3.7 out of 4 stars.
“One man’s remarkable odyssey from North Korea to freedom in the west”.
It is extremely important to be in touch with what is going on in the world. No matter how much it is not apart of our everyday life it is imperative that we at least know where and when the US can help countries that are struggling. Knowing that we are thousands of miles away from North Korea is no excuse for me to be clueless of the demise taking place there under Kim Jong-un. However, one can believe how shocked I was to find that people in South Korea turn an eye to it and they don’t have that same geographic argument on their side. Shocking!
This book is a memoir based on Shin Dong-hyuk who was born in the political prisons of North Korea and managed to escape. He is with a handful of other people who managed to accomplish this even though there are approximately 200,000 held captive. Yes, people are getting killed left and right in these camps AND it has been going on for 12 times longer than the nazi concentration prisons.
Although this story is small in size (roughly 200 pages) it is jam packed with insight into the shocking events taking place in North Korea right now. I am ashamed to say that I had no idea how long this has been going on for and how dangerous it actually has been.
I am sure like many, I heard about North Korea in the news when Dennis Rodman (a bizarre basketball player) took on a friendship with Kim Jong-un, a man part of the family that is to blame for ruining this country. Of course, Rodman is allowed his own opinions but he has only visited the country 10 or so times since 2013 and he is trying to say that it is an up and coming great place to live and visit. Find out more of what he thinks here.
For every step Shin Dong-hyuk takes to raise awareness for these camps we have someone like Rodman sweeping it under the rug.
I believe the topic of North Korea is still a very much of a current issue. This book was published in 2012 and dedicated to all the North Koreans that are STILL in these camps.
This book helped to open my eyes and I hope by doing this book review it will help spread the idea that we need to read up more on this topic.
