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Sinarth
The setting sun headed yet again to the dragging horizon, throwing halos of ever-expanding light into the clouds, its fiery orange streaking the water in paths leading all the way back to Cambodia.
Sinarth heard the explosion just before it blew out his hearing, like a bazooka firing, then felt a faraway thud of a crumpled body hitting the ground from a height. Everything went black except for a few last vestiges of light shrinking slowly to a pinprick before puffing out to grey.
Everyone is levelled looking after each other, whether in battle or in death, there being no rank among the dead.
In the end, all is in vain, life is a privilege.
This book is based on the real-life account of an ordinary boy’s extraordinary journey to adulthood in Cambodia after the U.S. left Indochina in 1975, taking us through genocide, battle, the sorrow of loss and the discovery of all-encompassing love.
Writing this book entailed countless interviews and numerous journeys with Sinarth over three years visiting places from his past. The result is a story of Sinarth’s life as an emotional interpretation, from childhood through to adulthood. From this perspective, his perception of events was often in conflict with the historical reality. The recollections of these incidents are tempered by time, combined with the Buddhist approach Sinarth learned later in his life. This gave him the tools to evade overwhelming trauma, by remembering negative events as positive and skewing memories.
An important note is that many separate, though very similar, characters were involved in Sinarth’s life at different times over the forty years covered in this book. For the sake of brevity and through use of poetic licence, I have often combined several people into one character. Many incidents of violent battles, of love and genuine care, I have merged into single events. I have created metaphors for various emotional responses to real situations, inventing scenes at times to communicate those feelings. These aspects are woven together into a single tapestry to tell the story.
Hopefully, this book sheds light on Sinarth’s life’s journey and serves as a cautionary tale, that it could have been any one of us through happenstance placed in his situation. His story is representative of events experienced by many Cambodians, each story comparable, but every Cambodian completes a different journey.
Sinarth heard the explosion just before it blew out his hearing, like a bazooka firing, then felt a faraway thud of a crumpled body hitting the ground from a height. Everything went black except for a few last vestiges of light shrinking slowly to a pinprick before puffing out to grey.
Everyone is levelled looking after each other, whether in battle or in death, there being no rank among the dead.
In the end, all is in vain, life is a privilege.
This book is based on the real-life account of an ordinary boy’s extraordinary journey to adulthood in Cambodia after the U.S. left Indochina in 1975, taking us through genocide, battle, the sorrow of loss and the discovery of all-encompassing love.
Writing this book entailed countless interviews and numerous journeys with Sinarth over three years visiting places from his past. The result is a story of Sinarth’s life as an emotional interpretation, from childhood through to adulthood. From this perspective, his perception of events was often in conflict with the historical reality. The recollections of these incidents are tempered by time, combined with the Buddhist approach Sinarth learned later in his life. This gave him the tools to evade overwhelming trauma, by remembering negative events as positive and skewing memories.
An important note is that many separate, though very similar, characters were involved in Sinarth’s life at different times over the forty years covered in this book. For the sake of brevity and through use of poetic licence, I have often combined several people into one character. Many incidents of violent battles, of love and genuine care, I have merged into single events. I have created metaphors for various emotional responses to real situations, inventing scenes at times to communicate those feelings. These aspects are woven together into a single tapestry to tell the story.
Hopefully, this book sheds light on Sinarth’s life’s journey and serves as a cautionary tale, that it could have been any one of us through happenstance placed in his situation. His story is representative of events experienced by many Cambodians, each story comparable, but every Cambodian completes a different journey.
333 pages, Paperback
Published December 10, 2015
10 people are currently reading
626 people want to read
About the author
karl levy
1 book35 followersAbout the Author
Karl Levy was born in 1967 at St Leonards Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to his artist potter father Colin Levy OAM and mother Margaret, a painter. He grew up with two brothers, Rikyu and Donyu, named after Japanese Tea Ceremony masters, on a large family property in Bowen Mountain, outside of Sydney. Leaving these artistic surrounds, he left to study music at the University of Wollongong.
