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kinosthesia's review against another edition
4.0
That this is happening in this day and age is shocking enough without the added angle that its being ignored for the most part by the est of the world. I don't think any account of what is gone through in the camps can impress exactly how hard life is North of the DMZ, but this book, with its back history of journeys from Japan and some of the history of those who came to to the North in Idealism, comes pretty close. Everyone should read this account, any account in fact as these are the accounts of the few that have escaped and a reminder of the thousands left behind.
sevenlefts's review against another edition
4.0
A friend happened to be reading this while I was reading Nothing to Envy, and recommended Aquariums of Pyongyang to me.
As with one of the people whose story is told in Nothing to Envy, Kang's family is part of the Chosen Soren -- Korean residents of Japan who are sympathetic with North Korea. As a relatively well-off member of North Korean society, his childhood seems rather idyllic until the arrest of his grandfather and the internment of many of his family members in the Yodok camp system.
From the age of 9 to 19, Kang manages to survive the horrors of living in this system, surviving hunger, disease, brutality, cold through shear will. It's an amazing story. I found the part of the book that dealt with his internment more compelling than the story of his life after release and after his escape to the south.
It was interesting to compare his story with those of the interviewees in Nothing to Envy. Kang got out in the early 90s, before the famine in North Korea was at its worst. Yet as a camp resident, it's almost as if he went through the horror that the rest of the country experienced, only ten years earlier.
As with one of the people whose story is told in Nothing to Envy, Kang's family is part of the Chosen Soren -- Korean residents of Japan who are sympathetic with North Korea. As a relatively well-off member of North Korean society, his childhood seems rather idyllic until the arrest of his grandfather and the internment of many of his family members in the Yodok camp system.
From the age of 9 to 19, Kang manages to survive the horrors of living in this system, surviving hunger, disease, brutality, cold through shear will. It's an amazing story. I found the part of the book that dealt with his internment more compelling than the story of his life after release and after his escape to the south.
It was interesting to compare his story with those of the interviewees in Nothing to Envy. Kang got out in the early 90s, before the famine in North Korea was at its worst. Yet as a camp resident, it's almost as if he went through the horror that the rest of the country experienced, only ten years earlier.
honestbiscotti's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
sirreadsalots's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
An excellent book that warns of the dangers of any kind of authoritarianism.
dilchh's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, don't get me wrong. A two star does not mean this was not a good book. It's a good book actually but for me personally it was just OK. I'm a big fan of history and memoirs, so I was happy when I found this book while I was in Singapore. I went as far as using all that is left of my SGD to purchase this book only to read it a year later (because I was caught on other books, bad habit, I know).
So anyway, the book is great. But I just can't seem to enjoy the way the story flows (might be the translation? I'm not sure)
So anyway, the book is great. But I just can't seem to enjoy the way the story flows (might be the translation? I'm not sure)