#163
Title: The Death and Life of Dith Pran
Author: Sydney H. Schanberg
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1984
112 pages
Gee,
if I'd known that paperback copies in "acceptable" condition were
selling on Amazon for $100, I'd have been even more thrilled to find my
acceptable copy at a used bookstore in my neighborhood for $2.95.
This
is the book version of the long article Schanberg wrote about his
colleague and friend Dith Pran after Dith's escape from Cambodia. It is
the basis for The Killing Fields,
but is interesting in its own right as a brief memoir that lightly
touches upon the agony of having privilege in circumstances where your
loved ones do not. Schanberg's prose is spare and to the point; he's no
great stylist, but the simplicity of the writing serves to convey
immediacy and urgency. I recommend reading this first, watching the
film, then watching or reading Gray's Swimming to Cambodia.
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