, I don't have to fight. I don't have to survive. I can chose a new thing: to live
Even if I want to die. I can't.
Survive. That the only thing I can do.
All the old clothes, our old lifE, one big pile, is on fire now. And gone.
"To live with nothing in your stomach and a gun in your face, is that liVing or is that dying a little bit every day?"
Be like the grass. BEnd low, bend low, then bend lower. The wind blow one way, you blow that way.
But now the Khmer Rouge, they win. They kill [my] family in my mind.
Death is just my daily liFe now.
I let him die. Because now I'm A ghost myself.
...to cover the sound of the kiLLing, but you hear it anyhow. Sickening sound. Skull cracking. You hear it every day. Death is every day.
One day you are comraDe. The next day corpse.
You not living. And you nOt dead. You living dead.
Why? Why I'm so bad? He didn't do anything to me. But I need to survive. I need to eat. Before, I kill human being, and now I kill this little animal. Why? Because every minute I have to think about surviving. Every minute.
But now my life can be something different. Now, in America, I don't have to fight. I don't have to survive. I can chose a new thing: to live
Even if I want to die. I can't.
Survive. That the only thing I can do.
September 22, 2017
This story was heart breaking. It is based on a true story of a little boy who managed to survive the 1970's genocide in Cambodia, many members of his family were not so lucky. He learned harsh life lessons and used that knowledge to get him through some horrific trials.
The author is a journalist. I thought that telling this story from the POV of a child was brilliant, even though it took me a bit of time to get used to the choppy pigeon English. My thought is that maybe the pigeon English wasn't necessary. This still could have been told through the eyes of a child without that. The child POV was still brilliant though because it masked some of the horror he had to live. Well maybe not 'masked' because it was plain to see that these events were truly horrific, but maybe the word 'cushioned' might be more accurate. As painful as this was, it was worth the read.
The author is a journalist. I thought that telling this story from the POV of a child was brilliant, even though it took me a bit of time to get used to the choppy pigeon English. My thought is that maybe the pigeon English wasn't necessary. This still could have been told through the eyes of a child without that. The child POV was still brilliant though because it masked some of the horror he had to live. Well maybe not 'masked' because it was plain to see that these events were truly horrific, but maybe the word 'cushioned' might be more accurate. As painful as this was, it was worth the read.
January 25, 2014
This is not a book I would choose for a favorite and yet I cannot not choose it...It is a book that is so powerful that it has touched my depths. It is written beautifully sharing a heartwrenching powerful story of a child's story in the killing fields. Read it
February 1, 2021
یه کتاب ترسناک دیگه که یادمون میندازه پادآرمانشهرها چقدر نزدیک و واقعی هستن. کتابی که بهمون میگه رژیم های افراطی چطور زندگی ساده آدمها رو تبدیل به یه جهنم بی پایان میکنه. چیزی که در طول کتاب به صورت پیدا و پنهان مدام تکرار میشد این بود که یه دردهایی تو زندگی هست که هیچ وقت ساکت نمیشن، بعضی آدمها و ترسها و کابوسها هرگز تموم نمیشن و گذشته مثل یه سایه دنبال آدم میاد. راه تحمل رنج، پذیرششه. زخمت رو بپذیر و زندگی کن. زندگی کن. و یادت باشه: هرگز نیافت
February 10, 2025
"To live with nothing in your stomach and a gun in your face....is that living
or is that dying a little bit every day?"
or is that dying a little bit every day?"
Read
January 7, 2016I... I really don't know how to review this. Or rate it. Will need to give it some thought...
April 18, 2019
Important!
March 20, 2018
Great story, weak writing. The author made an intentional choice to write in short, choppy sentences with grammatical errors as a way of capturing the voice of Arn Chorn-Pond, but much of the time I felt like it limited the depth of the story rather than enhancing it.
