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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I found this book fascinating and utterly heartbreaking. I likely would not have ever read it on my own, but it was a selection for my local libraries' trivia night so I picked it up. It's very well written, with extensive research done to corroborate the stories/facts and give readers an honest insight, not just a shocking story. It's unbelievable that in 2017, a place like North Korea can exist. I would highly recommend this novel for others, especially to help them better understand how NK came to be (US is hugely at fault here) as well as how it continues to exist in this day and age.
Um retrato impressionante de um país que é um verdadeiro "buraco negro" civilizacional! Talvez um pouco romanceado de mais, o que faz com que positivamente nos aproximemos das personagens mas que negativamente deixa em segundo plano alguns aspectos menos detalhados e explicados. Escrito em 2009, pede já um novo capitulo que cubra o que se passou desde essa altura até á subida ao poder do actual líder!
SO good! I love biographical works of North Koreans to gain a glimpse of a world trapped in the past by communist totalitarianism. I hope the world can figure out that selling your freedom to the government doesn’t pay!
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
Based on interviews with North Korean defectors, this book was fascinating, heartbreaking, and inspiring. I was struck by the strength of the people in the face of the bleakest conditions.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
Recommended by my friend Eva, and really eye-opening. I knew basically 3 "facts" about North Korea before reading this book: Kim Jong-il was an 'evil' dictator; they were aggressively perusing a nuclear agenda that was endangering the stability of Asia & the world; there were no good relations between the US & North Korea.
I have now learned so much more, through [a:Barbara Demick|785914|Barbara Demick|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1325069453p2/785914.jpg]'s skillful ability to bring disparate first person narratives together into a whole. The book is based on her 8 years as a reporter for the LA Times in South Korea, while interviewing many North Korean refugees. While she certainly cannot be said to be unbiased, I'm not sure anyone who lives in the modern world could be unbiased about the fear, pain, and starvation that the citizens of North Korea suffered while being told lies of the highest degree. There are certainly some areas of the book that could benefit from a tighter editing review as there are several repeated sections over the course of the book. These clearly stem from changing daily/weekly newspaper stories to a book format.
That being said, the book was engaging, but almost in a car wreck sort of way. I was not happy when reading this book, but I'm glad I read it. It is a good reminder for the modern age that there is a country of people that have been isolated from the world and suffer as a result of the actions of their leaders. They are innocent, but will suffer if there is ever a reunification. They will also likely oppose such if it occurs after their country breaks down even further.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is, as I was, unaware of the country that was formed after the Korean war and isn't the "Korea" that we know of today.
I have now learned so much more, through [a:Barbara Demick|785914|Barbara Demick|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1325069453p2/785914.jpg]'s skillful ability to bring disparate first person narratives together into a whole. The book is based on her 8 years as a reporter for the LA Times in South Korea, while interviewing many North Korean refugees. While she certainly cannot be said to be unbiased, I'm not sure anyone who lives in the modern world could be unbiased about the fear, pain, and starvation that the citizens of North Korea suffered while being told lies of the highest degree. There are certainly some areas of the book that could benefit from a tighter editing review as there are several repeated sections over the course of the book. These clearly stem from changing daily/weekly newspaper stories to a book format.
That being said, the book was engaging, but almost in a car wreck sort of way. I was not happy when reading this book, but I'm glad I read it. It is a good reminder for the modern age that there is a country of people that have been isolated from the world and suffer as a result of the actions of their leaders. They are innocent, but will suffer if there is ever a reunification. They will also likely oppose such if it occurs after their country breaks down even further.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is, as I was, unaware of the country that was formed after the Korean war and isn't the "Korea" that we know of today.
Fascinating and well-written. I like that you get several perspectives and the author’s choice to focus on one particular region. The structure is easy to follow and the book gives a great overview of conditions in North Korea, day to day life, and how people progress through stages of belief in the regime.