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Survival in the Killing Fields Paperback – December 26, 2003

by Haing Ngor (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 1,524 ratings
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Nothing has shaped my life as much as surviving the Pol Pot regime. I am a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust. That's who I am," says Haing Ngor. And in his memoir, Survival in the Killing Fields, he tells the gripping and frequently terrifying story of his term in the hell created by the communist Khmer Rouge. Like Dith Pran, the Cambodian doctor and interpreter whom Ngor played in an Oscar-winning performance in The Killing Fields, Ngor lived through the atrocities that the 1984 film portrayed. Like Pran, too, Ngor was a doctor by profession, and he experienced firsthand his country's wretched descent, under the Khmer Rouge, into senseless brutality, slavery, squalor, starvation, and disease -- all of which are recounted in sometimes unimaginable horror in Ngor's poignant memoir. Since the original publication of this searing personal chronicle, Haing Ngor's life has ended with his murder, which has never been satisfactorily solved. In an epilogue written especially for this new edition, Ngor's coauthor, Roger Warner, offers a glimpse into this complex, enigmatic man's last years -- years that he lived "like his country: scarred, and incapable of fully healing."
Previous page
  1. Print length
    527 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Basic Books
  4. Publication date
    December 26, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 1.25 x 7.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0786713151
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0786713158
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The best book on Cambodia that has ever been published."

About the Author

Haing Ngor, a Cambodian by birth and doctor by profession, launched his Hollywood film career in 1984 with his Academy Award-winning performance in The Killing Fields. He died in 1996.

Roger Warner is a journalist and author of Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos. He first met Ngor at a Cambodian refugee camp in 1980.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; 58359th edition (December 26, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 527 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786713151
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786713158
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1.25 x 7.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 1,524 ratings

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Haing Ngor

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
1,524 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Corinne Porter
5.0 out of 5 stars The brutality of a genocide. Warning: graphic content
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2022
Verified Purchase
This book is not easy to read. But it's good to read. It's a story of heartache and loss, and the destruction of a society. Some parts are very graphic. He placed a warning at the beginning of those chapters. I live in Cambodia, and the effects of the Khmer Rouge are still very much felt here. Haing Ngor was a doctor in Phnom Penh. The Khmer Rouge tried to kill the entire educated population and almost succeeded. This is the story of how one doctor hid in plain sight and eventually survived the Khmer Rouge reign of terror. His accounts of his times in prison are so haunting and graphic that, while I was reading, I had to keep reminding myself that he was somehow going to survive! It is hard to read these stories but it is very important not to forget what happened here. If you want to understand what happened in Cambodia, this is a good book to read.
6 people found this helpful
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Chewy
5.0 out of 5 stars Shocking, well written and unforgettable.
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022
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Never forget history or it will repeat itself. I knew nothing about the Cambodian genocide and wanted to educate myself so I bought this book. I am a VERY slow reader and books tend to fail at keeping me interested for more than a half hour at a time so it takes forever to finish anything. This was totally different. I read this 500+ page book in 8 days. On one particular day I sat down for 5 hours straight and couldn't stop reading. I've passed it along to multiple people and they were all as deeply moved as I was. To hear a first hand account of the atrocities of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge is almost unbelievable. At times it was almost sickening but this stain in history must be remembered and this book gets the job done.
6 people found this helpful
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Jonas Peabody
5.0 out of 5 stars Communism and Buddhsim: a lethal combination
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2016
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A well written book that reveals more than the author intended. Yes, the Khmer were murderous animals. But the author's Buddhism didn't help. Time and again the author relates how he and his fellow Cambodians blamed themselves for their situation: how some evil they must have done in a past life brought them to this. Karma. Such self condemnation didn't lend itself to justifiable rebellion.

On three occasions the author was condemned by a fellow Cambodian as a Capitalist Doctor - which he was -- and three times arrested and tortured. After his first arrest and torture, the author planned to kill his antagonist...but decided against it: he didn't want to be as bad as him; besides, that individual would be punished in a future life. Thus was the author again condemned by the same antagonist a 2nd time, arrested, and tortured. Again, no reprisal. Then a 3rd condemnation with resultant arrest and torture.

Eventually the author's wife dies from childbirth complications, and he blames himself, not the Khmer. Eventually, as the Khmer regime breaks up and Khmer leaders are themselves killed and tortured by higher ups, the author calls it "Karma": the gods have punished them. Why didn't the gods punished them sooner? Why didn't the gods prevent the whole damn holocaust in the first place? Why didn't the gods save his wife, his father, his mother, his brothers and sisters? No answer, except that they - his wife, his parents, his siblings - must have done something evil in a previous life.

