You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
While a fascinating story, I feel like the book lacked my desired level of detail and the translation read a bit off.
challenging
dark
reflective
Brutal true story about a man's 30+ year battle to escape North Korea. I cannot imagine all the emotions he had when he was taken to NK by his father under the assumption things would be better for them. And then living like that for 30+ years. The heartache associated with all the losses and questions about his family... damn.
emotional
fast-paced
3.5 stars
What would it take for a person to risk their life to leave an oppressive country? I've wondered this often, especially as several groups of political-asylum-seeking refugees have resettled and made new lives in our town. How bad can it get that dying while escaping is worth the chance? Well, after reading this gripping and horrible story, I can imagine it.
Masaji was born in Japan but went to his father's home country of North Korea while he was still a child. And while life in Japan in the period just after the Korean War wasn't easy, it was paradise compared to his new life in North Korea. It's heartbreaking, how desperate and tragic life experiences are. I am embarrassed by my ignorance of much of this period. As he spoke about the famines happening while I was in high school I wanted to cry, imagining what my life was like while he and his family were suffering so much.
This is an important book. Mr. Ishikawa is a witness, a voice crying out his story to the world, validating the horror of life under a dictatorship and the subsequent stratifying of society that left millions to literally just rot. It's incredibly dark and sad, and not my usual fare at all, but I am glad I let myself to go this hard place, I feel better connected to North Korean history and more compassionate for those who have similarly suffered. It's not literary, sometimes things feel a bit choppy and his narrative voice is sometimes a bit rough and surely. I think part of this was in the translation and some of it was just the thick skin you had to grow to survive.
note: adult themes here and some pretty foul language
What would it take for a person to risk their life to leave an oppressive country? I've wondered this often, especially as several groups of political-asylum-seeking refugees have resettled and made new lives in our town. How bad can it get that dying while escaping is worth the chance? Well, after reading this gripping and horrible story, I can imagine it.
Masaji was born in Japan but went to his father's home country of North Korea while he was still a child. And while life in Japan in the period just after the Korean War wasn't easy, it was paradise compared to his new life in North Korea. It's heartbreaking, how desperate and tragic life experiences are. I am embarrassed by my ignorance of much of this period. As he spoke about the famines happening while I was in high school I wanted to cry, imagining what my life was like while he and his family were suffering so much.
This is an important book. Mr. Ishikawa is a witness, a voice crying out his story to the world, validating the horror of life under a dictatorship and the subsequent stratifying of society that left millions to literally just rot. It's incredibly dark and sad, and not my usual fare at all, but I am glad I let myself to go this hard place, I feel better connected to North Korean history and more compassionate for those who have similarly suffered. It's not literary, sometimes things feel a bit choppy and his narrative voice is sometimes a bit rough and surely. I think part of this was in the translation and some of it was just the thick skin you had to grow to survive.
note: adult themes here and some pretty foul language
This is a tough one. On the one hand, the book is completely compelling. It is the true story of a man whose life is so beset by tragedy and unfairness that if it were a work of fiction it would be dismissed as "too much." You may think you understand poverty at an intellectual level, but Ishikawa brings you to a lower level of poverty. For much of the book, I wondered how any of them survived these unbearable circumstances.
There is a point in the book where he crosses from North Korea into China and I remember feeling elation at that point. I may have cheered! Then I thought, what must be the circumstances of ones' life, that China is the escape to freedom? (This isn't a spoiler (imho) because the title says he escapes and you know he is escaping on the first page of the book.)
On the other hand, the book leaves you with more questions than answers. How was the author able to publish this? How has writing this book impacted his life? Why does he still live in Japan? What happened to his family? Why did his mother agree to go to North Korea? Why did her family disown, not only her, but her children? and many more.
There is a point in the book where he crosses from North Korea into China and I remember feeling elation at that point. I may have cheered! Then I thought, what must be the circumstances of ones' life, that China is the escape to freedom? (This isn't a spoiler (imho) because the title says he escapes and you know he is escaping on the first page of the book.)
On the other hand, the book leaves you with more questions than answers. How was the author able to publish this? How has writing this book impacted his life? Why does he still live in Japan? What happened to his family? Why did his mother agree to go to North Korea? Why did her family disown, not only her, but her children? and many more.
I knew nothing about North Korea prior to reading this memoir and now I'm just shocked and trying to figure out how nothing has been done or can be done about the situation there. I'm at a loss. I really feel for this man and his family. What a terrible ordeal.
This is one of the most harrowing, soul crushing books I've ever read. It is scary that such a government through its food distribution and highly idiotic, corrupt agriculture system - the Juche - could let its citizens go starve. The mass starvation level was so high, it's all dog eat dog world when the people lose their kindness (and humanity) and willing to let their neighbor's babies die of hunger. My heart broke for Masaji and his family. Truly, the world's most repulsive regime that hides behind the mask of so-called wish for independence and self-reliance. So, be thankful if you can still read this review.
a heartbreaking story that leaves you aching. i flew through this book and felt so deeply for the author. it’s a raw, unfiltered telling of the horrors of north korea that he had to face to survive.