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cpope9 's review for:
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea
by Masaji Ishikawa
This is the kind of dystopian book that you could really into until you realize it’s a first person account of someone’s real life. This is a soul crushing, eye opening book that offers no relief or light to calm the sorrow or pain we feel as we read this man’s story. The story, from the beginning, takes us first hand through the wretched and drastic circumstances the author had to live through. It is appalling and moving to realize that a society like North Korea exists. And while the vast majority of North Koreans have never known anything different, the uniqueness of this account of a man who had lived in a free Japan prior to going to North Korea with his family provides the clearest and most brutal depiction of just how comparatively (and objectively) dire and bad it has been in that country. Have things changed since the mid-to-late 20th century when this man’s story takes place? Who knows but likely not. But this story is powerful. It’s something I never want to read again but I know I should just so I don’t become complacent or ignorant of the fact that people in this world still live in places like North Korea.