Lured to finance in the roaring eighties with many other twenty-somethings, the arts were cast aside to work in stockbroking with Rivkin and Co and later as a futures trader on the Sydney Futures Floor. He left the corporate world to travel extensively through the Middle East – in Israel, Jordon, Syria, Egypt and Turkey – and visited both the United States and England. On return to Australia he rejected high finance to become a tree lopper throughout his thirties.
Yet another change of lifestyle occurred, revisiting the corporate world in 2008, to broker commodity derivatives in Singapore for six years and further his financial studies to become a CFA Charterholder. Visiting many South-east Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, the alternative lifestyle again beckoned and he returned to his artistic roots to reside in Siem Reap in Cambodia to write.
Karl Levy was born in 1967 at St Leonards Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to his artist potter father Colin Levy OAM and mother Margaret, a painter. He grew up with two brothers, Rikyu and Donyu, named after Japanese Tea Ceremony masters, on a large family property in Bowen Mountain, outside of Sydney. Leaving these artistic surrounds, he left to study music at the University of Wollongong.
Lured to finance in the roaring eighties with many other twenty-somethings, the arts were cast aside to work in stockbroking with Rivkin and Co and later as a futures trader on the Sydney Futures Floor. He left the corporate world to travel extensively through the Middle East – in Israel, Jordon, Syria, Egypt and Turkey – and visited both the United States and England. On return to Australia he rejected high finance to become a tree lopper throughout his thirties.
Yet another change of lifestyle occurred, revisiting the corporate world in 2008, to broker commodity derivatives in Singapore for six years and further his financial studies to become a CFA Charterholder. Visiting many South-east Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, the alternative lifestyle again beckoned and he returned to his artistic roots to reside in Siem Reap in Cambodia to write.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 6, 2016
A vivid recount of a boy soldier's experience through the Khmer Rouge period and the following years. An interesting exploration of femininity and masculinity as embodied in the natural and man made forces bearing down and present within the landscape of Cambodia. Spanning centuries of history, Sinarth threads together the links between past and present, ancient and current nations, bringing to me a deeper understanding and perspective of South East Asian culture, I would not have otherwise fathomed. Perhaps Sinarth is an anti-hero, in his ordinariness and buffeting about by the journey as told through the narration, but as the reader I am beside him, and connect with him, through the dream like re-telling of his tale. Highly recommended! A story that has something for everyone in its many layers. A book of meaning yet simple in its execution making it accessible for every reader. Reading it, as a woman, I was glad it was many faceted with resounding depth yet humour, aspects of horror, yet warmth and humanity; and not your average war book. 5 stars from me.
Merged review:
A vivid recount of a boy soldier's experience through the Khmer Rouge period and the following years. An interesting exploration of femininity and masculinity as embodied in the natural and man made forces bearing down and present within the landscape of Cambodia. Spanning centuries of history, Sinarth threads together the links between past and present, ancient and current nations, bringing to me a deeper understanding and perspective of South East Asian culture, I would not have otherwise fathomed. Perhaps Sinarth is an anti-hero, in his ordinariness and buffeting about by the journey as told through the narration, but as the reader I am beside him, and connect with him, through the dream like re-telling of his tale. Highly recommended! A story that has something for everyone in its many layers. A book of meaning yet simple in its execution making it accessible for every reader. Reading it, as a woman, I was glad it was many faceted with resounding depth yet humour, aspects of horror, yet warmth and humanity; and not your average war book. 5 stars from me.
Merged review:
A vivid recount of a boy soldier's experience through the Khmer Rouge period and the following years. An interesting exploration of femininity and masculinity as embodied in the natural and man made forces bearing down and present within the landscape of Cambodia. Spanning centuries of history, Sinarth threads together the links between past and present, ancient and current nations, bringing to me a deeper understanding and perspective of South East Asian culture, I would not have otherwise fathomed. Perhaps Sinarth is an anti-hero, in his ordinariness and buffeting about by the journey as told through the narration, but as the reader I am beside him, and connect with him, through the dream like re-telling of his tale. Highly recommended! A story that has something for everyone in its many layers. A book of meaning yet simple in its execution making it accessible for every reader. Reading it, as a woman, I was glad it was many faceted with resounding depth yet humour, aspects of horror, yet warmth and humanity; and not your average war book. 5 stars from me.
