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Ghosts in the Forest
In 2004, 34 men, women and children stepped out of a Southeast Asian rainforest and presented themselves as refugees from violence engulfing their native Cambodia. They did not know that the war they were fleeing had in fact ended—25 years earlier. Corinne Purtill was one of the first journalists to meet the families upon their incredible return to society. Years later she returned to Cambodia to learn the truth about their time on the run. What she found was a darker and more complicated tale than the one they first shared, a story of terror, isolation, fierce loyalty, appalling choices and murder. The result is a story that examines the unyielding human need for family and connection and the meaning of survival. Corinne Purtill is a journalist who has reported around the world for publications including Quartz, GlobalPost, CNN, Salon and the Cambodia Daily. She lives in California with her family. Cover design by Hannah Perrine Mode
157 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 8, 2015
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107 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 25, 2015
I occasionally see a Kindle Single book advertised that jumps out and calls my name. This is one of those books. It is short book, written by one of the first journalists to interview one of the Cambodian families that walked out of the jungle in 2004, not knowing that the war had ended 25 years earlier.
The story is well written and compelling. And I it was particularly interesting to me because I grew up in a small Utah community that took in refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos during the 1970s & 80s. I also have Cambodian friends now in Korea. The atrocities of war that were inflicted in these three countries are unthinkable. I found it mind-opening to learn more about what life was like for these people before, during, and after the wars that ravished the Indochina Peninsula.
My favorite quote from the book is:
"What I learned.....is the difficulty of divining the truth of another human's story. Understanding the whole of a person's life - not just what they did, but why they did it - is like constantly unfolding a puzzle, a Jacob's ladder that spills out in a new direction every time you grasp a different corner."
The story is well written and compelling. And I it was particularly interesting to me because I grew up in a small Utah community that took in refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos during the 1970s & 80s. I also have Cambodian friends now in Korea. The atrocities of war that were inflicted in these three countries are unthinkable. I found it mind-opening to learn more about what life was like for these people before, during, and after the wars that ravished the Indochina Peninsula.
My favorite quote from the book is:
"What I learned.....is the difficulty of divining the truth of another human's story. Understanding the whole of a person's life - not just what they did, but why they did it - is like constantly unfolding a puzzle, a Jacob's ladder that spills out in a new direction every time you grasp a different corner."
August 14, 2016
Fascinating and detailed, yet limited.
October 26, 2017
Compelling, poignant, laconic.
Indochina is a region I lack knowledge in historically and once I found out this story’s subject I delved right in. Purtill gives an engrossing overview of what these 34 people endured before, during, and after the reign of the Khmer Rouge. With the help of a translator, we get conversations right from the source. The author packed a mighty punch in under a hundred pages.
The reader receives a well-rounded education on these people who re-entered the world after being in a forest for most of their lives avoiding the terrors of war under the Khmer Rouge communists. Little did they know, when they came out of the forest in 2004 the war in the Indochina Peninsula had ended 25 years prior. It was intriguing reading how little they knew of the modern world. In a way they had traveled time.
It is free on Amazon Kindle and I recommend this short read to anyone remotely interested.
I’ll leave you with a couple quotes:
Indochina is a region I lack knowledge in historically and once I found out this story’s subject I delved right in. Purtill gives an engrossing overview of what these 34 people endured before, during, and after the reign of the Khmer Rouge. With the help of a translator, we get conversations right from the source. The author packed a mighty punch in under a hundred pages.
The reader receives a well-rounded education on these people who re-entered the world after being in a forest for most of their lives avoiding the terrors of war under the Khmer Rouge communists. Little did they know, when they came out of the forest in 2004 the war in the Indochina Peninsula had ended 25 years prior. It was intriguing reading how little they knew of the modern world. In a way they had traveled time.
It is free on Amazon Kindle and I recommend this short read to anyone remotely interested.
I’ll leave you with a couple quotes:
“The Khmer Rouge offered only one way to live, yet now, as their failed state disintegrated, there were endless ways to die.”
“Highlander people I spoke to regularly counted the absence of salt alongside death and bombing as the worst of their sufferings under Pol Pot.”
August 24, 2016
Good read
Interesting to learn a little history, found it moving and made me think differently on how to spend my own time, appreciate how lucky I am
Interesting to learn a little history, found it moving and made me think differently on how to spend my own time, appreciate how lucky I am
November 12, 2015
I'm biased, but I like this book.
July 21, 2017
What a great story
A story of what war does to a Society. This man loved his family so much that during the war in Laos he moved them to the forest...for 25 years!
A story of what war does to a Society. This man loved his family so much that during the war in Laos he moved them to the forest...for 25 years!
February 24, 2022
Audio narration: 3 stars
Narrative story: 4 stars
Overall: 3 stars
I listened to this book on audible plus because I needed a non-fiction book to fulfill a competition requirement. I don't normally read non-fiction, so just the culture-shock itself was enough to knock one star off for me, and should not reflect on the content for those who do.
The narrator was just so-so. She has some strange intonation quirks that feel a little unnatural but don't quite take away from being able to focus on the story.
The story itself took a little while to figure out what it was doing. The first chapter felt a little scattered (and long), but the second was much tighter and the information flowed more concisely from there on.
