Books about Cambodia

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Anchor Moy
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Books about Cambodia

Post by Anchor Moy »

Hi
This is just to get the ball rolling - what are good/essential reads about Cambodia?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/m ... erg-idling

I'd add French authors Bizot (The Gate) and Patrick Deville (Kampuchea) - and I really liked Alex Hinton's Why did they kill?
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phuketrichard
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Re: Books about Cambodia

Post by phuketrichard »

Missed the important ones;
  • "Cambodia's Curse_ The Modern History of" - Joel Brinkley Excellent book
    "When the war was over" Elizabeth Brinkley
    "Dancing in the shadows" Benny Widyono a un staffers perspective
    "Survival in the killing fields" Haing Ngor
    "Brother number one", "Voices from S21", "A history of Cambodia" all by David Chandler
and not exactly about Cambodia but;
  • "One Crowded Hour " Tim Bowden
    "Highways to war" Christopher Koch
    "Page after Page" , "Derailed in Uncle Ho's garden" both by Tim Page
and for fun;
  • Gecko trails
    Off the rails in Phnom Penh
    The year of living Stupidly
    Phnom Penh Noir
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Hugh Briss
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Re: Books about Cambodia

Post by Hugh Briss »

The Gate by Bizot and When the War was Over by Elizabeth Becker

Also consider, A History of Cambodia by Chandler

Colonial Cambodia's Bad Frenchmen by Muller

A Record of Cambodia by Zhou Daguan

Bophana by Liz Becker again
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Re: Books about Cambodia

Post by Soi Dog »

"Stay Alive, My Son" by Pin Yathay is an interesting KR era survival story and a good read. I even like the "First They Killed My Father" and the sequel by Luong Ung, even though I recall some critics were quite harsh with their reviews among claims of lack of authenticity in some of the parts.

And of course, "The Killing Fields". All standard PP riverside child bookseller's fare.
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Re: Books about Cambodia

Post by Anchor Moy »

Thanks Hugh - did a search on Becker and came up with this:

http://books.google.fr/books?id=mg9QLPu ... er&f=false

Typed in Bophana, but got When the War was Over - I'm up to page 66 and it's fascinating reading.
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Re: Books about Cambodia

Post by bong.kuit »

Good recommendations so far, I'll add Slocomb's "The People's Republic of Kampuchea, 1979-1989", for a detailed description of an important decade that is easily overlooked.

Oh, and Michael Vickery "1975-1982".
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Hugh Briss
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Re: Books about Cambodia

Post by Hugh Briss »

Anchor Moy wrote:Thanks Hugh - did a search on Becker and came up with this:

http://books.google.fr/books?id=mg9QLPu ... er&f=false

Typed in Bophana, but got When the War was Over - I'm up to page 66 and it's fascinating reading.
Yes, sorry about that, I think the book Bophana might be only locally available. It is for sale at Monument Books in Khmer and English and is for sale at the Bophana Audio Visual Resource Center which I recommend you visit and support as they do fantastic work in the name of preserving Cambodian culture and heritage. http://bophana.org/

The Bophana story is actually contained as part of the Becker book 'When the War was Over' but it is such a riveting and heart wrenching story that it was turned into a short novel in it's own right, that you can buy.

The Bophana Center is just fantastic. I put a link above, but if you would like any further info PM me because I could go on ad nauseam about them.

Just a quick aside, their founder is none other than Rithy Panh, acclaimed Cambodian director recently nominated for an Academy Award.
“JFK was far from perfect, but he was a true wit and a sex machine, and he knew how to wear a pair of shades." Bill Maher
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