June 7, 2016
I purchased this book from the author while in Cambodia and waited until recently to read it.
It was a page turner from the beginning, with a huge narrative and respect for the geography and history of Southeast Asia. The main character, Sinarth, begins as a simple child and is transformed irrecovably by the war against the Khymer Rouge. The feeling of war and in particular, this war are communicated superbly. It is a rich expression of a Cambodian boy's life from childhood through the trials of marriage and adulthood with the setting of an unusually challenging war in Cambodia. Props to Sinarth for transcending, evolving and settling down to become a good father, husband and employee.
It was a page turner from the beginning, with a huge narrative and respect for the geography and history of Southeast Asia. The main character, Sinarth, begins as a simple child and is transformed irrecovably by the war against the Khymer Rouge. The feeling of war and in particular, this war are communicated superbly. It is a rich expression of a Cambodian boy's life from childhood through the trials of marriage and adulthood with the setting of an unusually challenging war in Cambodia. Props to Sinarth for transcending, evolving and settling down to become a good father, husband and employee.
October 20, 2016
*Won in a Goodreads giveaway, Giving an honest review in return*
Wow...What can I say. Sinarth joined the military as a young teen and left a man. He was full of will. A will to live so strong not even multiple bullets, land mines or Khmer Rogue could take it away from him.
This book was incredibly well written. At some points I felt like I was in Cambodia. I could hear the foxes. I feel the bites of the mosquitoes. I could smell the flowers. The Death I could smell it all. I hope to read this book again someday. In the mean time I will pass this on to other people to enjoy and really appreciate.
I found myself throughout the book comparing the Khmer to the Nazis. Pol Pot to Hitler.
A must read in my honest opinion.
Wow...What can I say. Sinarth joined the military as a young teen and left a man. He was full of will. A will to live so strong not even multiple bullets, land mines or Khmer Rogue could take it away from him.
This book was incredibly well written. At some points I felt like I was in Cambodia. I could hear the foxes. I feel the bites of the mosquitoes. I could smell the flowers. The Death I could smell it all. I hope to read this book again someday. In the mean time I will pass this on to other people to enjoy and really appreciate.
I found myself throughout the book comparing the Khmer to the Nazis. Pol Pot to Hitler.
A must read in my honest opinion.
September 26, 2018
I too, like others here, purchased this book from the Cambodian War Museum in Siem Reap.
For some reason, I neglected to get it signed.
It's a wonderful book and thoroughly engrossing even though the subject at times can be a bit tough (like when he witnesses the 2 soldiers with the girls). For myself, I had to slow myself down so as not to simply read the text, but to actually absorb the words and see the images they were trying to impart.
I think it must take a lot for survivors to be able to share their personal histories in such a way, but also perhaps cathartic and rewarding. The idea that telling what happened to them to others might prevent a recurrence is what seems to drive many of them and even with all the trauma they must live it, it seems to offer an avenue towards something positive. At least, I hope so.
For some reason, I neglected to get it signed.
It's a wonderful book and thoroughly engrossing even though the subject at times can be a bit tough (like when he witnesses the 2 soldiers with the girls). For myself, I had to slow myself down so as not to simply read the text, but to actually absorb the words and see the images they were trying to impart.
I think it must take a lot for survivors to be able to share their personal histories in such a way, but also perhaps cathartic and rewarding. The idea that telling what happened to them to others might prevent a recurrence is what seems to drive many of them and even with all the trauma they must live it, it seems to offer an avenue towards something positive. At least, I hope so.
August 24, 2020
Heartwrenching Horrifying Picturesque tale. Picked this up at the War Museum in Siem Reap after meeting now not so young boy, who's story is told. Sinarth took the horrors he grew up around and spends his lifes energy educating people on what happened and how the Civil War is still affecting the cambodian population today. He is an impressionable man I will never forget.
June 25, 2017
So many emotions when reading this. I couldn't imagine going through what the Cambodian people had to go through. It really sheds a light on what happens to countries after the US invades and pulls out. I can see similar books like this coming out from Afghanistan and Iraq in a few years.