It was also quite graphic for a novel intended to be read by young teens and preteens:
"Then, very quick, he slice the skin and pull out the liver...The kneeling guy, he's still living; his liver not inside of him anymore - in front of his face. Crying, only saying, 'No, no, no,' then he fall down."
"I hear, very quiet, wet, slicing sound, the bayonet going through the skin. One by one he kill the people, the mother, even the baby, always very quiet, with bayonet, or maybe just hit on the head with the rifle, silent, so no one can hear."
"I make him kneel on the ground, hand tie behind; and I have ax in my hand, and now this ax is hitting over and over, hitting this kid till now his head like only hamburger on the ground."
I will say that this book made me want to learn more about this crazy genocide that I'd hardly even heard of before, and toward the end I also thought she did a good job of showing the residual guilt, anger, and crisis of identity Arn underwent as an ex-child soldier. But it definitely left me wanting for more character and more story. I give it 2.5 stars.
It was also quite graphic for a novel intended to be read by young teens and preteens:
"Then, very quick, he slice the skin and pull out the liver...The kneeling guy, he's still living; his liver not inside of him anymore - in front of his face. Crying, only saying, 'No, no, no,' then he fall down."
"I hear, very quiet, wet, slicing sound, the bayonet going through the skin. One by one he kill the people, the mother, even the baby, always very quiet, with bayonet, or maybe just hit on the head with the rifle, silent, so no one can hear."
"I make him kneel on the ground, hand tie behind; and I have ax in my hand, and now this ax is hitting over and over, hitting this kid till now his head like only hamburger on the ground."
I will say that this book made me want to learn more about this crazy genocide that I'd hardly even heard of before, and toward the end I also thought she did a good job of showing the residual guilt, anger, and crisis of identity Arn underwent as an ex-child soldier. But it definitely left me wanting for more character and more story. I give it 2.5 stars.
July 30, 2016
Can't say that this was an easy read due to the horrific subject matter but it was a quick read and hard to put down. It's quite hard to get used to, to start with, as it's written from a child's point of view and in pidgin English but the subject matter is extremely gruesome throughout. It's based on a true story of a survivor of what happened in Cambodia whom the author extensively interviewed so is like a mixture between fact and fiction. Very glad that I have read it despite the unsettling subject matter and it is a good introduction to it - planning to read some more books on this subject (Khmer Rouge/Cambodia/Killing Fields).
Thanks very much to my ŷ friend Kathie for putting me on to this one and lending me her copy !
Thanks very much to my ŷ friend Kathie for putting me on to this one and lending me her copy !
May 2, 2015
McCormick writes a novelized version of Arn Chorn-Pond, who defied the odds to survive the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979 and the labor camps of the Khmer Rouge. Somehow Arn manages to ingratiate himself with others, first through music and then through volleyball. The story is heart-wrenching and very brutal/violent: life was cheap in Southeast Asia in the mid-1970s. I did not really like the pidgin English used either.
January 3, 2018
I read this book “Never Fall Down�, It’s a book about teenage Cambodia boy Arn who telling his story about running away from his home because of the war. And he also lost his family while running away from war. He did a lot bad thing and trying to be famous to protests himself from being killing.
Thing that I like about this book is that very emotional book and interesting book. I like this book because it kind like the type of my level reading. And another thing that I like about this book is that I learn about Cambodia run away from their home and why they be killed. I never noticed about a soldier group call Khmer Rouge that lie to Cambodia people and force them to work and kill them. I was glad that I read this book and make me understand about other children struggling with their life.
Thing that I don’t like about this book is that it talk about killing and dying stuff and killing people everyday. It make me very sad reading this book and it mostly talking about Khmer Rouge killing people everyday, I feeling this book keep repeating same stuff. Another thing I don’t like about this book is that the author didn’t talk about Arn sisters and brothers when they separated, it only talk about Arn, I also want to know about his brothers and sisters life and how they struggle with their life. I just want the author also talking about Arn sisters and brothers life too, not only him.
