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A review by altlovesbooks
Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee - A Look Inside North Korea by Jang Jin-sung
4.0
Freedom is freely given to anyone born in a free land, but others have to risk their lives for it.
I've read a lot of books about North Korea, but this one is unique in that the main character was actually fairly highly placed in North Korean society. He was one of Kim Jong Il's poet laureates, even meeting him a couple of times. His insights into how the government views its country's problems and some historical context for how it got there was interesting and unique when compared with other books I've read on this topic. You can tell the author was a poet, because the writing of the book was extremely lyrical in places, extremely descriptive, and extremely compelling. Some of the incidents he describes early on in the book while still in North Korea are chilling, particularly his visit to his home town and what had happened after he left.
I've read a lot of books about North Korea, but this one is unique in that the main character was actually fairly highly placed in North Korean society. He was one of Kim Jong Il's poet laureates, even meeting him a couple of times. His insights into how the government views its country's problems and some historical context for how it got there was interesting and unique when compared with other books I've read on this topic. You can tell the author was a poet, because the writing of the book was extremely lyrical in places, extremely descriptive, and extremely compelling. Some of the incidents he describes early on in the book while still in North Korea are chilling, particularly his visit to his home town and what had happened after he left.