September 9, 2025
Met Sinarth while in Cambodia who briefly told me his story. Upon reading this book he truly has experienced one of the craziest lives. Glad to see he has found his happiness and is still going on strong.
June 29, 2017
A must read for anyone with an interest in Cambodge and it's history.
February 7, 2019
Very interesting and informative
September 22, 2016
I was so pleased to have won this book in a recent Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
This is one book that will remain in my bookcase. It is hard to imagine life at the time of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, but had a fair idea as I was in my early 20's when this horrendous genocide took place. I am not going to write about the book as I will only be repeating what other reviewers have written. Recommended.
This is one book that will remain in my bookcase. It is hard to imagine life at the time of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, but had a fair idea as I was in my early 20's when this horrendous genocide took place. I am not going to write about the book as I will only be repeating what other reviewers have written. Recommended.
June 17, 2016
Levy’s Sinarth encapsulates layers of sensory experiences during the strife of war and beyond in Cambodia.
Reading such details that the book describes, I recommend one consume each passage slowly, letting each sentence be a conjurer to immerse one’s thoughts into synchronicity with the protagonist in his past environment- Cambodia’s nature and crumbling society; the heavy rains of the wet seasons; the sounds and smells of life that brims everywhere; and the heat and dust of the dry seasons; the death and suffering brought by the Khmer Rouge; fears aroused from hearkening to the sounds at night or the mysteries of what awaited through the jungle, whichever method and direction the enemy’s attacks came from.
The landscape of Cambodia is picked apart into the smallest details to share with the reader, giving one time to escape from, or approach and recognize, the atrocities that plagued Cambodia during authoritarian oppression.
Dead men tell no tales, but few who live are able to present a window into such a dramatic, bittersweet story and find the right person to present their life with a book of such lyrical prose. Nearing the completion of the book, the emotions start to burst from the pages and give one a lot to digest.
Ironically, the Stanford prison experiment took place just a few years after the beginning of the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, which manifested a country-wide Stanford prison experiment of their own; their entitlement lasting over a generation and memories of that time cannot go away so easily. Power was given to those who didn’t deserve to wield it. Sinarth recognizes that he could have had a similar but worse story if he had had the fate of others boys who were recruited to the Khmer Rouge. Those who survived such carnage deserve to have their stories read, at least certainly written about, on both sides, to show the faces of humanity, at its best and worst.
Can this help other people evade future mass suffering? I think other authors can be inspired by this book to present more windows to the struggles of other survivors of the Cambodian Genocide. Having survivors open up about past wounds is not the hard part, but putting it all together in a book like this, is.
Reading such details that the book describes, I recommend one consume each passage slowly, letting each sentence be a conjurer to immerse one’s thoughts into synchronicity with the protagonist in his past environment- Cambodia’s nature and crumbling society; the heavy rains of the wet seasons; the sounds and smells of life that brims everywhere; and the heat and dust of the dry seasons; the death and suffering brought by the Khmer Rouge; fears aroused from hearkening to the sounds at night or the mysteries of what awaited through the jungle, whichever method and direction the enemy’s attacks came from.
The landscape of Cambodia is picked apart into the smallest details to share with the reader, giving one time to escape from, or approach and recognize, the atrocities that plagued Cambodia during authoritarian oppression.
Dead men tell no tales, but few who live are able to present a window into such a dramatic, bittersweet story and find the right person to present their life with a book of such lyrical prose. Nearing the completion of the book, the emotions start to burst from the pages and give one a lot to digest.
Ironically, the Stanford prison experiment took place just a few years after the beginning of the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, which manifested a country-wide Stanford prison experiment of their own; their entitlement lasting over a generation and memories of that time cannot go away so easily. Power was given to those who didn’t deserve to wield it. Sinarth recognizes that he could have had a similar but worse story if he had had the fate of others boys who were recruited to the Khmer Rouge. Those who survived such carnage deserve to have their stories read, at least certainly written about, on both sides, to show the faces of humanity, at its best and worst.
Can this help other people evade future mass suffering? I think other authors can be inspired by this book to present more windows to the struggles of other survivors of the Cambodian Genocide. Having survivors open up about past wounds is not the hard part, but putting it all together in a book like this, is.
