"Under the Naga Tail" by Mae Bunseng Taing is a mesmerizing journey that seamlessly melds folklore, history, and personal discovery. Set against the lush backdrop of Cambodia, Taing's novel follows the spirited protagonist as she unravels family secrets intertwined with the mythical Naga serpent. With vivid prose and a strong narrative voice, Taing's exploration of cultural identity and the impact of historical legacies is highly thought-provoking and captivating. The characters' growth and their intertwining destinies are intricately woven, drawing readers into a richly layered tapestry. As the past and present converge, Taing masterfully navigates themes of heritage, love, and the unbreakable bonds between generations. This book is not any easy read by any means, but truly a one-of-a-kind story that will stick with you for long after you've finished reading.

This is a beautifully written, emotionally charged memoir. I have read a few different accounts of the Cambodian genocide, but I have never read one where I felt such closeness and sympathy for those involved. Reading this book made me stop and think about life, freedom, and all the various things we take for granted in this world.

Although at times this is an emotionally difficult book to read, I enjoyed the way it was written. The details were vivid and the descriptions allowed me to feel as if I were right there along with the characters. My favourite thing about the book was the pure honesty with which it was written. The author's feelings came through clearly, and at every twist and turn, I found myself hoping that they would come through the other side and find happiness in the end.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants an up close look at these events, from a human perspective.

This review is based on a galley copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

In my quest to ensure I read enough non-fiction, I wanted to pick this up. Given my limited historical knowledge, it doesn't need to be said that I knew nothing about the Cambodian genocide when I started to read this. I am improving, though. In the last couple of years, I have spent a lot of time with countries that I knew had turmoil in their past but did not know the reasons behind it.
This is a troubling narrative told in a very simple and straightforward style. There is no in-depth personality analysis of any individual. This is the story of Mae Taing and his family when the Khmer Rouge took over. Mae Taing was Cambodian of Chinese origin, and this sets him apart from some of the other teenagers that come under scrutiny. He refuses to get married to settle into a more stable role. His single status and his youth make him expendable to the ruling army, and they send him to do unimaginable work.
I watched the trailer of the film Ghost Mountain which was based on this story as well. The blood, sweat and tears of so many people are literally the foundation of so many things in the country. When I spoke earlier about the simplicity of writing, sometimes I had to reread a sentence to realise the enormity of what was just revealed. There were several such instances after almost every other page, all the way to the end!
This is a personal memoir, images burnt into the mind of our co-author. He is able to recall the exact sequence of events as they occurred.
It is a harrowing tale and not one for the faint of heart. It is not a very long volume and only talks of the journey of the individuals and not of what actually happened at the country level for the power to be in Khmer Rouge's hands. Some basic details are mentioned, but that is not what this book is about at its core. It is about the resilience of families and people in general. For the bigger picture, I would need to look further into history, something I am yet to do.
I highly recommend this to people who might be interested in learning about the Cambodian Genocide.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Under the Naga Tail by Mae Bunseng Taing is a story of survival, resilience, courage, faith and family, told from a survivor of the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge.

Una historia de supervivencia, de resiliencia, de valor, fe y familia, contada por un sobreviviente del genocidio Camboyano perpetradonpornek Khmer Rouge.

I love when I pick up a memoir and get to learn about a history I don't have much knowledge of. I had previously heard of the genocide in Cambodia but didn't have much knowledge of what occured. This beautiful memoir written by James tells the story of Mae his father throughout his youth as he struggled to survive the atrocities that happened within Cambodia.

Mae was forced from his home by the Khmer Rouge. They took all of the possessions each family owned and forced them to work, starved them, forced people away from their families and lead to the death of thousands. The story Mae told was absolutely devestating, and it was entwined occasionally with James explaining how the experience still haunts Mae to this day, and retelling it made this incredibly difficult. The absolute lack of care by so many people and countries involved in this history is astonishing. I like to believe the best in humanity, and some parts of the book did show this, but many also showed the absolute cruelty humans can deliver and also receive.

James continues to work to preserve the history of the Cambodian genocide and refugees with his non-profit charity. I highly recommend reading this to try and educate yourself on the Cambodian genocide.

