Alive in the Killing Fields

by Nawuth Keat, Martha Kendall

"Alive in the Killing Fields" is the real-life memoir of Nawuth Keat, a man who survived the horrors of war-torn Cambodia. He has now broken a longtime silence in the hope that telling the truth about what happened to his people and his country will spare future generations from similar tragedy.
In this captivating memoir, a young Nawuth defies the odds and survives the invasion of his homeland by the Khmer Rouge. Under the brutal reign of the dictator Pol Pot, he loses his parents, young sister, and other members of his family. After his hometown of Salatrave was overrun, Nawuth and his remaining relatives are eventually captured and enslaved by Khmer Rouge fighters. They endure physical abuse, hunger, and inhumane living conditions. But through it all, their sense of family holds them together, giving them the strength to persevere through a time when any assertion of identity is punishable by death.
Nawuth's story of survival and escape from the Killing Fields of Cambodia is also a message of hope; an inspiration to children whose worlds have been darkened by hardship and separation from loved ones. This story provides a timeless lesson in the value of human dignity and freedom for readers of all ages.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Memoir, War, Biography, Asia, Politics

ebook

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Emily]

The actual storyline of this book deserves 5 shining stars. It was sad and tragic and powerful and inspiring. However I was disappointed in the actual telling of the story though, as it felt overly simplified and unorganized. I would round the storytelling up to maybe 3 stars. That being said, this book is less than 100 pages and definitely worth the read to understand more of how the Khmer Rouge impacted individuals and to admire the tenacity of the main character and his family.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alive in the Killing Fields is a brief but devastating read, one that I read in a single night. After picking it up off the library shelf at random, I couldn't resist reading it, as I know very little about the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge, or those they perpetrated them against, and I am always eager to learn more.

Nawuth Keat made his heartbreaking story accessible to a broad audience with its straightforward and easy to read style. I appreciated that the book took the time to explain how certain words were pronounced, as I never would have guessed otherwise. It made me feel ashamed for knowing so little about the genocide in Cambodia, and it definitely gave me an urge to learn more about it. While the story was heartbreaking in the way that only the story of an atrocity can be, it was absolutely necessary that it be told. We should never be allowed to forget such events as these, but forgetfulness comes to easy to the west when it does not "involve us".

I would absolutely recommend this for teenagers or adults looking to put a human face on the horrible atrocities in Cambodia committed by the Khmer Rouge. I would recommend this to anyone who is not. It has definitely given me a greater desire to learn about southeast Asia as a whole as well.

[Talyr Lerwill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very educational and informative on the Cambodian genocide that took place relatively recently. This was an easy read that preteens/teenagers to well read adults could read and understand and learn from. A sad time in history for sure!

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wrenching memoir of a nine-year-old boy, from a relatively successful farming family, struggling to survive in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge Regime. Such inhumanity and brutal treatment is almost unimaginable. Horrific that it is permanently seared into the memory of so many who lived through it and witnessed others who did not. Chilling. A good YA intro to Cambodia's turbulent history.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very short memoir of Nawuth Keat. As a boy, he lived during the invasion of Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. He was from a very prominent family until the invasion. After the invasion, he was forced out of his home, lost family, was often hungry, and was forced into hard labor. The book shows the resilience of Nawuth and his determination to survive.

