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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
I learned so much!!! It was devastating to read about lives with no freedom.
There were 6 main characters in the story, so it was hard to follow at times. It is a deep dive into North Korean history. I need to research present day DPRK because the book ends around 2010.
Favorite quotes:
“They don’t stop to think that in the middle of this black hole, in this bleak, dark country where millions have died of starvation, there is also love.”
“The temporary demarcations on the map soon hardened into facts on the ground.”
“The end of an era did not come in a single moment. It took years before people understood that their world was irreversibly altered.”
There were 6 main characters in the story, so it was hard to follow at times. It is a deep dive into North Korean history. I need to research present day DPRK because the book ends around 2010.
Favorite quotes:
“They don’t stop to think that in the middle of this black hole, in this bleak, dark country where millions have died of starvation, there is also love.”
“The temporary demarcations on the map soon hardened into facts on the ground.”
“The end of an era did not come in a single moment. It took years before people understood that their world was irreversibly altered.”
dark
emotional
informative
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
A very succinct and informational novel that has aspects that will truly stick with me. And it was possible because of the journalist’s openness to learning about the reality of North Korean life and struggles of defecting, and building personal relationships with the people featured in the story.
The author profiles six North Korean defectors to illustrate the harsh realities of everyday life under the totalitarian dictatorships of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. A good primer on some history behind the 38th Parallel Divide (the North became a Soviet-aligned state), North Korea's rigid class system rewarding political loyalty, ideological power (surveillance implemented to maintain power and instill fear and loyalty), economic collapse (widespread famine), and the dangerous journeys North Koreans must take to reach South Korea or China. Very powerful and sad read.
A fascinating, eye-opening, tragic account of life in North Korea, which I knew nothing about prior to reading this book. It really boggles the mind that a place like this continues to exist in the 21st century. The chapters about the defectors’ experiences arriving in South Korea were particularly impactful after following their lives for the first three quarters of the book — I can’t imagine how bizarre and disorienting the change must have been.
This is a fascinating look at North Korea during the 1990s, through the lives of six defectors and their families. The book is now somewhat outdated, and it would be interesting to read further, about life in 2014 North Korea, now under Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.
This book is in need of one more round of edits, but the occasional grammar mistakes and repetitive phrases don't distract too much from the riveting accounts of daily life in North Korea. Knowing the book was written from interviews with successful defectors was the only thing keeping the nausea at bay when reading about the terrible things people must do to survive.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This is the perfect book for someone who wants to know what life is like for the average North Korean who is just living their life in this country who vilifies the world for delusional reasons and the world vilifies for mostly legit reasons.
As someone who doesn't really read non-fiction, I found this book very interesting. The way the author was able to tell life stories of these 6 different people was very interesting and heart wrenching. Definitely opened my eyes to the situation in North Korea and provided with a lot of historical information that I didn't know.