Recent Read: Never Fall Down

In Battamburg, Cambodia, 11-year-old Arn lives a happy life, listening to music, sneaking into movies, and playing games, when soldiers order everyone to vacate the city. He's marched into the countryside, separated form his family, and stripped of all his belongings. He soon learns that the soldiers are the Khmer Rouge, implementing a radical Communist agenda. Arn is given a pair of black pajamas and put to work for long hours with other boys his age. His life becomes focused on survival--how to avoid starving to death, working to death, or being tortured and killed like so many around. him. An opportunity to play music for the Khmer Rouge is his salvation.

Two words come to mind after finishing this book: important and horrifying. This book blew my mind. I knew next to nothing about the Khmer Rouge. McCormick shares a fictionalized version of Arn Chorn-Pond's real experiences living in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge took over. The horrors of Arn's life are shared through his young, innocent narration. This innocence and simple, straightforward delivery make what he sees a little more bearable, while still laying everything bare for the reader to see. It's not an easy read. I found myself taking breaks because the tragedy, suffering, and violence were too much. But the ending is hopeful. When I read stories like this I am amazed at the resilience of humanity--both that humans can survive physically and that they go on to have joy and hope in their lives despite the unspeakable things they've lived through. Even though this is a book written for and marketed to teens, it has great appeal for adults, too. This is an event I think most people know too little about, and Never Fall Down is a great starting point. (And if you do read it, I would recommend looking up Arn Chorn-Pond or maybe watching this documentary about his efforts to preserve traditional Cambodian music.)