I Recommend this book because it very emotional and really good book. And you also learn about different country about children struggle life. If you in that time, I want you to think about what can you help and stop what happens in the book, think about when you reading. I recommend this book to adult because there a lot of violence and hurting the kids. And I also recommend this book to teenagers because there many youth that are trying to survive in the war and protests their self from bad thing.
Thing that I like about this book is that very emotional book and interesting book. I like this book because it kind like the type of my level reading. And another thing that I like about this book is that I learn about Cambodia run away from their home and why they be killed. I never noticed about a soldier group call Khmer Rouge that lie to Cambodia people and force them to work and kill them. I was glad that I read this book and make me understand about other children struggling with their life.
Thing that I don’t like about this book is that it talk about killing and dying stuff and killing people everyday. It make me very sad reading this book and it mostly talking about Khmer Rouge killing people everyday, I feeling this book keep repeating same stuff. Another thing I don’t like about this book is that the author didn’t talk about Arn sisters and brothers when they separated, it only talk about Arn, I also want to know about his brothers and sisters life and how they struggle with their life. I just want the author also talking about Arn sisters and brothers life too, not only him.
I Recommend this book because it very emotional and really good book. And you also learn about different country about children struggle life. If you in that time, I want you to think about what can you help and stop what happens in the book, think about when you reading. I recommend this book to adult because there a lot of violence and hurting the kids. And I also recommend this book to teenagers because there many youth that are trying to survive in the war and protests their self from bad thing.
October 5, 2023
Habe das Buch gelesen um etwas über kambodschas Geschichte zu erfahren bevor ich dorthin reise.
Ich weiß gar nicht was ich sagen soll, ich sitze hier und weine. Es ist grausam was hier passiert ist.
Geschichte, die aus der Perspektive von Kindern erzählt wird geht nochmal auf einem ganz anderen Level unter die Haut.
Ich weiß gar nicht was ich sagen soll, ich sitze hier und weine. Es ist grausam was hier passiert ist.
Geschichte, die aus der Perspektive von Kindern erzählt wird geht nochmal auf einem ganz anderen Level unter die Haut.
February 8, 2019
The theme of this book is never give up hope. Very strong and good book, definitely recommend it.
February 8, 2013
The usual questions driving personal reviews--did you like this book; what did you like/not like about it; why did or didn't you--must, I feel, be dispensed with in this case. There are two questions I do feel are worth asking:
First, is the book worthwhile of its topic?
And the answer of course is yes. To explain the question, however, let me say that I hesitated to begin reading this, confused and not sure exactly how the book would unfold--was it fiction or non-fiction? Why was it written by an American journalist rather than by the person who experienced it? And then, would it feel like another American Journalist Writing About Atrocities In Other Countries story? Etc.
But put those concerns aside, if you share them. Told in first person and only a "novel" in the sense that artistic liberties are taken for the sake of forming a coherent narrative from the childhood memories of Arn Chorn-Pond, it is an absorbing story, and makes an important contribution as a book for understanding.
P.S. The "Author's Note" is placed at the end of the book but it's worth your time to read it first, to understand both the voice McCormick chose to use, and the blurry line between fact and fiction for this story.
Second, is this book really for kids?
Truly, I don't know. Usually the age of the protagonist is a pretty good gauge for the age of the intended reader, and the book begins with Arn at eleven years old, and ends with him at fifteen. Reading it as an adult with complete awareness that everything going on in the book really happened, I had a hard time processing the sheer scale of suffering. And my immediate reaction is to say that kids shouldn't have to go through that. On the other hand, it seems practically unjust to say so, when Arn Chorn-Pond and so many children in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge lived through it as children. But in the end I don't think that kids should be the ones to pay for the cruelty of adults. So: While I would certainly not take it away from a middle-grade reader mature enough to want to read it in the first place, I would recommend recommending it to high school-age and up.
What made me pick it up?
It was a much-lauded, starred-review new book last year.
