First They Killed My Father: Three

The conclusion to this book is very relieving. As I getting closer towards the end of the book, every page I turned I felt that she, Luong, was inching closer and closer to safety. It was a very nice feeling to know that after everything she was forced to go through and the death of her loved ones, she would still remain safe with her family. The story started out with the Ung family being happy in Phnom Penh, but as the story progressed, she soon faced the reality that she had to say goodbye to Ma, Pa, Geak, and Keav. Even with the passing of some of her family, she still remained strong and looked toward light at the end of the tunnel. This amazing demonstration of willpower surprised me indeed, and Mr. Sutherland's guest as well.

The first sign of refuge is when the Youn invade Khmer Rouge camps and take many of the people living in the camps into their care. While the people are still unsure about the Youn, they still choose to follow them simply because they were against the Khmer Rouge, and the Youn were basically fighting their enemy. Despite some language barriers, the Youn and refugees still manage to live together quite easily. Luong however, was an unfortunate victim of attempted rape. The Youn tricked her into going to the woods for water, only to find that the man she trusted ended up trying to rape her. She luckily got away in time.

After a few more events, Luong and her brother Khuoy decide to move away from Cambodia entirely to find a better life. They planned it intricately so that the siblings that were staying still had support from overseas. This particular book ends when she gets to America, but she still trails some mystery.

Her sequel to the book, Lucky Child, continues where this book left off. It tells the story of how she copes with assimilating a whole new culture. I plan on reading this sequel on my leisure time in the near future.

Book Review 1: First They Killed My Father

First They Killed My Father by Luong Ung is a memoir documenting the experiences that the author had being in Khmer Rouge control. When the Khmer Rouge invaded Cambodia, many families were put through a trial testing their willpower. The Ung family was one of these families and this book shows how the whole family dealt with living in conditions that were very.. chaotic and unjust. This book is a great example of a memoir and throughout the book you'll be wondering: Will they make it to the end?

How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style?

Luong writes in a way that captivates the reader. She recollects her memories to create a vivid image of the environment she was in. To me, it's interesting how clear her memories are to the point where she could describe the city streets in full detail. Taken from the first paragraph of the book, "Already at 6 A.M. people in Phnom Penh are rushing and bumping into each other on dusty.. streets." You can already tell how much she emphasizes the environment she lives in. She also dives deep into her mind and the mind of others, telling us what her young self thought about whatever she was facing.

Although sometimes she would come out of this style of writing and go into a third-person omniscient like way of telling her stories. I could only guess that she wrote these parts to be what her imagination would be like. When she goes into this style of writing, we know for sure that she is not witnessing the event first-hand. So one could assume that she is telling us what she had imagined to happen. Even so, it still allows readers to get a good grasp of what happened to so and so just in case they were wondering. And she does quite a good job of it.

Her style really appeals to me. It drew me in and kept me in. Needless to say I will be excited when I get the time to pick up the sequel to this book.

What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?

You could tell her purpose was to educate the people who were unaware or curious to know how bad the conditions were when the Khmer Rouge took over. Since this book is a memoir, the purpose of the book comes off pretty clear. The events mentioned in this book portray a harsh and ruthless takeover; she writes how she and her family lived with it and describing glimpses of other families when she could. Ung clearly lets you know that her story is not at all unique in the author's note of the book, "Though these events constitute my experience, my story mirrors that of millions of Cambodians. If you had been living in Cambodia during this period, this would be your story too."

Her purpose came across pretty well. Picking up the book knowing that it's a memoir alone can already give you hints as to what the author's purpose would be. Depending on the topic of the memoir, different purposes could be targeted. It could be just a memoir written to show a reader how the author lived their life or whatever. But with this book, she wanted to tell readers who were interested in how life was like when you're being totally controlled by a ruthless group of individuals. And she did it well.

The intensity of the detail she expresses helps get her point across by a lot. By going into detail, she makes you feel as if you were her. As if you were the one who was seeing what she was seeing. She doesn't make you feel like a reader, but rather she puts you in her own shoes so you could have as much of a first-hand experience as you possibly can. Doing this makes her purpose very clear to me.