There's not much Cambodian translated literature out there and I request any if I see it on Netgalley. I'm very grateful I received a copy of this. I lived and worked over five years in Cambodia and the country and its people are very dear to me. I listened to many stories of survivors and this book is harrowing, but so important to put out into the world.
I can only give 5 stars to this gripping memoir.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A true story about hope and faith, of resilience, courage and family from a survivor of the Cambodian genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge.
It’s raw and it’s brutal.

The greatest honor, I believe, to a family, is what James Taing has done in Under the Naga Tail. Because, in the book, James shares the history of his family, in fact, his father, who, in his lifetime, as a boy, survived the Khmer Rouge, the new government in his homeland, to then go to Thailand, their “second country”. Under the Naga Tail is a story about the despair others bring, what governments can do to a country, or a person, and, what it means to live through it, prevail in the end. It is the story of a refugee, the only thing the regime leaves him to live for, hope. The book shows the scary, tortuous journey to get to it. If one can, in the end. And, even family, how important they were to each and all, even this, at times, destroyed, in the struggle to find a way through and out, somewhere where there can be life, rather than mere survival.

That those in the country were abused by their own people, their “new” government and, were rescued by another, as Americans helped liberate German World War 2 prisoners, the fact that Vietnamese troops were the ones to be the saviors of those persons, in this country, will always be a reminder to me, that sometimes, even those persons may not share the same beliefs, that they are not necessarily immoral or bad people. Because, before James' father, Mae Taing, is liberated by the Vietnamese, he is very much abused by his own, new government. All because the Angkar, the revolutionary party of the Khmer Rouge, wanted to assert the platform that all people were equal, that if some had nothing, all should have nothing. And, that this platform seemed to make every officer in the regime angry about everything, even the fact that the countrymen wanted to have food of their own, that they tended and grew, in the end nothing made sense, as to what the desires were for this new government, the country and its people.

Before the Khmer Rouge, the family of Mia Taing seemed to do well for themselves. While in the book, what they had, to readers, may not seem as they had all that much, in all reality, and in comparison to those around them, at the time and in the country, they were fairly well off, middle class, in fact. Mia Taing had heard of America and their successes, one of which, that stuck with them, was going to the moon. And, because America had gone to the moon, it made Mia Taing think that anything was possible, in the world. Unfortunately, soon after his life would change and boyhood, being raised to be the man he would be, was very different from the expectations he had.

From the beginning, when the first of the Khmer Rouge comes to his town and all the people, his family, neighbors, all, are made to leave what they have behind. Even children, when they are lost from a family, stay this way, Mia’s family told to keep moving, when they lose one of their own little ones. They are the first to succumb to this “new country” and the only hope is that a nice family along the way took them in. The motivations, it seems, in moving the people is to take away all they ever had, and, as they move on people and Mia’s family learn that everything they have will be taken, they will now have to toil away, working fields with their own hands to cultivate food that, many times, they don’t get to keep; life with the Khmer Rouge no life at all, really, just mere existence and, quite a hellish one, at that.

Once they are saved from their own countrymen, the Chinese family moves to Thailand, to a refugee camp. However they are not yet free and clear of any danger, yet. Not by any means. After a small time there, which Mia looks at as the ability to rest, even though in a camp surrounded by barbed wire, anytime the family is made to move, they could be facing their death. In the end, not all the family will survive. Tears were readily shed, by me, during the reading of this true retelling.

Of all the atrocities, in the book, which are many, the worst, for me, was the fact that family, at times, needed to be left behind, or, completely abandoned. There was a bad joke I heard when I was young, but it always served as an example of a cultural difference, to me, between Eastern and Western cultures. It went as follows: two families are in a boat, one of Western origins, one with Eastern. Each has an elder, baby and a husband and wife. I don’t quite remember how the joke was made funny or how to even tell it right, all it ever illustrated to me was that if each family was told to get rid of one member of the family, those from Western cultures would get rid of the elder, those from Eastern cultures would get rid of the baby. This situation teaches where a culture places their importance: in their youth and their future, or in their elders, their past and wisdom. Neither is right or wrong, God forbid one should ever be in this situation. It has always served as a situational mnemonic device for me.