I also heard Arn's story on , although I didn't make the connection until after I checked it out from the library.
Overall recommendation: Highly recommended
First, is the book worthwhile of its topic?
And the answer of course is yes. To explain the question, however, let me say that I hesitated to begin reading this, confused and not sure exactly how the book would unfold--was it fiction or non-fiction? Why was it written by an American journalist rather than by the person who experienced it? And then, would it feel like another American Journalist Writing About Atrocities In Other Countries story? Etc.
But put those concerns aside, if you share them. Told in first person and only a "novel" in the sense that artistic liberties are taken for the sake of forming a coherent narrative from the childhood memories of Arn Chorn-Pond, it is an absorbing story, and makes an important contribution as a book for understanding.
P.S. The "Author's Note" is placed at the end of the book but it's worth your time to read it first, to understand both the voice McCormick chose to use, and the blurry line between fact and fiction for this story.
Second, is this book really for kids?
Truly, I don't know. Usually the age of the protagonist is a pretty good gauge for the age of the intended reader, and the book begins with Arn at eleven years old, and ends with him at fifteen. Reading it as an adult with complete awareness that everything going on in the book really happened, I had a hard time processing the sheer scale of suffering. And my immediate reaction is to say that kids shouldn't have to go through that. On the other hand, it seems practically unjust to say so, when Arn Chorn-Pond and so many children in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge lived through it as children. But in the end I don't think that kids should be the ones to pay for the cruelty of adults. So: While I would certainly not take it away from a middle-grade reader mature enough to want to read it in the first place, I would recommend recommending it to high school-age and up.
What made me pick it up?
It was a much-lauded, starred-review new book last year.
I also heard Arn's story on , although I didn't make the connection until after I checked it out from the library.
Overall recommendation: Highly recommended
April 15, 2012
"As a child, I never imagined good people in the world. . ."
In 1979, fourteen-year old, Arn Chorn-Pond, wandered into a United Nations camp on the border of Thailand. He was adopted by a minister. A year later, Arn Chorn, now Arn Chorn-Pond was a New Hampshire high school student.
In Patricia McCormick's newest release, we read about Arn Chorn-Pond's experiences as an eleven-year-old in "The Killing Fields." Forced by Khmer Rouge soldiers to play their revolution songs, Arn must learn not only to play an instrument himself but he must help the other boys to learn to play theirs. Only later will Arn realize the horrifying truth of why he asked to play continually through the day.
The book is as raw and brutal as the experiences of its main character. Look for descriptions and depictions of violence and torture. NEVER FALL DOWN should be part of a reader advisory conversation with students, but this does not exclude the book from classroom discussions that might be best suited for U. S. History or International Relations courses.
McCormick pulls no punches by allowing Arn Chorn-Pond to share his story--which he had done with audiences since 1979--with a voice that will not soon be forgotten by readers.
Patricia McCormick sits down with Arn Chorn-Pond in this video created and posted by Harper Teen:
Arn Chorn-Pond "Everyone Has a Story" (ten minutes):
Arn Chorn-Pond has been awarded many humanitarian awards to include the Spirit of Anne Frank Award and the Reebok Human Rights Award. He speaks at high schools to share his story with young people encouraging them to think about their roles as world citizens.
I am so pleased that my friends at Harper Collins thought that I should see this book a little early and I thank our friends there for having sent this title.
In 1979, fourteen-year old, Arn Chorn-Pond, wandered into a United Nations camp on the border of Thailand. He was adopted by a minister. A year later, Arn Chorn, now Arn Chorn-Pond was a New Hampshire high school student.
In Patricia McCormick's newest release, we read about Arn Chorn-Pond's experiences as an eleven-year-old in "The Killing Fields." Forced by Khmer Rouge soldiers to play their revolution songs, Arn must learn not only to play an instrument himself but he must help the other boys to learn to play theirs. Only later will Arn realize the horrifying truth of why he asked to play continually through the day.
