Sidney H. Schanberg, "The Death and Life of Dith Pran"
Poor Sidney Schanberg. He risks his neck in Vietnam, wins a Pulitzer Prize with special recognition for �international reporting at great risk,� writes a best-selling book which also gets made into a critically and financially successful film (�The Killing Fields�). And during all this time, he works desperately to be reunited with his friend and journalistic partner, Dith Pran. And he succeeds.
But then people like Noam Chomsky deride him for winning praise because he was reporting on crimes perpetuated by Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, but ignored crimes committed by his own government (an argument I don�t think holds water, since �The Killing Fields� begins with U.S. forces firing on the wrong village). Hell, Chomsky goes so far as to call Schanberg �a person of utter depravity.�
Then Sid gets back to the states and goes back to work, only to find his style of reporting doesn�t fare well when covering his own country. Numerous fights flare up between him and the New York Times. He ultimately leaves, to dumb the story down to simplistic terms. Now he can�t get arrested in that town, and is stuck having drinks with Mr. Sleepy.
His book? Oh yeah, sorry. It�s okay. Part weepy, sentimental testimonial, part horrific detailing of the cruelty of governments and men in war, and part padding (which is strange since this is so short). It never finds a true voice to speak with. Frankly, it seems like a rush job churned out to cash in on the popularity of the film. I just checked the copyright dates, and they are very, very close indeed. Hmmmph.
As a side note, the Khmer Rouge invasion happened on April 17. The beginning of the sickness in Camus� �The Plague� happened on April 17. My birthday is on April 17.
Heh.
