A review by jiao_li
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

5.0

This book pretty much explained how life was in North Korea as a Japanese returnee. I always like memoir, especially the one with historical elements. I also love the writing cuz it full of new knowledge.

Rather than the escape, there are more stories about the author condition before and during his life in North Korea. Even though the escape was not that heroic, the author's life was already miserable enough there. It made my blood boil.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicide

Minor: War and Gun violence