For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell?

This book is intended for whoever is interested in what life was like during the Khmer Rouge. Like I said before, this book is a memoir of just that and it aims to educate the uneducated. The reader will be shown how ONE family dealt with an overwhelming ordeal, but the author insists that this book would be basically telling the story of every other family. This book was hard for her to write, seeing how she probably had to look back at her hardest times when she was living under Khmer control.

In the back of the book, she explains how hard it was for her to write the book. "With the narrative style and point of view selected, I sat down and wrote the first three chapters.. in the past tense. But it did not feel authentic. I knew I was protecting myself by writing in the past tense." She realizes how difficult it still is for her to write about her experiences. But she manages to get through that and continue writing a great book.

Also in the back of the book, a little section entitled "Letters from Cambodian Readers" also hint the fact at who this book was for. Along with the uneducated, this book was also meant for people who shared the same experience as Luong Ung and want to hear their stories too. It shows that even though the general idea of the book is the same for everyone else that went through the tough times, there are still individual details that one has entitled to them and themselves only.

RIP Nujabes.

This man in the picture is Jun Seba, more commonly known as Nujabes. He was a man of inspiration to a whole lot of people in this world. Not by actions, words, or anything else. He's inspired various people through his musical productions. Although not much is or was ever known about him, he was still able to accomplish great things, whether he knew it or not. And I hope he did. To me, he's the definition of a true artist. Making music for the people and only for the people. There's a reason why not much is known about him, and that reason is because he chose to stay out of the lime light and continue to produce music. He avoided interviews in general, so only a rare and lucky few really got to know the man behind the beats. Whoever these lucky few were, I surely envy.

Personally, and I'm sure along with many others, his music left an impact in my life. Its definitely a shame to me that I've only heard of him recently. Its amazing how in the short amount of time I listened to his music, it would give me some sort of inspiration. His music always had something for my moods. If I felt like relaxing and chilling, I could always play a Nujabes song and do it with ease. If I felt like I needed motivation, it's the same thing all over again. The complex and unique beats he made is best described as an arrow going through the minds of many and dropping a positive feeling. All who have been touched by his music will surely continue to mourn his loss one way or another. As I'm typing this, I'm re-listening his albums to rediscover the man that started it all for me.

It's a shame a person like him could be gone so fast. He died in late February, but I'm only hearing of this news this week. When I heard it, I was definitely devastated and went into a shock. I couldn't register the fact that he died; it was just too hard to take in. He died in a fatal car accident in Japan, which is where he lived. Despite the rescue efforts, they still could not save him. That day was an end of a legacy. He leaves behind him a very strong fanbase who have been touched by his music in one way, fellow producers, MCs that worked with him, his label Hydeout Productions, and most importantly his family. Wherever he is, I hope he takes his talent with him and continue to inspire. I could only compare him to a similar figure in the world of music. J Dilla.

Thank you Nujabes, for helping me find myself and the inspiration you gave me.

You can find statements of how his music affected people on his MySpace, Last.fm, or this website, written by MC Shing02, who I could imagine was a good friend of Nujabes. And here are some examples.

"RIP Jun Seba, you will forever be remembered by me and many others, your music is made life seem more relaxing and peaceful. Hard to explain, but your music was the best thing i came across. thats all i can say for now. Peace world."

"Your music lifts my soul and makes me peaceful, and it'll always be apart of my life. R.I.P and we'll miss you"

"I may have never met you, but your music has added color to my world and has enlightened my perspective. May your soul rest in peace."

"thank you for giving me a dream. rest in beats"

"Thank you so very much for touching my soul...I truly believe you have contributed in many of my positive movement. Through your music I found happiness. My heart sings to your soul...Forever grateful.

R.I.P."