July 11, 2016
"Sinarth: A Dedication To Life" depicts a powerful picture of a young boy who experienced things that most people never experienced in a lifetime. He saw his life get swept away in one swift motion. He went from being a happy, contented boy who had a loving family to being a boy who saw horrors which few boys ever experienced. He lost his parents, friends, siblings and that is only a glimpse of what he went through.
This book reminds us that this could have happened to any of us. Any one of use could have lost their family to a communist army. Any one of us could have our happy lives snatched way and be replaced with a hole in our hearts. It reminds us to be thankful that we would have a small chance of experiencing the horrors Sinarth went through. The blurb on the book tells us that we must cherish every single day in our lives no matter the obstacles placed before us.
What I loved about this book is that it gives us an idea of what it feels like to be Sinarth. You get to see what it feels like to have your peaceful country turn to a country run by blood-thirsty individuals, to be recruited in the army at a very young age and get injured multiple times, to find a different life after the Cambodian-Vietnamese War and much more. Another thing that I liked in this book was that it isn't biased and that the raw truth was just there.
This book is very well-written and at the same time, it adds a different style in writing. It puts a bit of poetry in it. The book is like a biography but at the same time, it isn't writing in a biography style of writing. Karl Levy put this book as an "emotional interpretation". The book is very interesting as for some parts, you can only speculate what will happen next. The last thing I would like to say is that it can be a wakeup call for some who don't appreciate what they have. The main message of the book is to appreciate what you have and to spread love all around you.
This book reminds us that this could have happened to any of us. Any one of use could have lost their family to a communist army. Any one of us could have our happy lives snatched way and be replaced with a hole in our hearts. It reminds us to be thankful that we would have a small chance of experiencing the horrors Sinarth went through. The blurb on the book tells us that we must cherish every single day in our lives no matter the obstacles placed before us.
What I loved about this book is that it gives us an idea of what it feels like to be Sinarth. You get to see what it feels like to have your peaceful country turn to a country run by blood-thirsty individuals, to be recruited in the army at a very young age and get injured multiple times, to find a different life after the Cambodian-Vietnamese War and much more. Another thing that I liked in this book was that it isn't biased and that the raw truth was just there.
This book is very well-written and at the same time, it adds a different style in writing. It puts a bit of poetry in it. The book is like a biography but at the same time, it isn't writing in a biography style of writing. Karl Levy put this book as an "emotional interpretation". The book is very interesting as for some parts, you can only speculate what will happen next. The last thing I would like to say is that it can be a wakeup call for some who don't appreciate what they have. The main message of the book is to appreciate what you have and to spread love all around you.
June 6, 2016
This review is from the author. Sinarth is a book that concentrates philosophically on the pluralities of the realities of a boy soldier in Cambodia. It examines his emotions including fear, arrogance, pride, terror, love in the Pol Pot genocidal period, as a boy soldier and in the sorrow of post war Cambodia. It is not a history of the period, nor is it a factual biography. It is a record of the emotional connection of an ordinary boy left in Cambodia to Pol Pot's communists and the surrounding civil wars both before and after that period from 1975 to 1980. Sinarth is alive and well today and the beauty of this book is that readers can readily meet him working at the Cambodian War Museum in Siem Reap putting a face to the person and take a personal tour with him where he describes what occurred during his life.
Merged review:
This review is from the author. Sinarth is a book that concentrates philosophically on the pluralities of the realities of a boy soldier in Cambodia. It examines his emotions including fear, arrogance, pride, terror, love in the Pol Pot genocidal period, as a boy soldier and in the sorrow of post war Cambodia. It is not a history of the period, nor is it a factual biography. It is a record of the emotional connection of an ordinary boy left in Cambodia to Pol Pot's communists and the surrounding civil wars both before and after that period from 1975 to 1980. Sinarth is alive and well today and the beauty of this book is that readers can readily meet him working at the Cambodian War Museum in Siem Reap putting a face to the person and take a personal tour with him where he describes what occurred during his life.