Therefore, I remembered this well, when I read the book. Because Mia and his family are of Chinese origins, from Eastern cultures. Therefore, though they value their youth, the importance of the family is placed on their elders. So, when I read that Mia had come upon elderly individuals that had been left by their family because they had become too much of a burden to care for, that they had to be left behind, apart from the family, all alone, to their own demise (or if anything happened to make things better, which was doubtful as no one was coming to help anyone). It seems like, for almost every family, the situation had gotten so desperate that, when a person could not ensure their own survival, take care of themself, walk on their own, when they became burdensome, elders were left by the family. Left behind. For an Eastern culture that puts elders above all others, this must have been a very hard decision to make. And, even for the elder, to tell the family to move on without them, leaving them to die, because they know they have become burdensome. Under the Naga Tail is a hard story to read, to imagine living it….

While the ending did give light to the book, all that was lost, all was not lost; the home, heritage, culture, family, so much more….there is nothing that can be done to make any of that better. But, that James Taing survived, and then told the family's story, his fathers story, that he was able to do this, that he did this, let’s all know what happened, gives a voice to the pain of it all. While I don’t want to tell others it is their obligation to read a book like this, when I read a book such as this, sharing the realities of the world, things that happened that we can learn from, that we never would want to happen again, I feel an obligation to read a book like Under the Naga Tail. To know, to understand, to pray for those who had to go through all these moments, lose so much and hope they find peace wherever they are; and to remember and speak up, if I see anything like this ever happen again.

If you have ever read a review of mine there are many books I say are “must reads” on your shelf. Under the Naga Tail is one of those books. And, if you care about making the world a better place, for yourself and others, these are the kinds of books you need to read. To be able to know and empathize with the atrocities of the world. Because, while the same ones that are shared in Under the Naga Tail may not exist in this exact form, the undercurrent of all these acts, the anger, rage, pain, indifference, intolerance, all that remains here, today, in the world. And, if you are like me and agree that needs to change it starts with informing yourself with what others have gone through.

Change always begins within oneself. And Taing has helped me to get a better picture of what others have gone through in this insightful, provoking, homage to his family, his father. While I usually say Happy Reading at the end of my reviews, here, I say, read this book with hope in your heart. Hope that the world can and will change so that one day humans can live in a world peacefully. Cause we aren’t even close right now.

In the 1970s, in the town of Poioet in Cambodia, Mae lived a peaceful life working in his family’s store. His life, along with the lives of his entire family, gets flipped completely upside down when the Khmer Rouge arrive, taking everything they can from whoever they can, including the family’s house, all in the name of freedom and equality. What follows is years filled with struggles; struggles to find enough to eat, places to sleep, medicine, and survival. From refugee camps to concentration camps, as well as a perilous trip down a temple mountain filled with landmines, Mae and his family must endure if they hope to reach true freedom.

Under the Naga Tail is an intense, heartbreaking piece of nonfiction that also shows the inner strength many possess, along with how infected with hate some can become. Often times society is shown pictures or videos of instances of genocide, war, and the struggles faced by refugees, but Under the Naga Tail puts a human face on events that, sadly, are still repeated around the world almost 50 years after the horrible events in Cambodia. It is well written and gripping, and the love within this family is not only powerful, but inspirational.

I often find many reviewers saying they don’t like rating memoirs, because authors put their personal experience, their suffering, and traumas out there and hence, it does not seem right to put a number-either low or high- to such books. However, I beg to differ. I agree that a person’s experience should always be treated with care, and I have a lot of respect for authors who share traumatic pasts as well as stories of loss and resilience. But, I think there is a difference between what is been told and how it is being told.
In the case of <u>Under the Naga Tail</u> I just kept thinking there was a lot of editing work that was needed. The memoir focuses on the experiences of a Cambodian man who lived through the Khmer Rouge genocide during the 1970s. We learn from the start of the brutal regime, to his escape to Thailand, the subsequent deportation and all the misfortunes and tragedies he and his family faced until they were able to come to America. The horrors this man and his family went through are unspeakable and most impactful if we think these actions were repeated all over again across Asia and other parts of the world. It is an experience that touches everyone because in any given moment, all societies could fall under a tyranny which cares little for humanity and seeks degradation in every way.