"~Seba Jun, i don't believe it is possible to know how big of an impact your music has had on me. You are one of the select few whose music let me know that Hip Hop is not dead but very much alive. Your influence and who you are as an artist will live on forever. Inspiration, therapy, relaxing, calming, hype, and a completely different level of music. This is not a goodbye. R.I.P Nujabes~ "

First They Killed My Father: Two

The second part of the book continues as Luong and her family live in the harsh conditions of the Khmer Rouge. Already 2/3rds into the the story, you can imagine the hardships that Luong and her family have to overcome. They have to deal with having to 'migrate' from camp to camp in order to hide the true identity of her family, because if the Khmer Rouge ever find out that Pa worked for the government, or that they were city people, their existence would cease to be present. Along with that, they have to deal with the cruel treatment of the Khmer Rouge. But the Khmer Rouge deny this cruel treatment but instead excuse it as proper behavior in order to respect the Angkar. These hardships and more truly make it hard for Luong and her family to get by.

One chapter that caught my attention especially, is the chapter Keav. In this chapter, which continues where the story of Keav left off, Luong, out of nowhere, changes the point of view in her writing. The text become italics and begin to narrate in a third-person omniscient point of view. This sort of confused me at first but I gradually began figuring out what Luong was trying to show readers. The sudden change in point of view is a nice addition to the already interesting writing, but it no doubt took me by surprise.

In general, Luong doesn't fail to keep me motivated to keep on reading. Her stories are indeed interesting and I always wonder how she would get out of the sticky situations she gets in. I hope her writing and stories stay consistent to the aspects that made me love this book in the first place. I can't wait to finish this book. Enjoy the rest of the read, guys!

is it really the ipod?

I was meaning to write about this yesterday night, but I got lazy and knocked out of tiredness. I'll start out by explaining exactly what happened before, after, and during the event. This post might feel sort of all over the place, and if it does, I apologize.

First of all, the night before it happened was hell for me. I had a lot of homework, on top of the usual was an extra assignment for me to organize my binder for History. Like every other night, I didn't get everything that I want to finish finished, so I go to bed that night with my math homework neglected. The next day in first period, I tried to do my math homework ever-so-steathily while my teacher was doing lecture. I pulled out my iPod and started using the calculator so I could do my math properly. Out of nowhere my teacher goes down my row while doing some explanation and I frantically try to hide my iPod. But to no avail. She had taken it away, for the rest of the day. To be quite honest, I died a little bit inside. I made a decision that I was going to try and get it at break, which was the time she told me she was going to take it down to the VP's office. My next class dragged on and I went to her class in hopes of getting my iPod back. I follow her down to the VP and was told that I HAD to get it after school. And again, I die a bit more.

But while there, a teacher I don't know said to me, "I know students who are losing their JOB because they are on their electronics too much." At which point, a swarm of thoughts entered my head. I thought about how that wasn't my case. That I was using it as a calculator for homework and not playing games in the back corner of the room. Though I do admit I should not have been doing homework for another class in the first place, it's still wrong. At least in my case. I could tell you the reason why I was so devastated. Music, music, and music. During most of the school day, I always try to listen to music as much as I can, whenever I can. Knowing the fact that I wouldn't have it for the rest of the day frightened me. I could care less if it my iPod. Because confiscating my iPod is also taking away my music. Something I can't live without, something that helps me through the day. The only purpose of my iPod at school is for music. Anywhere else, it's everything it can be.

At the same time, through this experienced, I surprised myself. Because I realized that a few years ago, I wasn't even that much into music. A few years ago, I could avoid music for a whole week and be perfectly fine. And now I know that I've morphed into some kind of music addict. Haha. My newfound love for music is only at its beginning point. I don't know where it'll take me, if ever. But I've learned that it's something I heavily, heavily depend on in life.

First They Killed My Father: One

What can I say, the moment I started reading the book I couldn't stop. Every night I would read for a good hour or two, get through a lot of pages. The way author Luong Ung illustrates her experiences as a child in the book allow me to create vivid images in my head. Only adding to the fact of how well she describes her environment. I have taken a nice liking to memoirs, especially after reading Night. Reading about other people's hardships make me aware of how lucky I am to live such an easy life compared to those who suffered.