Merged review:
This review is from the author. Sinarth is a book that concentrates philosophically on the pluralities of the realities of a boy soldier in Cambodia. It examines his emotions including fear, arrogance, pride, terror, love in the Pol Pot genocidal period, as a boy soldier and in the sorrow of post war Cambodia. It is not a history of the period, nor is it a factual biography. It is a record of the emotional connection of an ordinary boy left in Cambodia to Pol Pot's communists and the surrounding civil wars both before and after that period from 1975 to 1980. Sinarth is alive and well today and the beauty of this book is that readers can readily meet him working at the Cambodian War Museum in Siem Reap putting a face to the person and take a personal tour with him where he describes what occurred during his life.
July 27, 2016
This is an excellent book, with just the correct amount of background history. I think there was a very good balance between the portrayal of the horror of the Khmer Rouge period while making it palatable to read through the Buddhist viewpoint of Sinarth, his friendships and his miraculous journey. Levy provides rich descriptions of the rural backdrop of bucolic landscapes, villages, people and their livestock amidst a ruthless era of unconscionable cruelty. The story about how Sinarth survived this period is quite remarkable.
Recently I had the opportunity to meet Sinarth at the War Museum in Siem Reap. He was our guide through the reminders of a past age that had caused him and so many others so much terror, pain and loss. He spoke in neutral tones, as someone who had shared this a thousand times before, about the history. He showed us the weapons that were used so brutally, but his eyes displayed the sadness and pain that was associated with these memories. He is a true testament to the resilience of the human body, mind and spirit. He showed us the scars from bullet wounds, shell blasts and the loss of his leg after stepping on a land mine. He wiggled a piece of shrapnel with his finger that was lodged under his skin and over his kneecap. I am thankful for what he shared and, to be honest, thankful for what he didn't share. The atrocities that happened during that period are too dreadful to be fully shared and too painful to be willingly accepted. But this book was ultimately one of hope. I highly recommend reading this book to learn more about the world and the mindset to survive the unsurvivable.
Recently I had the opportunity to meet Sinarth at the War Museum in Siem Reap. He was our guide through the reminders of a past age that had caused him and so many others so much terror, pain and loss. He spoke in neutral tones, as someone who had shared this a thousand times before, about the history. He showed us the weapons that were used so brutally, but his eyes displayed the sadness and pain that was associated with these memories. He is a true testament to the resilience of the human body, mind and spirit. He showed us the scars from bullet wounds, shell blasts and the loss of his leg after stepping on a land mine. He wiggled a piece of shrapnel with his finger that was lodged under his skin and over his kneecap. I am thankful for what he shared and, to be honest, thankful for what he didn't share. The atrocities that happened during that period are too dreadful to be fully shared and too painful to be willingly accepted. But this book was ultimately one of hope. I highly recommend reading this book to learn more about the world and the mindset to survive the unsurvivable.
July 25, 2016
What a story! Karl Levy's book begins in the mystical tranquil and beautiful jungles of Laos where you are a "babe in the woods" and never suspect that the remnants of the holocaust there lay just beneath the silent breath-taking landscape; as they do still in the form of unexploded landmines, cluster-bombs and such.
Just as he reveals to you the horrors still hidden by the lush greenery of Laos, so Levy's book unravels the madness and horror of Cambodia 1975 before your very eyes as it unfolded before an innocent ignorant village child Sinarth.
Mr Levy gives the reader a clear "big picture" of the politics and conflicts of the day which of course the young boy had nary a thought. That is the beauty of this fantastic work.
To Sinarth all the death, neglect and horror was just life as he knew it. He didn't survive. He just lived through it, as no man woman or child should have to. (I was reminded again and again while reading of a clip I saw on TV during the Vietnam War; an old Vietnamese woman squatting and cooking her rice while American soldiers burned her village around her.) Life must go on. And so it does.
Many books have been written about the Khmer holocaust but none quite like this. Levy manages to put you in Sinarth's shoes with his intimate portrait of a child who grew into a man under the most unthinkable inhuman circumstances. It is a book about life and not about death, rich in prose, emotion and riveting...Well, I read it in one day. Thank you Mr Levy!
Just as he reveals to you the horrors still hidden by the lush greenery of Laos, so Levy's book unravels the madness and horror of Cambodia 1975 before your very eyes as it unfolded before an innocent ignorant village child Sinarth.
