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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
If you have never read any books about North Korea, I do not recommend this one because it just skims the surface of what I have read in other books. Nevertheless, it is another reminder of what these poor people endure and what they have to go through just to be a refugee. It makes my heart ache all they endure in their very flawed countries only to be exploited by those who would "help" them and all they suffer as they try to just have some kind of decent life. I am grateful in the case of the North Koreans who escape that at least for many years South Korea has helped them and made them citizens.
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
A wonderful biography from a North Korean defector that survived a prison camp was able to make a life for herself despite all the obstacles she faced. I think it’s very important for everyone to be aware of countries like North Korea and of the people trapped in circumstances they didn’t choose or deserve.
slow-paced
Now and then I read a memoir. I have read some good ones, I could not put down Malika Oufkir's book, Wild Swans moved me, and Leaving Mother Lake was so interesting. While this book failed in that aspect, it was the simplicity of the book. It was just too simple for what it was about.
I wanted more horror, misery. Ok so that might sound bad, but I just expected more from a book about North Korea. But then the book was not really about North Korea, it was about trying to survive in China.
I was told about starvation and how relatives and friends died left and right. Yes that is horrible, but that was the only horrific part she ever knew. I learned they were given 1 kg of candy on their glorious leader's birthday and how the capital was the most wonderful place ever. But then she could not tell me about prisons, work camps and executions cos she only knew a good life, the starvation and then China. In that aspect I was not really moved by her tale. A simple YA like tale. Where things were mentioned that we had already been told before. I also did not like how she totally dissed Mongolia and how they lived there. So that is worse than North Korea then?
So do not expect to learn more about North Korea. Maybe she was not critical of NA enough for me.
BUT, it was still a good and short book. Interesting in those early NA parts and later the China parts that made me angry. They are just throwing them back into that hell.
I wanted more horror, misery. Ok so that might sound bad, but I just expected more from a book about North Korea. But then the book was not really about North Korea, it was about trying to survive in China.
I was told about starvation and how relatives and friends died left and right. Yes that is horrible, but that was the only horrific part she ever knew. I learned they were given 1 kg of candy on their glorious leader's birthday and how the capital was the most wonderful place ever. But then she could not tell me about prisons, work camps and executions cos she only knew a good life, the starvation and then China. In that aspect I was not really moved by her tale. A simple YA like tale. Where things were mentioned that we had already been told before. I also did not like how she totally dissed Mongolia and how they lived there. So that is worse than North Korea then?
So do not expect to learn more about North Korea. Maybe she was not critical of NA enough for me.
BUT, it was still a good and short book. Interesting in those early NA parts and later the China parts that made me angry. They are just throwing them back into that hell.
(Who am I to even rate Eunsun Kim's story ...?- it doesn't feel right to rate this book in the same way as other books I review. Therefore, I have decided to review the significance of the book instead.)
By sharing her story, Eunsun Kim is giving a voice to the millions of North Koreans who are unable to speak out about their own experiences. Her testimony is a powerful reminder of the importance of protecting human rights and promoting freedom, and serves as a call to action for individuals and governments around the world to take steps to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in North Korea.
Eunsun Kim's experience highlights the severe deprivation and lack of basic freedoms that exist in North Korea, including limited access to food, healthcare, and education. Her story also illustrates the severe punishments that can be imposed on individuals who defy the government or attempt to escape, including imprisonment, torture, and even death.
It is crucial that the world knows about what is happening in North Korea because the country is one of the most closed and repressive societies in the world, and its government has been accused of committing numerous human rights violations, including forced labor, political repression, and torture. By shining a light on these issues, the international community can work together to hold the North Korean government accountable for its actions and support efforts to promote greater freedom and human rights for the people of North Korea.
By sharing her story, Eunsun Kim is giving a voice to the millions of North Koreans who are unable to speak out about their own experiences. Her testimony is a powerful reminder of the importance of protecting human rights and promoting freedom, and serves as a call to action for individuals and governments around the world to take steps to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in North Korea.
Eunsun Kim's experience highlights the severe deprivation and lack of basic freedoms that exist in North Korea, including limited access to food, healthcare, and education. Her story also illustrates the severe punishments that can be imposed on individuals who defy the government or attempt to escape, including imprisonment, torture, and even death.
It is crucial that the world knows about what is happening in North Korea because the country is one of the most closed and repressive societies in the world, and its government has been accused of committing numerous human rights violations, including forced labor, political repression, and torture. By shining a light on these issues, the international community can work together to hold the North Korean government accountable for its actions and support efforts to promote greater freedom and human rights for the people of North Korea.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
• r e v i e w •
.
When I imagine hell on earth, I think of North Korea. Even though it's cut off from the rest of the world, defectors have made it abundantly clear about how brutal their lives were back in NK. It's shocking how ruthlessly the Kims have been treating their people for many decades now. Few of the defectors still live in fear, unwilling to show their faces and changing the names of the characters in their books. They preferred to challenge death while escaping rather than facing it intermittently at the hands of the Kims. To me, the best memoir of a defector is still A River In Darkness by Masaji Ishigawa but A Thousand Miles to Freedom does a good job in making the readers understand how dangerous their lives were in NK and how even today, millions of others living within the walls of that country are trying to escape from the inhumane regime.