[Jolie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the real-life memoir, Alive in the Killing Fields, by Nawuth Keat because of the truthfulness in the book. Nawuth’s life makes the readers regret taking anything for granted, and allows people to appreciate family, friends, and everything they have. This nonfiction memoir talks about a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. The book starts off when young Nawuth’s village, Salatrave, is attacked when brutal dictator Pol Pot overruns the government. Without any warning their village is attacked and Nawuth's mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and uncle are murdered. That is how the situation results in Nawuth being sent to live with his sister, and ends up captured and forced in a labor camp run by Khmer Rouge. The terrorist group proceeds to physically abuse, starve, and subject human beings to inhumane living conditions. After this their family walks to a refugee camp in Thailand, and ultimately Nawuth pretends to be a certain persons son so he can go to the Europe, but ends up getting to the United States.
Nawuth’s character seems determined, strong-willed, and thoughtful at a time when he is living in horrendous conditions. He is trying to stay alive in a place where the majority of people are dead or dying. His street smarts stood out to me as he was in the labor camp. Imagine working for hours on an end, getting beaten for having the wrong posture or going to slowly, having one meal provided each day, and ending up sleeping in tiny hand-made tents. That was what the camp was like. Through everything, the Keat family sticks together, and this promotes them to have the strength to survive. From a well-fed nine-year-old to a scrawny teenager Nawuth’s history will stick to the reader from beginning to end.
I disliked the fact this book was non-fiction. The horrors children went through absolutely astounded me. I can’t imagine anyone willing starving others to death. Khmer Rouge still puzzles me and I almost wish the book could provide a perspective from a person belonging to the Khmer Rouge group. It would be interesting to see those two perspectives together, maybe it would show information that solves a lot of questions such as; why would a person become part of Khmer Rouge? I like this book because it wasn’t just interesting and informative but also allowed me to compare Khmer Rouge to other terrorist organizations. This book connected to me because while we hear about the attacks in Paris, we rarely get to hear what it was like to be in that situation. This novel makes me think about the millions of people each day who suffer because of terrorist organizations. I give this book a four out of five. The novel is good, however readers would enjoy hearing about how Nawuth settles in America, and how he feels his past experiences influence him today.

[Lily Jin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a chilling story of a boy who's life immediately became chaotic and depressing. He grew up in a period of time when the Khmer Rouge was incredibly strong. The story starts off with the Khmer Rouge arriving at his small town to attack. Within 5 minutes, his mother, baby sister, grandmother, and much of his family is killed. He suffers three bullet wounds and is forever left with the scars. He immediately goes to where his older sister lives, but soon after, the Khmer Rouge makes many people work in the tough rice fields in the countryside, killing off any people who were scholars, teachers, or advanced students. They thought this because they supported Communism and believed that everyone ought to be a farmer, and that the educated could easily sabotage the government. Therefore, farming and being peasants was the way to go while everyone in the government got money and whatever they wanted while everyone else starves. He goes from place to place, never having the chance to have a childhood. Eventually, he is able to escape the horror of the Khmer Rouge after years of working in labor camps, facing starvation and malnutrition, and the constant fear of the Khmer Rouge.
This is an amazing book because it reflects on the pain that many people suffered during this time of chaos in a third world country. Many people do not know about this period of time in Cambodia, where many people died because of the Khmer Rouge. This book educates us on this period of time that only happened about 30-40 years ago. The writing is also magnificent, as it describes how Nawuth felt. I would rate this 4 tars because at times, the story is unclear about what is happening. Sometimes, Nawuth is talking about what is currently happening and sometimes he is talking about what life was like before the Khmer Rouge destroyed his life, which confuses me at times.

[Shunnosuke Yelich Kanematsu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a book based on the life of a boy who lost most of his family at a young age, who had to thrive and go through hard obstacles to love, and enjoy the life he loved to live. Honestly, this story isn't very amusing. But anyways, here's the summary. Alive in the Killing Fields is the real-life memoir of Nawuth Keat, a man who survived the horrors of war-torn Cambodia. He has now broken a longtime silence in the hope that telling the truth about what happened to his people and his country will spare future generations from similar tragedy. In this captivating memoir, a young Nawuth defies the odds and survives the invasion of his homeland by the Khmer Rouge. Under the brutal reign of the dictator Pol Pot, he loses his parents, young sister, and other members of his family. After his hometown of Salatrave was overrun, Nawuth and his remaining relatives are eventually captured and enslaved by Khmer Rouge fighters. They endure physical abuse, hunger, and inhumane living conditions. But through it all, their sense of family holds them together, giving them the strength to persevere through a time when any assertion of identity is punishable by death. Nawuth’s story of survival and escape from the Killing Fields of Cambodia is also a message of hope; an inspiration to children whose worlds have been darkened by hardship and separation from loved ones. Though the message of the story stands out, you really won't see it throughout the rest of the story except in the beginning. The author probably started the story with a sad scene, to make the reader want to read the rest of the story, which kind of worked, but then got boring towards the end.