Mr Levy gives the reader a clear "big picture" of the politics and conflicts of the day which of course the young boy had nary a thought. That is the beauty of this fantastic work.
To Sinarth all the death, neglect and horror was just life as he knew it. He didn't survive. He just lived through it, as no man woman or child should have to. (I was reminded again and again while reading of a clip I saw on TV during the Vietnam War; an old Vietnamese woman squatting and cooking her rice while American soldiers burned her village around her.) Life must go on. And so it does.
Many books have been written about the Khmer holocaust but none quite like this. Levy manages to put you in Sinarth's shoes with his intimate portrait of a child who grew into a man under the most unthinkable inhuman circumstances. It is a book about life and not about death, rich in prose, emotion and riveting...Well, I read it in one day. Thank you Mr Levy!
June 10, 2016
Sinarth is a truly remarkable read: a vivid biography of one boy soldier’s life of horror and hope during Pol Pots regime of genocide from 1975 to 1992. Karl Levy’s lucid retelling of Sinarth’s sudden transformation from a happy, river swimming child to one caught in the middle of Cambodia’s chaotic horror. Two million Cambodians, forsaken by all nations in the world, except Vietnam, were lost to Pol Pot’s Marxist revolution for the sake of revolution.
You’d expect Sinarth’s major struggles (he was wounded thrice, blinded and lost a leg to a landmine), tiny victories, tragic and sudden luck amidst this madness would be a depressing story. Instead Levy has turned this biography story into one of hope and beguiling beauty. It's told in the vivid Buddhist embrace of Sinarth's recollections.
The biography is both a pragmatic history lesson and a poetic meditation on hope, reincarnation, a fallen childhood and the simple and beautiful twists fate brings us.
A book like this, one that can embrace the hope of a single individual, in face of overwhelming odds and horror is an inspiration. Highly recommended.
You’d expect Sinarth’s major struggles (he was wounded thrice, blinded and lost a leg to a landmine), tiny victories, tragic and sudden luck amidst this madness would be a depressing story. Instead Levy has turned this biography story into one of hope and beguiling beauty. It's told in the vivid Buddhist embrace of Sinarth's recollections.
The biography is both a pragmatic history lesson and a poetic meditation on hope, reincarnation, a fallen childhood and the simple and beautiful twists fate brings us.
A book like this, one that can embrace the hope of a single individual, in face of overwhelming odds and horror is an inspiration. Highly recommended.
May 26, 2016
This book takes us to a twisting and tragic life of a simple Siem Reap boy who had a promising life but was all made naught because of the Khmer Rouge and war which left him broken, lost and desperate.
The book has good narratives but I feel that it spends too much time on the pretext whereas the climax was very shortened. In other words, the central plots of his life was only covered by 1/3 of the book. In addition, the book seems undecided about whether to focus more on his life before the war, or during the war, or after the war. Maybe I am not the fan of something this balance, so I'll leave that to other readers.
What I hope the book could have done better is describing his transition from a simple boy into a soldier. The narratives at that point was a bit half-hearted, it makes me feel like I couldn't peek into his days when he was "asked" to fight for his countries. What would be the motivation behind that? The book doesn't provide the answer to that.
I didn't read much Khmer-rouge-related books, so I will mark it 3 stars just to be on the safe side.
The book has good narratives but I feel that it spends too much time on the pretext whereas the climax was very shortened. In other words, the central plots of his life was only covered by 1/3 of the book. In addition, the book seems undecided about whether to focus more on his life before the war, or during the war, or after the war. Maybe I am not the fan of something this balance, so I'll leave that to other readers.
What I hope the book could have done better is describing his transition from a simple boy into a soldier. The narratives at that point was a bit half-hearted, it makes me feel like I couldn't peek into his days when he was "asked" to fight for his countries. What would be the motivation behind that? The book doesn't provide the answer to that.
I didn't read much Khmer-rouge-related books, so I will mark it 3 stars just to be on the safe side.
