A truly amazing piece of non fiction - Rated 
'When Broken Glass Floats' is, on the very face of it, another grueling Khmer Rouge story - a real life tragic story about life under history's most brutal regime. In this it is a brilliant success - with vivid characters that seem as real as they were, this is a very human account of a breathtaking story.
But, in actual fact, When Broken Glass Floats seems to go beyond these bounds: by constantly talking about K'mai religion and culture you come to appreciate not just the immense suffering, but also the way in which a K'mai person, with their unique cultural outlook, came to view the events as they unfolded. With constant information about and references to K'mai language, beliefs, stories, folklore and social structures, the full effect of the events upon such a beautiful country can really be realised.
Whilst many books tell of stories under the Khmer Rouge in a clinical, culturally sterilised fashion, this author keeps her heritage with her at every step. For this reason, I recommend it as the best personal story to read, whether you've read everything else on the era already, or absolutely nothing at all.
Heart-Rendering - Rated
This is the story of two diametrically opposite childhoods. One of a carefree, intelligent young girl who revels in the company and love of her mak and pa and numerous siblings in time of peace - something most of us leave for granted and assume childhood should be. This world is cruelly shattered and the remaining sessions of the book are a hideous reminder of the depths of human suffering. All the while reading this book, you are made to feel a passive onlooker to the heart-rendering story of this teenager in the midst of the depravity around her. Instinctivly with each passing chapter I felt the urge to pull this little girl out of this madness and throw the book away - as if somehow the suffering might end. But the morbid curiosity compels you to keep reading - and the suffering only worsens, the lump in your throat grows larger. Most will not suffer the indignities of this little child in a multiple of lifetimes - but throughout she overcomes to persevere and outlast those who wrought this 'crime against humanity' in the truest sense of the word. Not a read for the faint hearted - as the cover of the book says 'gut-wrenching' - for everyone else a must.
Brilliant and moving book - unmissable - Rated
I thought this book was amazing. The author had lived through the most unimaginably horrible experiences under the Khmer Rouge yet she writes in a way that is not bitter or in any way sympathy seeking. I found I could not put this book down, each time it seemed her life could not get any worse something awful happened and I really don't know how she survived. I think this book shows how much a human being can endure without giving in and Ms Him is a shining example of this. Im so glad that she has a new life in America now and I hope many people read this book and realise what the Cambodians went through under this terrible regime.
Heart-rending, but nothing you haven't read before - Rated 
A child's view of the devastation caused to Cambodia by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge.
It's a good introduction to this dark time for anyone who wants an introduction to this period, but ultimately, it's no sadder than any of the other memoirs from survivors of this period.
"It lives symbiotically inside of me." - Rated
That sentence is how Ms. Chanrithy Him describes where her soul rests, her old soul. When she came to America she feels she has a new body, but her core remains untouched.
Another reviewer states that these stories make him angry. There is no manner with which you can read a book like this and not feel a range of emotions of which anger might be the kindest description of what eats at you. The evil, the cruelty that humans inflict upon each other is so regular and so savage, I finish books like this and I don't know what to feel. If this were an isolated incident, an aberration, it would be easier to examine as any exception may be dissected.
Just during the 20th Century the following list of Genocides come to mind in the order they occurred, the slaughter of Armenians by the "Young Turks" when they decided to try to eradicate Armenia once again. This is where the phrase "Young Turk" originated. So if you hear it used, hopefully the speaker is not complimenting on the genocidal personality to whom the comment is directed. The speaker is probably just poorly informed. The Turkish Government to this day denies the Genocide ever took place. The Holocaust of the Jewish people by the Germany of WW II. Unlike Turkey, Germany has taken responsibility for what took place within her borders. The Japanese and the butchery they engaged in while they occupied Nanking in China. The demons who are described in this book including, The Khmer Rouge, lead by Pol Pot, again millions died. Arguably the distinction of greatest mass murder of all time would be the Russia/USSR of Lenin, Stalin, and the criminals who followed them. The carnage continues in Chechnya, and the majority of the Former Soviet Republics are trying to stay fed and warm.
Ms. Him is an astonishing human being. She not only survived this horror as a child, she had the courage to recall and place this horror in writing so that the rest of the world would know what she saw. She is an example of what the Human Spirit and its desire to survive are capable of. It is beyond my ability to imagine.
This little girl who would remember and continue to display respect with the traditional "sampea" when greeting someone, when to do so could have gotten her killed. She was as scared as anyone caught in this man made hell, but she was defiant and true to herself, perhaps that helped her to survive.
I had to put this book aside more than once while reading. The last book I had as much trouble getting through was "The Rape Of Nanking". I never finished that book. I have read about the historical events that I listed above, but that book was especially brutal. If may have been the photographs.
The photographs in this book are not what you would expect. Ms. Him leaves the story between her and the reader, no photographs to shock, just her memories.
Genocide does not stop it only pauses, as the Hutus and Tutsis recently demonstrated. The sad conclusion may be that this sort of evil is part of who we are as a species. The events in Cambodia differ from events in the US in time only. What was done to Native Americans, The Slave Trade and the race problems that linger to this day, the difference is of method and time only.
Ms. Him also shares the amusing stories of the difficulties of shaking hands, or of her translating for doctors when the description may include certain areas more private than others. But by sharing this she also shares her transition from her culture as a child and then her new life as a young woman.
Lest anyone suggest I have a problem with my own Country's History, I will save you the trouble, I do. The World often looks to us whether we choose the role or not, and candor with ourselves must come first.
In the end it did feel good when the thrill of the future was dominated by the fact she and the survivors in her family were coming to the US. Read the description of her first understanding of freedom, how dry your eyes will not be.
Thank you Ms. Him, and my condolences on the family and friends that were taken from you. Your coming to The United States will make us a better Country.
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