Read PDF The Girl Who Said Goodbye: A Memoir of a Khmer Rouge Survivor
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Review KIRKUS REVIEW'An account of murder, starvation, bravery, and faith under Cambodia's dreaded Khmer Rouge regime.'In 1974, Siv Eng, a Cambodian teenager from the rural town of Battambang,was full of hope for a promising future when she joined her youngersister, Sourn Leng, in a Phnom Penh apartment. There, they planned tolive as they pursued pharmacy studies at the University of HealthScience. They joined their older brother, Pho--a freshly mintedelectrical engineer--and his young wife, Sok Yann, as well as their aunt Chhiv Hong and other family members. But their lives were about to turn nightmarish, as the Khmer Rouge were about to take over the country. In this debut biography, Allen relates, in Siv Eng's voice,�the gripping story of her aunt's struggle to survive seemingly unrelentingterror. In the 1970s, Allen notes, the Khmer Rouge enslaved the entirecountry's population, eliminated education, money, the judicial system,private property, as well as any type of happiness, including singing,that the regime considered a sign of capitalist decadence. Throughoutthis book, the author employs a matter-of-fact, almost flat prose stylethat contrasts well with the horror of the narrative that she relates in her aunt's voice. Along the way, Allen effectively reveals theprivation and misery created by the Cambodian communists as Siv Engsurvived in her country's wasteland; she found hope in only twothings--her love of her family members and her quiet, lasting sense ofprayer: 'We were so hungry,' Siv Eng narrates, 'The suffering wasunbearable. Instead of using the rice to feed the hungry mouths, theAngkar [Khmer Rouge] was feeding bullets to guns.' The story'schronology isn't straightforward, but flashbacks offer a contrastbetween Siv Eng's earlier days and her later ordeal.''A harrowing tale of survival and escape.' - Kirkus ReviewsBlueInk�STARRED REVIEWThe Girl Who Said Goodbye: A Memoir of a Khmer Rouge SurvivorHeather AllenRebel Press, 337 pages, (paperback) $19.99, 9781643399553 (Reviewed: August 2019)'Heather Allen brings to life the voice of a young, determined, and remarkable Cambodian girl--the author's aunt-- in this gripping true story of horror and survival under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979).In a violent military coup, Siv Eng, daughter of middle-class, prosperous, educated parents, and her siblings are abruptly swept up in the communist takeover, interrupting her university career. Forced to evacuate Phnom Penh in a march to remote jungle village labor camps, the siblings have no idea of the whereabouts of the rest of the family.Through vignettes, flashbacks, and simple description, as told through Siv Eng's eyes, Allen creates a vivid portrait of a sophisticated culture plunged into a world of abuse and genocide--while bringing to light the flawed philosophy of the Khmer Rouge's agrarian utopia.Mass executions along with years of forced labor, starvation, and disease spark Siv Eng's formidable resolve to survive and reunite with her family. She learns to steal and barter for grains of rice and favors from village leaders through hat-making or sewing.Fleeing to a village where she believes she will find her sister, who was sent away after stealing mung beans, Siv Eng is caught and imprisoned. There, she witnesses multiple horrors, including suffocation punishments for stealing infractions: '...the Khmer Rouge placed a plastic bag over the victim's head and kept it there until the person was asphyxiated. Before death, the bag was briefly removed, and the process was started over again.' Of her captors, she remarks: 'Instead of planting seeds in the ground to feed the masses, the Khmer Rouge planted corpses.'In the harrowing aftermath, Siv Eng is eventually swallowed up in a river of Cambodian refugees desperately seeking to be reunited with their lost families.Here is a story that must be told. With uncomplicated prose in which little is sugarcoated, Allen delivers an exceptional, arresting work. Students of holocaust studies, Asian history, and Marxism will find it an invaluable account.BlueInk Heads-Up:�This book is equally as suited for middle school and high school readers as it is for book clubs or as part of a college curriculum.Also available as an ebook.' - BlueInk ReviewIndie Reader'GIRL WHO SAID GOODBYE is an important human story told with a wealth of compassion. The work offers a seminar in Cambodian history and the Khmer Rouge, as well as a harrowing account of resilience. Eng carefully describes the hierarchy of the new Khmer Rouge society, educating the uniformed and reminding the knowledgeable. She notes that the often brutal Mulethan--village farmers who lived in the countryside prior to the Khmer Rouge takeover and put in charge of the 'new' people' ('city people' such as Siv Eng)--were also sometimes compassionate. Sing states, 'A handful of the Mulethan committed acts of covert compassion. They sympathized with our situation and saw us as people with families. They recognized that the Angkar ideology was a disease that was eradicating our people, our country, and our land' (pg 79). Sociopolitical and historical elements are woven into this deeply personal story. The memoir telescopes between being on the ground with the narrator and zooming out to the larger Khmer Rouge occupation.Cambodian cultural elements are also intertwined in the chronicle, which creates a third dimension in this complex, multifaceted plot. For example, when in a work camp the narrator recalls a horrifying experience of waking, in the middle of the night, to 'something pushing on [her] chest...[she] saw the shape of a hand in the light from the fire. It was attached to an enormous, hairy arm' (pg 99). Eng had been asked by a friend to sleep in the space because the friend, too, had had a similar experience. Eng recounts the startling incident, placing it into the greater social context: 'Superstitions and ghosts were very real in Cambodian culture...I never slept up in the bed again, and the woman never asked. She faced her tormentor alone' (pg 200). The short chapter ends here, and the reader is left with the triple meaning of the event: the literal experience, the backdrop of Cambodian superstition, and the notion of constant torment coming from the entirety of the Khmer Rouge dystopia.Succinct chapters that interweave personal anecdotes, Cambodian cultural history, and the indoctrination of the Khmer Rouge all serve to create a page-turning memoir of emotional and historical breadth-and ultimately, compassion and forgiveness-in Heather Allen's memoir, THE GIRL WHO SAID GOODBYE.'~Geoff Watkinson for IndieReader Read more From the Author I've always been a sucker for a good personal story, from listening to a friend over a glass of wine to hearing NPR stories over the radio. Over the last 18 months I have become intimately acquainted with my Aunt Siv Eng's story. I was on the edge of my seat from her very first words. Where do you start when attempting to capture the most personal and painful moments in a person's life? I quickly learned that traumatic memories are not always recalled in chronological order. Each chapter and story led to more questions giving a greater depth and a sense of 'being in the moment.' I couldn't type fast enough and could hardly wait until our next scheduled conversation.�The writing process did not unfold without barriers. The time difference between Indiana and California, the full time jobs, the language barrier, and the magnitude and scope of what we were trying to accomplish were all obstacles to overcome. Writing this memoir was a privilege, and with it, we hope to honor Khmer Rouge survivors and those who lost their lives. Read more About the Author Heather Allen lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana with her husband, three children and a very ornery spaniel. She is a speech pathologist with a love of music and literature. At a family reunion she was offered a life changing opportunity: a chance to help fulfill a vow and tell her aunt's story. �Siv Eng lives in Anaheim, California, with her husband and mother, YoKuy. She is a brave survivor of the Khmer Rouge and a talented seamstress who has not lost her love of fashion. Siv Eng enjoys visits with her children and three beautiful grandchildren. Read more
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