When Broken Glass Floats
Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge
"Chanrithy Him has unrolled the reels of her memory to give us this heart-wrenching memoir of surviving life under the Khmer Rouge." "In the Cambodian proverb, "when broken glass floats" is the time when evil triumphs over good. In 1969 the war in Vietnam threw Cambodia into political chaos and Chanrithy and her family relocated to Phnom Penh. When the brutal Khmer Rouge took power in 1975, the Him family was forced violently from their home once again.". "In a mesmerizing story, Chanrithy vividly recounts her trek through the hell of the "killing fields". She gives us a child's-eye view of a Cambodia where rudimentary labor camps for both adults and children are the norm and modern technology, including cars and electricity, no longer exists. Death becomes a companion in the camps, along with illness. Yet through the terror, the members of Chanrithy's family remain loyal to one another despite the Khmer Rouge's demand of loyalty only to itself. Chanrithy's own courage and willpower keep her alive against all odds." "In 1979, "broken glass" finally sinks. The Vietnamese invade Cambodia and drive the Khmer Rouge from power. From a family of twelve, five of the Him children survive. Chanrithy is only sixteen when she and her siblings, sponsored by an uncle in Oregon, begin their new lives in a land that promises welcome to those starved for freedom."--BOOK JACKET.
Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.
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What the reading experience may hold
A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.
Nonfiction
Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.
Catalog signals suggest warfare and conflict, violence, death, or criminal harm. These notes may not be complete; consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.
These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.
Dark tone · Steady pace
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
A good fit if…
Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.
This book's DNA
A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.
This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.
Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc
A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.
This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.
A quick reading snapshot
Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.
- ISBN-13
- 978-0-3933-2210-1
- Language
- English
- Edition record
- OL7457342M
A more thoughtful way into this book
This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
Begin with its place in Nonfiction, then notice where the book resists that label.
Read for connection, not completion.
Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.
Three questions to carry with you
- Whose perspective organizes the story, and whose perspective remains outside it?
- Which sources or lived experiences carry the author’s central argument?
- How does the book change the way you understand its larger subject?
Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.
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Why it fits: shares Nonfiction, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.