The book is as raw and brutal as the experiences of its main character. Look for descriptions and depictions of violence and torture. NEVER FALL DOWN should be part of a reader advisory conversation with students, but this does not exclude the book from classroom discussions that might be best suited for U. S. History or International Relations courses.
McCormick pulls no punches by allowing Arn Chorn-Pond to share his story--which he had done with audiences since 1979--with a voice that will not soon be forgotten by readers.
Patricia McCormick sits down with Arn Chorn-Pond in this video created and posted by Harper Teen:
Arn Chorn-Pond "Everyone Has a Story" (ten minutes):
Arn Chorn-Pond has been awarded many humanitarian awards to include the Spirit of Anne Frank Award and the Reebok Human Rights Award. He speaks at high schools to share his story with young people encouraging them to think about their roles as world citizens.
I am so pleased that my friends at Harper Collins thought that I should see this book a little early and I thank our friends there for having sent this title.
September 14, 2012
Review by Shelly
I have to say that I do not know a lot about Cambodia and the war that went on there so was fully engrossed from page one. The book is written as Arn and takes on his speech patterns and language which did take me awhile to get used to but once I did it was like he was speaking to you through the pages and you went on his journey with him. And what a journey it was. Sometimes it was brutal and was very hard to read especially when it focussed on the children and how they were tortured. I enjoyed, if that is the right word, the relationships he formed with people he met especially his music teacher and one of the Khmer Rouge soldiers who, in their own way help him to survive and show that even in the toughest surroundings you can form relationships.
It is hard to get your head around the fact that this is a true story and quite remarkable that Arn and others like him actually managed to stay alive. It was a draining read but one I would highly recommend especially for those who are learning this period of history in school.
I have to say that I do not know a lot about Cambodia and the war that went on there so was fully engrossed from page one. The book is written as Arn and takes on his speech patterns and language which did take me awhile to get used to but once I did it was like he was speaking to you through the pages and you went on his journey with him. And what a journey it was. Sometimes it was brutal and was very hard to read especially when it focussed on the children and how they were tortured. I enjoyed, if that is the right word, the relationships he formed with people he met especially his music teacher and one of the Khmer Rouge soldiers who, in their own way help him to survive and show that even in the toughest surroundings you can form relationships.
It is hard to get your head around the fact that this is a true story and quite remarkable that Arn and others like him actually managed to stay alive. It was a draining read but one I would highly recommend especially for those who are learning this period of history in school.
January 10, 2016
I could have probably finished this in one sitting. However the story and the horrifying aspects of the crimes comitted by the Khmer Rouge made me stop reading once in a while. I just wanted to put the book down now and then and think about what this must have meant for the people who had to live under this "rulership". What did it mean for the children, the mums, the rich, the poor, even the people who were part of this movement?
It is highly disturbing and yet so important to read about it. I am really disappointed that we didn't cover this when I was in High School because I talked about it with my parents and they both learned about this dark episode in world history. We often talk about WWII, about the Holocaust or about the civil rights movement. But this is about a country slaughtering its own people!
It was beautiful and cruel at the same time to read about these events from the perspective of a little child. It was put into such simple words, yet sometimes they carried such deep wisdom.
This is such an important read and I'm recommending it to EVERYONE!!
It is highly disturbing and yet so important to read about it. I am really disappointed that we didn't cover this when I was in High School because I talked about it with my parents and they both learned about this dark episode in world history. We often talk about WWII, about the Holocaust or about the civil rights movement. But this is about a country slaughtering its own people!
It was beautiful and cruel at the same time to read about these events from the perspective of a little child. It was put into such simple words, yet sometimes they carried such deep wisdom.
This is such an important read and I'm recommending it to EVERYONE!!
March 10, 2017
4 stars. This is one of the most impactful memoirs I’ve ever read.