The content itself is very interesting. I learned of the Khmer Rouge in school and heard briefly of the cataclysmic upheavals in Southeast Asia in the news, but being immersed in one person's specific story has a very different impact from a mention in a textbook or a minute on the news. Those details, the grassroots eye as opposed to the bird's eye view, truly brings home not just the horrors that people in that part of the world experienced, but also just a very different life, a very different history, and a very different world from the pampered bubble where I live.
Narrative story: 4 stars
Overall: 3 stars
I listened to this book on audible plus because I needed a non-fiction book to fulfill a competition requirement. I don't normally read non-fiction, so just the culture-shock itself was enough to knock one star off for me, and should not reflect on the content for those who do.
The narrator was just so-so. She has some strange intonation quirks that feel a little unnatural but don't quite take away from being able to focus on the story.
The story itself took a little while to figure out what it was doing. The first chapter felt a little scattered (and long), but the second was much tighter and the information flowed more concisely from there on.
The content itself is very interesting. I learned of the Khmer Rouge in school and heard briefly of the cataclysmic upheavals in Southeast Asia in the news, but being immersed in one person's specific story has a very different impact from a mention in a textbook or a minute on the news. Those details, the grassroots eye as opposed to the bird's eye view, truly brings home not just the horrors that people in that part of the world experienced, but also just a very different life, a very different history, and a very different world from the pampered bubble where I live.
June 6, 2023
Hmm... I liked the narrative. Not many people know many things about the History of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. The aftermaths of War in the 75s and how innocent village dwellers like Moon were dragged into it, is a striking tale, one that informs us of the past and the privileges of the present. Moon and his family went through innumerable hardships, including the precarious absence of Salt, the one common place commodity that we take for granted so easily. In the forest life, there's no way to get this essential ingredients. In a tale of adventure, horror, violence and rescue, we encounter a thoroughly enjoyable and informative read. Audio narration does an apt job too. Recommended!
May 26, 2021
Hiding in the Forest
This was an interesting take of a group of ethnic minorities from Cambodia who fled the brutal Khemer Rouge to live in the jungle. They lived in the jungle for decades, escaping a war that ended over 25 years ago. Their story of survival is incredible. So was their return to civilization. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audio book. A great short story.
This was an interesting take of a group of ethnic minorities from Cambodia who fled the brutal Khemer Rouge to live in the jungle. They lived in the jungle for decades, escaping a war that ended over 25 years ago. Their story of survival is incredible. So was their return to civilization. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audio book. A great short story.
June 19, 2018
An interesting historical account of the repercussions of a war . Imagine struggling to survive separated from the rest of society and then returning after 25 years . The world they returned to having nothing in common with the world they had left , they must have felt like aliens . This book certainly depicts the human will to survive against all the odds .
January 12, 2018
Interesting
It was good but I wish it had more details of their lives. It felt like the author just tapped the surface.
It was good but I wish it had more details of their lives. It felt like the author just tapped the surface.
April 2, 2018
Succinct and compelling
November 7, 2019
Interesting but for me written in the old style and I struggled with that..
January 26, 2023
Okay, well, once again a Kindle Single has opened my eyes to something that I knew very little about. What a fascinating story that touches on all the human emotions.
February 25, 2017
3.5 Stars
November 24, 2015
While many would find this a most fascinating look at some of the last tribes living in the Cambodian forest, this was more history than I wanted to read. These people had hidden in the jungle for decades, escaping the war of Vietnam. I did delete the book, but again, anyone interested in this historical accounting of the era that was Vietnam/Cambodia and the tribes involved, would find this fascinating I'm sure.
December 15, 2015
WOW! What an amazing story of survival against the odds. Sad, powerful & moving. I would love to know more of what happened in the depths of the jungle with Moun and his family & friends, but I don't think we ever will. This is one of those stories that I'm sure will be taken to the grave. The hardships that these people endured can never be appreciated, unless you experience it yourself.
Not a very long book, I easily read it in one sitting; however it is worth reading.
December 15, 2015
Article or novel
Too interesting a story for just an article, not quite enough information for a novel - this short read fluctuates, sometimes awkwardly between the two. Should have been twice as short but then who would buy it?
Too interesting a story for just an article, not quite enough information for a novel - this short read fluctuates, sometimes awkwardly between the two. Should have been twice as short but then who would buy it?
May 12, 2016
An incredible story
A really interesting read on survivors of the war in Cambodia who constructed a life in the jungle in complete isolation and fear. It illustrates the incredible destructiveness of war and the infinite resilience of the human spirit.
A really interesting read on survivors of the war in Cambodia who constructed a life in the jungle in complete isolation and fear. It illustrates the incredible destructiveness of war and the infinite resilience of the human spirit.
December 9, 2015
Fascinating tale of a group 34 men, women, and children that walked out of a Southeast Asian forest in 2004 nearly 25 years after the war that sent them into hiding had ended.
December 15, 2015
Wish it were longer
I wish there were more to it. It's a very good rendition of nonfiction material that reads much like a captivating work of fiction.
I wish there were more to it. It's a very good rendition of nonfiction material that reads much like a captivating work of fiction.
January 11, 2016
Well written,interesting and informative. Sad story about a group of survivors.
March 5, 2016
Captivating story. This book has opened my eyes into a time and the lives of a people and place very much removed from my own. History and story of a people fighting to survive.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews