I finished my book

Surprisingly, over the course of one week, I finished the book that I was currently reading. I found myself becoming so totally engrossed in the book that I lost track of time, and read for hours. But putting that all aside, I feel it's necessary to give a book review, as well as explain the theme of the book that I just read.

Before I say anything else, I would just like to say that "Never Give Up", is one of the most haunting, inspiring, and uplifting stories that I have probably ever read. The book, as I said before, is about a young boy who finds himself in the midst of the Cambodian Revolution. The Cambodian army is deposed, and the country is in a state of martial law. Young Arn, is sent to a hard labor/ work camp, and is forced to act as a slave to the Khmer Rouge, who are the revolutionaries. Arn sees his friends dying every day from abuse, malnutrition, and hard labor, and is fighting to stay alive. He spends many years in the Camp, before he is liberated and sent to America. Some of the stories within the book are downright chilling. It tells of dead bodies being carelessly cast aside, and small children being killed. Although some of the details are a bit hard to stomach, they are all factual. I looked it up, and it turns out that every single event that happened in the book, actually happened in real life. It's kind of shocking and horrifying to witness the horrors that went on. What really impressed me though, was the authors ability to channel the emotions of a small child as he went through this ordeal. This book is an emotional roller coaster, and I could imagine myself in Arn's shoes every step of the way. The authors use of metaphors, and imagery is absolutely stunning. The syntax, diction, and word choice all perfectly complemented each other.


The theme of the book, is kind of ironically, to never give up. I found it kind of strange how the author actually chose to put the theme of the book as the title, but upon finishing the book, I found it a masterful choice. Overall, I really liked this book, and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.