June 19, 2016
I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, but the standout for me is that it's based on a true life experience which is almost too incredible to imagine. Having spent time in Cambodia I realise its also telling the story of so many other Cambodians who have equally incredible stories to tell, however Sinarth's personal recollection is what brings the book to life and this has been handled brilliantly by the Author. The meticulous research, interviews, translations and then the artistry of combining all into an emotionally engaging read cannot be underestimated. Karl Levy demonstrates a depth of integrity and compassion which makes this book stand out from others of a similar genre. Its not just war story, its also a love story, a coming of age and demonstrates the beauty of human endeavour over relentless adversity.
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June 26, 2016I deem Sinarth by Karl Levy as the better-read book, depicting vividly a childhood life of Sinarth in the country shattered by many years of civil war and the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in which millions of lives were put to death. Resulting from reading this book, I was brought into another aspect of history that one of Cambodian boys, transforming from fear to bravery, felt obliged to serve as a soldier with others to fight for the sake of revolution/ nation, but seemingly, to fight to survive under such every life-and-death condition. It appeart that the Khmer Rouge regime was brought to an end in early 1979, but even its aftermath profoundly affected on him as well as other Cambodian survivors, he is very inspirational in life to move on.
I suggest everyone shall be absorbed in this book that has created many truly personal accounts, which are part of my country's history.
I suggest everyone shall be absorbed in this book that has created many truly personal accounts, which are part of my country's history.
October 30, 2016
I met the author Karl Levy (along with Sinarth himself) at the War Museum in Cambodia and was instantly taken by Karl's approach, opinions and knowledge of what had transpired during the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot era. It was quite extraordinary too to hear the account of Sinarth's experiences directly and then re-visit his experiences of the boy soldier in the narrative. A displaced child thrust into a mindless and savage decimation of a country and its people. The devastation witnessed through the eyes of this boy is quite confronting and speaks of a truly remarkable time. Remarkable in that it made me research and better understand the misguided influence of corrupt government and politics on a struggling nation and the resulting genocide that occurred. Highly recommend this.
June 14, 2016
I have been read this book since january and it is one the interesting book that i have read before ...it is about one of the boy soldier in cambodia call SINARTH and also included with the Indochina war.
and show how they lived though the khmer rouge period and the experience of sinarth...
what i want to re common if you have chance to visit cambodia do not forget go the visit cambodia war museum that is one of the place that you can get a good experience of cambodia civil war especially during the khmer rouge period to know about what cambodian have been though and you can meet SINARTH the man in the book and KARL the author.
and show how they lived though the khmer rouge period and the experience of sinarth...
what i want to re common if you have chance to visit cambodia do not forget go the visit cambodia war museum that is one of the place that you can get a good experience of cambodia civil war especially during the khmer rouge period to know about what cambodian have been though and you can meet SINARTH the man in the book and KARL the author.
June 18, 2016
I bought the hard copy at an author book signing event in Cambodia. I have been living in Cambodian villages for three years and have experienced the Cambodian culture very deeply. I must say that this book took me on a journey that resonated with my own experiences of immersing into the lives of the families who had been directly impacted by the Khmer Rouge and Vietnam war.
The book was an easy read however it got me emotionally jolted and inspired me to see through the dark history of war and brutality. It is an informative and eye opening must read, be ready for an emotional ride.
I hope author can publish another book which can inform about Khmer Rouge genocide.
The book was an easy read however it got me emotionally jolted and inspired me to see through the dark history of war and brutality. It is an informative and eye opening must read, be ready for an emotional ride.
I hope author can publish another book which can inform about Khmer Rouge genocide.
June 13, 2016
Sinarth by Karl Levy, What an amazing read. Kudos to the author for bringing a 'dedication of life', to life. Mr Levy has harnessed the essence of a fractured life of a child soldier from the fight against the Pol Pot reign of horror. I thoroughly recommend this Goodread. You won't be disappointed !
June 20, 2016
I was captivated from the first word to the very last. I thought as I was reading each chapter that it couldn't possibly get any worse but actually did which had a hold on me to keep reading to find the happy ending on the last page. War is peace in the end because there appeared nothing left to fight for in the end but your family. FAMILY IS NO 1!. Karl well done!
June 10, 2016
The book is about Sinarth, his experience of the Khmer Rouge period and the years after. I could not put this book down, devouring it within a few nights. Highly recommended!
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