I gave this book 5 stars for its excellent expose of the direct life killing philosophy of Communism...and indirect expose of the life killing religion of Buddhism -- a lethal combination.
3 people found this helpful
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Larry N. English
4.0 out of 5 stars Having just visited Cambodia and seeing some of the places discussed in the books, I wanted to know more.
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2015
Verified Purchase
As difficult as it is and horrifying as the book is, I am happy it was written and it helps me to understand what happened and why. As an American I was sad to see our involvement early on in the deaths of so many innocent people. It leaves me thirsty for more knowledge on the subject matter and am driven to read more.
How sad that this was the largest genocidal act since WW2, and hardly anyone knows it.
Human suffering and strength revealed in the lives and deaths of a great percentage of an entire race of people.
Deserves to be read and spoken of.
3 people found this helpful
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Brian A. Foster
5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing Tale of the Genocide No One Noticed
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
Yes, we heard about Pol Pot in the U.S., but we had no idea what was really happening in Cambodia until the movie "The Killing Fields" came out, which featured among other things the experiences of Dith Pran. The actor who played him, Haing Ngor, survived an even more brutal experience, as detailed in this amazing book. I will not go into specifics of his survival story, including the three times he was tortured to the point of near-death, but just note that if you a) want to learn some history about the Khmer Rouge; and b) want to experience what true human endurance is, then read this book.

Onto the quibbles: this book has a large number of grammatical, spelling, and editorial errors. Some of these errors resemble those that come from OCR'ing text. For example, in one passage, the writing was supposed to say something like "in March, 1985, I…," but instead read "in March 19851…" Yes, the number "1" was substituted for the letter "I," and the space between it and the date was deleted. I know it sounds petty, but there were so many errors throughout the book, including sentences that were not finished, wrong words, and a significant number of misspellings. I do not fault Haing Ngor at all, given his limited grasp of English. I certainly do fault the editors of this book.

Lastly, do not expect to find a happy Hollywood ending to this book. Indeed, I was so saddened at the end that I was more depressed about the ending than many of the horrors inflicted by the Khmer Rouge. Just be prepared for a strong dose of reality, as humans are complicated individuals who live in gray areas.
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Ted Curtin
5.0 out of 5 stars Just Extraordinary
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2024
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I saw "The Killing Fields' in a theater over 30 years ago and just recently visited Cambodia. I was pleasantly surprised that I found this book on Amazon, and it did not disappoint. His tales of life under the Khmer Rouge are harrowing. It's particularly amazing that a warm and gentle people like the Cambodians could fall under the spell of a small cadre of lunatics.
The story also tells of Hang's journey to freedom and his unlikely emergence as a Hollywood star. I highly recommend this book.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Timothy Caron
5.0 out of 5 stars A Moving and Disturbing Book
Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2024
Verified Purchase
Sad, moving, infuriating, shocking and, ultimately, depressing. An in-depth look at one man’s personal story of life under the murderous Cambodian Khmer Rouge regime.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2023
Verified Purchase
It’s terrible to read how people can think they can eliminate thousands of innocent men women and children. The book was well written and although harrowing at times it was enlightening to read and how the author survived. A true hero
One person found this helpful
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Thierry
5.0 out of 5 stars La référence pour comprendre le drame du Cambodge en 1975 - 1979
Reviewed in France on September 30, 2018
Verified Purchase
Ayant suivi le conflit "indochinois dans les années 60 et 70, visionné le film "Killing Fields en 1984, m'étant rendu au Cambodge en 1990, visité l'infâme Tuol Sleng, je comprends mieux pourquoi ce film, malgré son intensité dramatique, était bien en dessous de la réalité. Heureux d'avoir pu lire la vraie vie de son acteur cambodgien, qui hélas a mal fini aux USA. Un livre touchant, passionnant jusqu'au bout - A lire absolument
One person found this helpful
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CFM
5.0 out of 5 stars A sobering read about one of the greatest atrocities.
Reviewed in Australia on April 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
A well written account of one of the world's greatest atrocities. Perhaps should be read by all senior school students to illustrate what people can do when inspired by politics.
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Sachin Wadhwani
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
Reviewed in India on April 19, 2018
Verified Purchase
One of my favourite books. If you're a war buff or enjoy reading how ordinary people's lives are affected by military conflicts then this is a must read.
One person found this helpful
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