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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
Prose: 4
Interesting Content: 5
Perspective Shift: 4
Comments:
I had listened to Yeonmi Park on a Joe Rogan podcast and was horrified and completely absorbed by her story. It was one of the best podcast episodes I’ve ever listened to.
Unfortunately, it meant I already knew her basic story and some of the key details, so this book wasn’t as surprising as it would be coming to it cold.
That being said, it was a really engaging and eye-opening read. Like the very best Autobiographies, it felt like a jaw-dropping fictional story. It was so gripping, yet also an invaluable insight into life in North Korea. It also shines an important light on Chinese policies and the terrible treatment of refugees/defectors.
Summation:
Gripping and eye-opening. This is a book that can really make you grateful for what you have. Yeonmi Park is an inspiration.
Interesting Content: 5
Perspective Shift: 4
Comments:
I had listened to Yeonmi Park on a Joe Rogan podcast and was horrified and completely absorbed by her story. It was one of the best podcast episodes I’ve ever listened to.
Unfortunately, it meant I already knew her basic story and some of the key details, so this book wasn’t as surprising as it would be coming to it cold.
That being said, it was a really engaging and eye-opening read. Like the very best Autobiographies, it felt like a jaw-dropping fictional story. It was so gripping, yet also an invaluable insight into life in North Korea. It also shines an important light on Chinese policies and the terrible treatment of refugees/defectors.
Summation:
Gripping and eye-opening. This is a book that can really make you grateful for what you have. Yeonmi Park is an inspiration.
Yeonmi Park’s story is an incredibly unique look into North Korea. A country that for the rest of the world seems like a black box. Her story is both heart breaking and inspiring.
Heart breaking due to the massive trauma she had to go through both to survive as a little kid in North Korea and to survive years of trying to escape the country both on the border, in China and even after her safety.
Inspiring because the whole world has treated her inhumanely for years and she still believed in the values of justice and freedom enough to push through to learn English and the history of the world to share her authentic and vulnerable story.
Recommended to anyone wanting to learn about North Koreans and to get deep insights into people going through the hardest of hardships. It was a huge humbling experience reading this story.
Heart breaking due to the massive trauma she had to go through both to survive as a little kid in North Korea and to survive years of trying to escape the country both on the border, in China and even after her safety.
Inspiring because the whole world has treated her inhumanely for years and she still believed in the values of justice and freedom enough to push through to learn English and the history of the world to share her authentic and vulnerable story.
Recommended to anyone wanting to learn about North Koreans and to get deep insights into people going through the hardest of hardships. It was a huge humbling experience reading this story.
informative
slow-paced
I am incredibly impressed with the author's strength, courage, and resilience. I only wish she had hired a strong ghost writer to help deliver her incredible tale. The author falls into the trap of telling rather than showing, which lessens the impact of her story and removes the emotion from the events. It also makes events feel rushed and confused. We moved here, then we moved there. There is very little insight into what the narrator felt while the events of the book transpired.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
how to rate this anything other than a 10? Well written, powerful, informative, evocative. Had on my list after watching her Ted talk and definitely worth the deep dive.
Such a horrific but important story to be told. Beautifully written
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
A fascinating story of a young woman’s escape from North Korea.
As one can imagine, this story was heart breaking and inspiring in so many ways that it was a very quick and satisfying read. The material was heavy but the style of writing was not so it was easy to follow and understand.
I highly recommend this book to anyone whose interest or curiosity is peeked by the mysterious livelihoods of North Koreans in the Hermit Kingdom.
Having done some research before settling with my final thoughts, I found there there to be quite a lot of controversy over Park’s account of her journey and the way she represented the lives of North Koreans. This disheartened me quite a bit and having looked her up on social media, I must admit I’m not sure what to believe.
”…it was Park’s ‘ability to treat facts as malleable that has allowed Park to find like-minded allies on the MAGA right’", New Lines Magazine, 2014
Take what you will from that, I always say it’s best to do your own research anyway and make up one’s own mind on these things. The truth is hard to find these days and it feels awful to have doubts about someone telling their own story, especially when it is truly horrific as this is.
But unfortunately, this is the world and the times that we are living in.
An eye opening read, in every way.
As one can imagine, this story was heart breaking and inspiring in so many ways that it was a very quick and satisfying read. The material was heavy but the style of writing was not so it was easy to follow and understand.
I highly recommend this book to anyone whose interest or curiosity is peeked by the mysterious livelihoods of North Koreans in the Hermit Kingdom.
Having done some research before settling with my final thoughts, I found there there to be quite a lot of controversy over Park’s account of her journey and the way she represented the lives of North Koreans. This disheartened me quite a bit and having looked her up on social media, I must admit I’m not sure what to believe.
”…it was Park’s ‘ability to treat facts as malleable that has allowed Park to find like-minded allies on the MAGA right’", New Lines Magazine, 2014
Take what you will from that, I always say it’s best to do your own research anyway and make up one’s own mind on these things. The truth is hard to find these days and it feels awful to have doubts about someone telling their own story, especially when it is truly horrific as this is.
But unfortunately, this is the world and the times that we are living in.
An eye opening read, in every way.