[Siliang Lei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would give the book, “Alive in the Killing Fields,” 5 out of 5 stars. The book makes the reader want to finish the book as fast as possible. The author talks about the life of a depressed boy named Nawuth. The book describes Nawuth as previously having a great family and lots of happiness. However, a group called the Khmer Rouge destroyed and demolished Nawuth happiness. The Khmer Rouge charged into Nawuth town and killed anybody they saw. Nawuth’s mom and his other relatives died because of the Khmer Rouge. Luckily, Nawuth survived. From that day, Nawuth was ordered by his father to live with Nawuth sisters. His sisters treated him badly. During one day when Nawuth was still living with his sisters, the Khmer Rouge charged in. Unfortunately, Nawuth wasn’t able to escape. From that day on, Nawuth and his sisters were forced to work on the rice fields of the Khmer Rouge. Nawuth barely got any food during that time. These moments make the reader feel really sad for Nawuth. This made me almost cry because the conditions Nawuth were forced to be in were nasty and depressing. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if I were in those conditions. As the book moves forward, I get more and more sad and hopeless. There were also some moments in the book that made me hopeful. One example is when Nawuth successfully got of of trouble after he stole some rice out of the plantations.When going towards the end of the book, I got really content because Nawuth was planning to escape the Khmer rouge and he did it successfully. This book was very moving. I truly recommend this book.

[Mohammed]

Mop (a Cambodian boy) wanted to live a peaceful life with his family, but one day in the middle of the night the Khmer Rouge attacks his village. So then they're running away to they're next door neighbor (which is there grandmother), but half his family gets killed trying to escape. Mop has been wounded and shot on his arm. Later on they discover that his arm was broken. Then Mops dad want to send him to his sister in the city to live with her.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting account of a Cambodian who was a child when he managed to survive the years of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and then finally immigrated to the U.S. He recounts all the horrors and atrocities he witnessed during the years of the Cambodian Civil Wars in the 1970s. I read this book out loud to my 2 children, age 9 and 11. My 11-year-old was especially fascinated.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a quick read and gave the reader a small glimpse at the atrocities that happened during the Khmer Rouge. It was a pretty basic read - but I think that may be because it was for young readers and they didn't want to expose young readers to how bad it really was.

[Shonntrez]

great book but very sad

[Abby Barger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good. It was very sad about what people went through. They went through very sad things and very scary things that they had to live with their whole life.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew. This was a tough book. But an important one to read. I was talking to my husband about it and I said, "It's crazy," and he said, "What about it is crazy?" His question made me realize that it's not so much what happened to this poor young man that's insane, because, in truth, this kind of stuff happens all the time. There are so many places in the world, now and then, where this was people's everyday lives: scraping for food, constantly living in fear, being subjugated by an extremist group. What made me say it's crazy is how far it is from my own experiences. Intellectually, I know stuff like this happens. But when you gloss over it in a class or a discussion or a newspaper article (Oh yes, and then Pol Pot killed millions of people, now moving on), it almost doesn't even feel real. Stories like this bring an important immediateness to such crises. As I sit here typing this, I can think of at least four countries that have situations like this currently going on, or something similar. Uighurs and Muslims in China, the Rohingya in Myanmar, the asylum seekers currently in Border Patrol facilities in our own country, Boko Haram, there's so many on this list. Maybe if people read more books like this, they would feel more sympathy for people suffering right now in similar circumstances.

Having said that, I can't recommend this book to my 5th graders. It is way too intense. 8th graders, yes, but even then I think with a caveat that this book is hardcore. I do want to recommend it, though, and to have more people read it.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alive in the killing fields by Nawuth Keat with Martha E. Kendall is an autobiography of Nawuth Keat. This is all about the Cambodia genocide in 1974 and the Khmer Rouge. this book gave me an inside perspective of the terror and trauma that went on in Nawuth Keat childhood. In the book, it also defines the odds of surviving the Khmer Rouge rule. At the beginning of the book, Nawuth Keat is pushed out of his home losing his mother, father, and sister, Nawuth Finds himself fleeing to other family members where they were also to be found and brought into a prison camp where they were treated them inhuman ways. Nawuth Keat explains in the book that the support the family member gave to each other to push through the hunger, abuse, and uninhabitable living conditions.


