Sydney H. Schanberg

The Death and Life of Dith Pran

Penguin

ISBN: 0-1400-8457-6

I did mention in my review of the movie The Killing Fields that I would like to read this book but that it is out of print. Well, that was before I discovered abebooks.com, an online trading place for used books. (For German language books you can also try ZVAB.) I dithered for some time because the book was quite expensive (actually not the book itself but shipping it ... only vendors from the U.S. were selling it), but finally I decided I must have it.

I won't bore you with a repetition of what I wrote about "The Killing Fields" as far as it is the same as the book. The movie appears to be quite close to the book, but of course there are minor deviations and some (not so minor omissions): the story about how the Western reporters in the French embassy try to forge a passport for Pran is far less dramatic than in the book, Jon Swain is far less aggressive when he meets Schanberg at the Pulitzer prize ceremony; in the book, Pran's wife never gives up hope. The book also covers parts of Pran's life under the Vietnamese administration, and it mentions that Pran managed to get a message out (through an East German journalist) before he finally escaped.

All in all I think if your're interested in the story it is worth reading the book in addition to the film. The book also contains several photographs which somehow add a personal touch to it. But the film is, for a movie adaptation, pretty good.

This book has been filmed as The Killing Fields

More about Cambodia

Film: The Killing Fields

Book: River of Time

Book: First They Killed My Father

Book: Lucky Child

Book: The Death and Life of Dith Pran

This page has been created on Montag 31. Dezember 2007 from reviews.xml using reviews.xsl.