As the book starts, Luong describes her luxurious life as a middle-class child in Phnom Penh. Her life was better than most of the people in her city, but she was a troublesome child. Her mother would always scold her but her father would back her up, often complimenting her actions instead of punishing them. She describes her large family one by one, using as much detail as she can so the reader can create their own image of the person. Luong assures us that she takes a higher liking to her father compared to her mother. It's a shame that this story of living a good life ends so fast. By the third chapter, things already start getting bad.

The transition to the jolly and happy-go-lucky feel of the book to a cold, ruthless feeling comes quick. The smoothness of the transition is pretty astounding too. I wonder why she chose not to go into much detail about her childhood at the beginning of the book. Maybe it's because she was so young? I don't know for sure, but that's plausible. She describes the situation the Khmer Rouge put her in as a "What will they do next?" kind of way, which leaves a somewhat mysterious feeling around the book. It always has you thinking of what'll come up next.

sandyduong: fly high!

If you haven't known already, my favorite animal of all the animal kingdom is the bird. If I were to describe them in one word, it would be majestic. A lot of their characteristics make me like them a lot. The way they scour the world around them when they're still or just chillin' with other birds, their flawless ability to fly, and overall their faux-or-not curiosity. I guess you could say I'm jealous of them. I don't know where or how my liking for birds developed, but I can take a few guesses. It could either be back in the Philippines, where I was told my brother had a coop of pigeons he took care of. I don't remember that, but I can still consider that a possibility. Another reason could be because I had about four or five Parakeets when I was really young. I always used to just sit down in front of their cage and watch them live their poor, restricted lives. Man, I made that sound really sad but it's true. Anyways, I would always just poke a finger inside the cage and let them nibble at me. I would get sad when they stared at my finger and didn't nibble on it. At that point I would try and provoke the smallest nibble. Haha.

If I had the choice of, and if it was possible, I'd jump to the choice of being reincarnated as a bird. I don't care what kind of bird, just a bird. My jealousy of birds gave me the desire to fly as high as I can. Up in the sky, I could see my world around me a lot clearer. No ugly buildings or streets to look at, because the only direction I could look at is down. Not a care in the world, flying over cities and towns observing whatever is going on below me, only swooping down if I see something that interests me. I could choose whether or not I would fly alone or with a really big group of birds who want to share a flight with me. Come to think of it, and sorry for ruining the flow of this paragraph a bit, but haven't you ever wondered HOW birds fly so.. cooperatively in the skies? When you look up and see a group of birds flying in the high skies, it's like they're putting on a show for you. It amazes me how they're able to fly together in unison, not one bird breaking their pattern. If one goes left, they all go left. If one goes right, they all go right. If one of them decide to go batshit crazy and fly around in some cool ass patterns, the rest follow suit. It's just AMAZING.

To be more specific, my favorite bird is the pigeon. They're probably one of the most smartest birds. But hell, every bird is really smart in it's own way. There's the woodpecker who figured out how to use its beak to get food, the crow and it's problem solving abilities, and much more. Still, the pigeon fascinates me unlike any other. It's evolved and became smart enough to actually live in cities, with humans. Most of us refer to them as a big nuisance, which may be kind of true, since they crap everywhere. But hey, to me they're still some awesome little creatures. Little flying scavengers huddling everywhere for food, scurrying away when someone walks by. I can't help but laugh when they walk, too. It's so funny watching their head bob with each step they take. Hahaha. I'm so weird. Those are only one type of pigeon we see, too. Another amazing thing is how we can raise messenger pigeons. They grow to be intelligent enough so they can deliver messages when it comes to a particularly long distance. All of these characteristics make me favor the pigeon more than any other type. It may not be colorful or flamboyant like other birds, but for its intelligence and curiosity.

And to end it with a cute little video: http://www.wimp.com/pigeonsubway/

Actually, there's been other instances of pigeons riding the subway. Look it up, haha.