Portland observer., April 05, 2000, Page 21, Image 21

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X Unni* (Dhseruer
In Print
April 5, 2000
Focus
Page 7
When Broken Glass Floats
Growing Up Under the
Khmer Rouge
Crowing Up Undrr the Khmer Rouge
ITTien- Broken Glass Floats
C hannthr Him
By Chanrithy Him
W.W. Norton & Company; 2000
Chanrithy Him first heard the word
“war” in 1968, when she was only
three years old and living with her
family in the Takeo province of
southern Cambodia. Within a year,
she would come to understand the
definition of this new word first­
hand, as the Viet Cong showered
her city with gunfire in response to
American bombing attacks. By
April of 1975, war would forever
change the course of ten-year-old
Chanrithy’s life, for it was then that
the China-backed, communist
Khmer Rouge usurped control in
Cambodia and began inflicting a
regime o f terror on
innocent civilians.
When Broken Glass
Floats chronicles the
plight oftheHim family
through war, famine,
suffering, and loss
underthe Khmer Rouge
reign. Shortly after the takeover,
soldiers abduct Chanrithy’s father,
leaving the family w ithout
information for weeks before they
learn that he has been brutally
executed. Chanrithy and the rest of
her family are stripped of their
belongings, forced to move to a hut
in the countryside, and assigned to
work in laborcamps. On good days,
their meals are limited to meager
rice rations and they must
supplement their diet with wild
plants, insects, and rats. So-called
“hospitals” are virtual morgues
where the sick, with little access to
medicine or clean water, lay waiting
to die. This is where her three-year-
old brother Vin dies begging for his
mother, who is too ill to visit him,
and where the mother too will later
succomb to starvation, having fed
her children before herself. Lter,
Chanrithy’s beloved eldest sister
Chea also dies in their hut after
years o f malnourishm ent and
intensive labor.
Since arriving in America in 1981,
Chanrithy has devoted her life to
helping fellow survivors o f the
Khmer Rouge, studying post-
traumatic stress disorder with the
Khmer Adolescent Project. She has
learned to thrive in her new culture
and has mastered English as her
second language, writing When
Broken Glass Floats in fluid, stirring
prose. And in the process of
documenting her struggle, she
attempts to prevent history from
repeating itself and to spare future
generations from similar suffering.
SPRING EVENTS
I& I
The Adventures of Elizabeth Fortune
A Nouveau Western
By K. Follis Cheatham
Blue Heron Publishing; 2000
When Elizabeth Fortune is forced
to quit school and find a way to
survive, she must rely on all her
personal resources. For a young
woman in 1870, that’s hard enough,
but for someone of mixed Native
American, African American, and
Anglo American heritage, it’s a
challenge that few could survive.
Elizabeth Fortune is a woman with
as much integrity as beauty, is
disowned by her white grandfather.
Doubly disguised as a boy - and
white - she hires on as a teamster to
hunt for her father, a Buffalo Soldier
^on the frontier.
Dealing with the complex issues of
race and gender that still confront
us, The Adventures o f Elizabeth
Fortune captures the essence of the
post-Civil War American West
through historically accurate, often
breathtaking description.
“Reggae Inna Afrikan Stylee" • Thursday, March 23, at 7pm
BATTLE OF THE BANDS 2000
STEVE BRADLEY GROUP WITH JON KOONCE
VS. THE X ANGELS
Thursday, March 30 at 7pm
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN’S
BIRTHDAY STORYTELLING
featuring Will Homyak
Sunday, April 2, 6:30pm to 8:30pm • Reservations required
Adults $10 • Children Free (maximum four children per adult)
JACKSTRAW
Bluegrass • Thursday, April 6, 7pm
JACK McMAHON BAND
Country Rock • Thursday, April 13, 7pm
THE STEVE BRADLEY BAND
Surf Rock • Thursday, April 20, 7pm
EASTER BRUNCH WITH THE BUNNY
Sunday, April 23, 9am to 2pm • Call for reservations
JIM BASNIGHT BAND
Pop Roots Rock • Thursday, April 27, at 7pm
All ages welcome • No cover charge unless noted
McMenamins Kennedy School
5736 NE 33rd • Portland, Oregon • ¿49-3983
www.mcnienamins.com