.
During the great famine of NK back in the 1990s, Eunsun Kim witnesses the death of her father and grandparents. People stole from their neighbour's farms, scoured the mountains for roots and eventually traded everything they had at home in the black market for a fistful of rice. Eunsun recalls her life before the famine where she even got to watch movies in the theatre, enjoy a bowl of cold noodles and live a comfortable life but it all changed around 1995. Eunsun's mother decides to leave behind NK after the death of her husband, and hence, with two children in tow, she escapes to China through Tumen river. It is only after reaching China that Eunsun realises how poor her country truly is. Every lesson that was taught to her people about the Kims's greatness was nothing but a facade. Upon reaching China, they roam around aimlessly in search of food and shelter. The fear of being discovered by the Chinese police looms over their heads for many years to come.
.
Eunsun's family attains freedom nine years after their escape from NK. Their lives after leaving behind NK, gets worse in China. More than half of the book focuses on their survival in China than in NK and perhaps this was why I couldn't give it full stars. Eunsun now lives in South Korea, with her mother and sister but the horrors of her previous country still comes back to haunt her at times. After living almost a decade in running, fearing the police and the people she encountered in China, Eunsun has now found a place to call her own. A Thousand Miles to Freedom, is a daunting read, one that many other defectors have already lived. It's painful to realise how so many people are still living under the Kims with little or no hope of ever leaving that wretched country. While many of the North Koreans are willing to escape, it is shocking to witness how most of the population still considers their country to be the richest and greatest. Their ability of brainwashing the citizens right from their childhood is truly a merciless thing to do. Eunsun's story as narrated in this memoir is no doubt very inspiring but it fell short on many levels. Perhaps it was the translation which wasn't very impressive or maybe it was how the book focused more on her life in China than in NK.
.
I would still recommend this memoir so that one can read and understand the courage and strength it takes to escape from the jaws of death. Eunsun's story is inspiring and with every NK defector's story that I read, I find relief in knowing that there's at least someone who has tasted freedom.
.
Rating : 4.4/5.
.
When I imagine hell on earth, I think of North Korea. Even though it's cut off from the rest of the world, defectors have made it abundantly clear about how brutal their lives were back in NK. It's shocking how ruthlessly the Kims have been treating their people for many decades now. Few of the defectors still live in fear, unwilling to show their faces and changing the names of the characters in their books. They preferred to challenge death while escaping rather than facing it intermittently at the hands of the Kims. To me, the best memoir of a defector is still A River In Darkness by Masaji Ishigawa but A Thousand Miles to Freedom does a good job in making the readers understand how dangerous their lives were in NK and how even today, millions of others living within the walls of that country are trying to escape from the inhumane regime.
.
During the great famine of NK back in the 1990s, Eunsun Kim witnesses the death of her father and grandparents. People stole from their neighbour's farms, scoured the mountains for roots and eventually traded everything they had at home in the black market for a fistful of rice. Eunsun recalls her life before the famine where she even got to watch movies in the theatre, enjoy a bowl of cold noodles and live a comfortable life but it all changed around 1995. Eunsun's mother decides to leave behind NK after the death of her husband, and hence, with two children in tow, she escapes to China through Tumen river. It is only after reaching China that Eunsun realises how poor her country truly is. Every lesson that was taught to her people about the Kims's greatness was nothing but a facade. Upon reaching China, they roam around aimlessly in search of food and shelter. The fear of being discovered by the Chinese police looms over their heads for many years to come.
.
Eunsun's family attains freedom nine years after their escape from NK. Their lives after leaving behind NK, gets worse in China. More than half of the book focuses on their survival in China than in NK and perhaps this was why I couldn't give it full stars. Eunsun now lives in South Korea, with her mother and sister but the horrors of her previous country still comes back to haunt her at times. After living almost a decade in running, fearing the police and the people she encountered in China, Eunsun has now found a place to call her own. A Thousand Miles to Freedom, is a daunting read, one that many other defectors have already lived. It's painful to realise how so many people are still living under the Kims with little or no hope of ever leaving that wretched country. While many of the North Koreans are willing to escape, it is shocking to witness how most of the population still considers their country to be the richest and greatest. Their ability of brainwashing the citizens right from their childhood is truly a merciless thing to do. Eunsun's story as narrated in this memoir is no doubt very inspiring but it fell short on many levels. Perhaps it was the translation which wasn't very impressive or maybe it was how the book focused more on her life in China than in NK.
.
I would still recommend this memoir so that one can read and understand the courage and strength it takes to escape from the jaws of death. Eunsun's story is inspiring and with every NK defector's story that I read, I find relief in knowing that there's at least someone who has tasted freedom.
.
Rating : 4.4/5.
Highly recommended. I learned so many things about sad life in North Korea.