Never Fall Down chronicles the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, a survivor of the communist revolution in Cambodia. This revolution led to the deaths of around 1/4 Cambodia’s population, a higher proportion of the population than almost any other genocide.
In terms of emotional impact, the book hits hard. We see the journey from relative peace to constant violence firsthand here, and it’s just as shocking as you’d expect.
The writing style is a bit clinical, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. In one way, the clinical tone makes events hit harder. However, the narrative occasionally feels detached during incredibly horrific events. This style is completely understandable; I can’t imagine going through the kind of trauma Chorn-Pond went through and surviving. But the unemotional tone stays around for the entire book, and it’s almost tiring.
Highly recommended.
Never Fall Down chronicles the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, a survivor of the communist revolution in Cambodia. This revolution led to the deaths of around 1/4 Cambodia’s population, a higher proportion of the population than almost any other genocide.
In terms of emotional impact, the book hits hard. We see the journey from relative peace to constant violence firsthand here, and it’s just as shocking as you’d expect.
The writing style is a bit clinical, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. In one way, the clinical tone makes events hit harder. However, the narrative occasionally feels detached during incredibly horrific events. This style is completely understandable; I can’t imagine going through the kind of trauma Chorn-Pond went through and surviving. But the unemotional tone stays around for the entire book, and it’s almost tiring.
Highly recommended.
August 25, 2012
One day, Arn is a street-wise child - catching frogs, gambling a little, and sneaking into movies in his city in Cambodia. Then, the Khmer Rouge took control of the country, forced Arn and all the citizens into work camps. His life became defined by starvation, endless labor, and death. Arn spent four years in the heart of what became known as The Killing Fields, surviving partly because of his skill as a musician and partly because he told himself just never fall down.
Because it is told wholly in the voice of the child, this story unfolds with no context. There is no explanation of the politics or background. It is simply a litany of one child's brutal experience, drawing the reader into the horror and confusion of the events.
The result is both stunning and devastating.
Because it is told wholly in the voice of the child, this story unfolds with no context. There is no explanation of the politics or background. It is simply a litany of one child's brutal experience, drawing the reader into the horror and confusion of the events.
The result is both stunning and devastating.
July 7, 2015
(2.5) This striking novel about the Killing Fields of Cambodia is based on the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, who was abducted and forced into life as a child soldier. I can see this being an eye-opening read for mature adolescents, but the simplistic style and annoying pidgin English (e.g. “You show you care, you die. You show fear, you die. You show nothing, maybe you live�) caused me to lose interest about a quarter of the way through. I think I would prefer a non-fiction account; indeed, it is a pity McCormick did not work with Chorn-Pond to write his memoirs instead.
My thanks to ŷ First Reads and Random House for the giveaway copy.
My thanks to ŷ First Reads and Random House for the giveaway copy.
April 1, 2019
This book is actually so good. The narrator tells it as if it were his own mind. Thus, the entirety of the book is written in broken English. While reading this book, I found myself chuckling at the comedic scenarios the narrator would describe. Whether it’s putting rocks in his napping friends mouth or talking about other children’s diarrhea, I always laughed at the randomness of the novel. The author manages to portray a serious topic and plot whilst adding little bits of comedy, making the book much more enjoyable.
April 14, 2017
I dont know much about Cambodia, and the style of writing put me off to begin with. However now that I can reflect on this book, it is a good basic knowledge of what it would have been like in the late 1970s in Cambodia. There is violence and death but it is written from the point of view of a child, so the description is quite factual and not grotesque.
I want sure how this novel would conclude, but it was dealt with very well.
I want sure how this novel would conclude, but it was dealt with very well.
October 22, 2017
Written in the voice of teenage survivor of the Cambodian genocide , this is a brutal but historical informative book . Although McCormick is considered the author of this 'novel' , it reads more like a long series of interviews with the survivor .
October 11, 2015
loved it from start to finish, an amazing comfort read but still contains many places to take notes and dig deeper.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,108 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.