My problem with this book is that it felt repetitive at times and hence, it felt like the story went in circles. For example, while I am sure every situation was probably worst than the other as the regime became more authoritarian, and as they left as immigrants to a country that later deported them, tragedy was, at one point, too much. Not to say that the experiences were not important or that as a reader I grew tired of the horror, but thinking in terms of a book, I think the editor could have worked more on which memories to keep, or at least how to shorten them to make them more impactful. However, this was not done and then there are pages and pages of how they ran through the jungle, two, or three times. While in different situations, I think some parts could have been deleted or shortened, and the work would have been more impactful because as it was presented, the narrative just felt more dense but without telling anything new.

Another aspect I didn’t like and which I think could have been easily addressed in a foreword or inserted here and there in the narrative, was the lack of context. As a reader who knows little of Cambodia and its history, I felt the book lacked information for those of us who were reading about the Khmer Rouge for the first time. The author (and the editors) assumes the readers know what happened in Cambodia, which was not the case. As I read, I often had to stop and do a web search to try to understand what was happening. An example: we learn that they were forced by the military to leave the cities and move to rural areas, but we were never explained why. This made no sense to me -until I read what was behind the Khmer Rouge ideology, which was communist in nature and saw cities as capitalist ideas.

Unfortunately, because of these issues, I did not enjoy the book. As I said, I think it has nothing to do with the author -as writers, we often need guidance on what to keep and leave out, particularly when we are writing from experience and from pain. And here is where the editors and publishers can have an impact in making a story shine through technical merits.

Thank you to NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for the ARC.

This memoir is heartbreaking and may require being put down quite a few times but it feels like required reading.

The pacing is great, and the writing feels like I am being told the story personally. I also did not feel inundated with facts as if this were a history book, but was not left in the dark about the realities of the Khmer Rouge genocide.

Please read.

I’m so happy the world gets to read more Cambodian literature even if it’s about our tragic past. The Khmer Rouge continues to impact first and second generation Cambodians, and it’s something that we will never forget.

This book definitely hits close to home, and sometimes it easier to read about it than to ask my own parents and grandparents about what they went through.

Definitely worth the read for an emotional and courageous account of one’s journey through the Khmer Rouge.

I loved this book so much. I didn’t think it would be possible to enter such a world and fall in love with the characters so effortlessly. I won’t stop recommending it!

As the Khmer Rouge takes over Cambodia, teenage Mae and his family are forced from their home in the city and marched across the country. While his family is forced to farm, a task they know nothing about, Mae is separated and sent to dig ditches, build dams, and labor. Starved and beaten, Mae only thinks of his family. When he reunites with his family, they are marched to the Preah Vihear mountain, where they are sent into the valley with no food, water, or shelter.

I cannot recommend this book enough. The ordeals that Mae and his family endeared are unthinkable. Yet, it is an important part of history that should not be forgotten. The sheer determination of Mae to survive shows his courage and strength of character. Although I knew very little about Cambodia, I found myself googling and learning after reading the book. Overall a must read!

Thank you to the authors, Mae Bunseng Taing and James Taing, publisher Greenleaf Book Group Press, and NetGalley as always, for an advance digital copy of UNDER THE NAGA TAIL.

This brilliant but emotionally demanding book is the novelized memoir, written by James Taing, of his father, Mae's, haunting experiences during the Cambodian culture wars in the 1970s, which he barely survived. The accounts included in this book are harrowing. At times, I found it difficult to accept, to believe humans were capable of treating each other with such inhumanity, but why should I feel that way? I've read a dozen similar accounts just this year, some of which took place in my own country. Why does such cruelty keep striking me as unbelievable? As too unacceptable to be true?

One of the things I noticed about Mae's account is that he remembers every tiny kindness he encounters. He clings to them as though they are food or medicine and could keep him alive. Probably they do, probably they give him the courage and motivation to continue another day. But a lot of people around him are afraid, and scared people tend to act in their own interests without understanding the consequences of their actions.

