Welcome to AP Language and Comp 2011
Lots of reading, writing, and discussion to do...
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
First They Killed My Father
I have already finished the book and overall I really liked it. I think the author did a good job at crafting a personal account of the conflict in Cambodia while informing the reader of specific facts about the political and social aspects of the conflict. The pictures in the book were a good addition to the story. It was interesting to see the faces of the people that the author described. The sections in italics about the possible fates of her family members made me keep wondering about what really happened to them as well.
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Though I am only halfway through the book, I must say that I am really enjoying it. Having the the narrator be a little girl enhances the reader's experience because it gives a firsthand view of how the Khmer Rouge killled many innocent people and filled an innocent 5 year old girl with hatred and rage. The first person narration of Loung Ung puts the reader into 1970's Cambodia and her intricate detail of the setting helps the reader visualize what she saw during that time.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading First They Killed My Father. The author managed to describe the horrors of the Cambodian genocide and allow the reader to connect with her story and sympathize with the shocking experiences as a young child. I liked that Loung Ung was able to retell her story through her eyes as a five year old, as it showed how she had to mature quickly and become self sufficient. Each struggle she faces becomes even more sufficient because she is so young and alone, and the death of her family members is more painful and magnified. Overall, the fact that the narration is told from the point of a five year old allows the book to stand out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ali and Kelly. The pictures in the book were a great addition to that made the story seem more real. I also liked the way that she kept the story within the years that it happened (like what Kelly said). I liked the way that she approached telling the story. Although it was depressing to read, Ung managed to not make the entire novel a sob story. It seems as though her purpose of the novel was to simply explain what happened to her and what happened in her country, she's not looking to gain anything from throwing her story out into the world.
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