I rate this book a 4/5. I thought this book was informational and give you an insider of the Turma and terror that happened in Cambodia a the time. I really enjoyed the book because it gave me a greater understanding of the 1974 Cambodian genocide. However, I would of like a chapter of life before the Khmer Rouge took over his home

[South Brunswick High School Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nawuth lived a happy life with his family until the Khmer Rouge invaded his village, shot and killed his mother, siblings, and extended family, and destroyed his home. While he survived his gunshot wounds, the next few years were filled with the terror of separation, forced labor, homelessness, illness, and desperate starvation. Despite all of this Nawuth manages to survive and eventually escape Cambodia, but not before being forced to leave his remaining family behind. This account shows the desperation of the families and children who were persecuted by the Khmer Rouge.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good YA read.
The last 2 pages of the book include a Time Line of Khmer Rouge Occupation and More.

From Chapter 6 ‘Survival’:
“I learned many things in my young life, and one of them was that cruel, greedy people with guns will slaughter good, innocent people. The ones they didn’t kill, they starved, tortured, and bullied. There was nothing I could do about it. I had learned that talking was dangerous, so I grieved in silence, alone.”

[Kat3Kenny K · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the child of parents who survived the Khmer Rouge. I am given even more insight on what occurred. My parents are not the best English-speakers, so the storytelling is difficult to convey sometimes. This genocide has deeply affected who I am today and a book that conveys a bit of the details is good. Although, not everything is covered, but there is so much a book can cover without readers tuning out.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick read in that the language is pared down to the essentials to tell the story of surviving the perils of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the refugee camps in Thailand. Many people that assume that once people "escape a genocide" and reach a camp that the problems are over. This book highlights the fact that is far from the truth for refugees. This book is journalistic in style and a good introduction to the situation.

[Lollie George · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to know more about the Khmer Rouge and this book was appropriate for middle schoolers. I liked the book. It is being removed from the collection because it has never been checked out. I enjoyed the clear description of family members and their locations. It was very much about family. The part about making it to America is similar to every other refugee story I have read about. They are all important.

[Joshua Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me again of the privileges that I’ve been fortunate enough to receive growing up. The experiences Nawuth lived through in Cambodia are horrifying to say the least. The courage and bravery displayed by him and his family are admirable to say the least. It’s hard to believe that atrocities they had to live through actually happened.

[Ezra · Rating 5 out of 5]

It´s not an easy read, subject-wise - but it really furthered my own personal knowledge of the conflicts leading up to the Vietnam War. This was a piece of history completely left out of my middle and high school history classes in the mid eighties through the early nineties. Excellent, yet harrowing, personal memoir written from the perspective of a child.

[Melissa Heeres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I have often heard of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, but had not read any first person accounts. This is the story of Nawuth Keat, who was a child when Pol Pot came to power and how he and many in his family survived. Definitely a must read and would strongly recommend to high school students interested in histor or true stories

[Tony Senanayake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alive in the killing fields provides a first hand account from a young boy (now man) who lived through the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge rein in Cambodia in the 1970s and 80s.

The scenes depicted in this short book are hard to fathom. Often the brutality and complete disregard for humanity washes over the words and I found it hard to grapple with.

[Aubrey Stapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good, nice to read another account of what the Khmer Rouge was like. And it lined up with everything I've read before, so that's always good, solidified the events for me. Of course it was a horribly depressing story, but I knew it would, and it's great that he was able to escape.

[Nguyen Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through all, I think the book is okay. Not something special but did clearly show the cruelty of the Khmer Rouge and the true nature of the sides (Vietnam, Thailand). He ended up getting over hardship and lived happily after that.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chilling read and reminder how quickly ideologies can change and how often what is supposed to be ‘philosophical’ degrades itself into an us vs them scenario. In this case, we see how Nawuth was lucky to survive and how easily average people can turn into savage killers.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this the first ever non-fiction book I've ever finished reading? I think so. The story is straight to the point, and it's short, but enough to teach me about what it was like living under the Khmer Rouge regime.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Definitely an important story. It was a quick read and I learned a lot about the Khmer Rouge years of Cambodia, so I'd recommend it for those reasons. I thought the writing style was just okay, though I recognize that it must have been a challenging endeavor.