I recommend this book to readers who know little about this subject, as I myself didn't. But be prepared for a tense read. The book is well done and a page turner, but not because it is enjoyable, as such. I would have liked more history here actually; as it was, the actions discussed in the book were a bit free floating. At the same time, this sense of disembodiment would have have been very real for Mae during his ordeal. Reading UNDER THE NAGA TAIL is an exercise in empathy for sure.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
Recommend? Definitely
Finished: February 21 2023
Read this if you like:
👤 Memoir
🕰 Historical fiction
👨‍👦 Family stories
🏔 Survival stories
💰 Political stories

A bold and brave story which brings to life the horrors of genocide, and the strength of the human spirit.
I found this so moving, and incredibly vivid in parts - I felt like I was there in the jungle. The description and scene setting was incredibly well done, though the dialogue felt lacking in parts, but not so much that it took me out of the story.
The cambodian genocide wasn't something taught to me in school or spoken about later in life, this memoir showed the stark reality of what families faced and had to do in order to survive.

It is an incredibly important first hand account of history.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Under the Naga Tail by Mae Bunseng Taking in exchange for an honest review. This was a gripping memoir that was horrifying and inspiring.

In UNDER THE NAGA TAIL: A TRUE STORY OF SURVIVAL, BRAVERY, AND ESCAPE FROM THE CAMBODIAN GENOCIDE, Mae Bunseng Taing details the difficulties and horrors he and his family faced during their escape from the Khmer Rouge regime. The book is written with Mae’s son James Taing.

UNDER THE NAGA TAIL was heartbreaking but also inspiring. Going into this book, I did not have much knowledge about Cambodia and the genocides that occurred. I’m glad to have learned about Cambodian culture and the conflict in the area during the time period that Mae and his family were there, even though it was quite difficult to read emotionally. I know that atrocities such as this happen in areas of conflict and war daily, but it doesn’t make it any less affecting. The strength of Mae and the other refugees was incredible. It’s because of stories such as his that I continue to have faith in humanity despite the terrible things that occur in the world. I had a hard time putting this book down.

UNDER THE NAGA TAIL was a deeply affecting memoir that I’d highly recommend.

Thank you to Greenleaf Book Group for the giveaway finished copy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for the DRC.

I received this as ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a child of war refugees, this book really piqued my interest. Out of all the atrocities that have happened in Asia, it feels like the Cambodian genocide was swept under a rug and was never talked about. So imagine my surprise and horror as I’m reading the first hand account of the Cambodian genocide through the vignettes of Mae Bunseng Taing’s life.

While some may think the writing is unpolished, I personally think the story has been effectively conveyed. Reading Mae’s story was definitely a journey of its own. I honestly cannot fathom the hardships and turmoil that Mae and his family had to endure. A country that was once so advanced, but have now been sent back 100 years because of the Cambodian Communist Party. It was basically a witch-hunt for anyone who was perceived intelligent and set being uneducated as the status quo. As others have mentioned, there were times that I had to take a break from the book because of how gruesome his story could get.

All in all, this story was inspiring. A man’s determination to survive and reunite with his family. A journey for a better life. As I read this book, it made me think a lot about what my parents have gone through and the sacrifices they’ve made. I resonated a lot with this book. This also made me want to research more about Cambodian genocide. I still cannot believe how this is not talked about more.

Also, someone get this man a Pekingese. I need that closure in my life.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” As a young girl growing up in America, I was taught about the atrocities of the Holocaust, the persecution of native peoples, and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The Cambodian genocide is a topic I know frightfully little about but one I found myself fascinated in as I read Under the Naga Tail. I’m grateful that this book is shining a light on a horrible part of human history that not enough people know about and does so in a way that showcases the hope, strength, and will of these survivors.

Under the Naga Tail does wonderfully in explaining the historical context of the Cambodian genocide from the lens of a young man as he lives through it. The prose is simple but effective. We see Mae leave behind a simple life running a family business to fighting for food, shelter, and basic human rights. As a Chinese-Cambodian, he is discriminated against in the only home he’d ever known and forced to adapt to ever changing circumstances.

Like other reviewers, I had to put the book down several times to regain my bearings due to the heavy subject matter. Learning about the cruel treatment he received at the hands of soldiers and despite knowing that he eventually makes it to America, reading through journey and suffering it took for that to happen broke my heart. Ultimately, this book is one brave man’s account of war and its very real consequences. An at times sad but deeply moving read. Thank you to the authors for sharing your personal story and to the publisher and NetGalley for this review copy of the book.