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_askthebookbug 's review for:
A Thousand Miles to Freedom: My Escape from North Korea
by Eunsun Kim, Sébastien Falletti
• r e v i e w •
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When I imagine hell on earth, I think of North Korea. Even though it's cut off from the rest of the world, defectors have made it abundantly clear about how brutal their lives were back in NK. It's shocking how ruthlessly the Kims have been treating their people for many decades now. Few of the defectors still live in fear, unwilling to show their faces and changing the names of the characters in their books. They preferred to challenge death while escaping rather than facing it intermittently at the hands of the Kims. To me, the best memoir of a defector is still A River In Darkness by Masaji Ishigawa but A Thousand Miles to Freedom does a good job in making the readers understand how dangerous their lives were in NK and how even today, millions of others living within the walls of that country are trying to escape from the inhumane regime.
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During the great famine of NK back in the 1990s, Eunsun Kim witnesses the death of her father and grandparents. People stole from their neighbour's farms, scoured the mountains for roots and eventually traded everything they had at home in the black market for a fistful of rice. Eunsun recalls her life before the famine where she even got to watch movies in the theatre, enjoy a bowl of cold noodles and live a comfortable life but it all changed around 1995. Eunsun's mother decides to leave behind NK after the death of her husband, and hence, with two children in tow, she escapes to China through Tumen river. It is only after reaching China that Eunsun realises how poor her country truly is. Every lesson that was taught to her people about the Kims's greatness was nothing but a facade. Upon reaching China, they roam around aimlessly in search of food and shelter. The fear of being discovered by the Chinese police looms over their heads for many years to come.
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Eunsun's family attains freedom nine years after their escape from NK. Their lives after leaving behind NK, gets worse in China. More than half of the book focuses on their survival in China than in NK and perhaps this was why I couldn't give it full stars. Eunsun now lives in South Korea, with her mother and sister but the horrors of her previous country still comes back to haunt her at times. After living almost a decade in running, fearing the police and the people she encountered in China, Eunsun has now found a place to call her own. A Thousand Miles to Freedom, is a daunting read, one that many other defectors have already lived. It's painful to realise how so many people are still living under the Kims with little or no hope of ever leaving that wretched country. While many of the North Koreans are willing to escape, it is shocking to witness how most of the population still considers their country to be the richest and greatest. Their ability of brainwashing the citizens right from their childhood is truly a merciless thing to do. Eunsun's story as narrated in this memoir is no doubt very inspiring but it fell short on many levels. Perhaps it was the translation which wasn't very impressive or maybe it was how the book focused more on her life in China than in NK.
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I would still recommend this memoir so that one can read and understand the courage and strength it takes to escape from the jaws of death. Eunsun's story is inspiring and with every NK defector's story that I read, I find relief in knowing that there's at least someone who has tasted freedom.
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Rating : 4.4/5.
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When I imagine hell on earth, I think of North Korea. Even though it's cut off from the rest of the world, defectors have made it abundantly clear about how brutal their lives were back in NK. It's shocking how ruthlessly the Kims have been treating their people for many decades now. Few of the defectors still live in fear, unwilling to show their faces and changing the names of the characters in their books. They preferred to challenge death while escaping rather than facing it intermittently at the hands of the Kims. To me, the best memoir of a defector is still A River In Darkness by Masaji Ishigawa but A Thousand Miles to Freedom does a good job in making the readers understand how dangerous their lives were in NK and how even today, millions of others living within the walls of that country are trying to escape from the inhumane regime.
.
During the great famine of NK back in the 1990s, Eunsun Kim witnesses the death of her father and grandparents. People stole from their neighbour's farms, scoured the mountains for roots and eventually traded everything they had at home in the black market for a fistful of rice. Eunsun recalls her life before the famine where she even got to watch movies in the theatre, enjoy a bowl of cold noodles and live a comfortable life but it all changed around 1995. Eunsun's mother decides to leave behind NK after the death of her husband, and hence, with two children in tow, she escapes to China through Tumen river. It is only after reaching China that Eunsun realises how poor her country truly is. Every lesson that was taught to her people about the Kims's greatness was nothing but a facade. Upon reaching China, they roam around aimlessly in search of food and shelter. The fear of being discovered by the Chinese police looms over their heads for many years to come.
.
Eunsun's family attains freedom nine years after their escape from NK. Their lives after leaving behind NK, gets worse in China. More than half of the book focuses on their survival in China than in NK and perhaps this was why I couldn't give it full stars. Eunsun now lives in South Korea, with her mother and sister but the horrors of her previous country still comes back to haunt her at times. After living almost a decade in running, fearing the police and the people she encountered in China, Eunsun has now found a place to call her own. A Thousand Miles to Freedom, is a daunting read, one that many other defectors have already lived. It's painful to realise how so many people are still living under the Kims with little or no hope of ever leaving that wretched country. While many of the North Koreans are willing to escape, it is shocking to witness how most of the population still considers their country to be the richest and greatest. Their ability of brainwashing the citizens right from their childhood is truly a merciless thing to do. Eunsun's story as narrated in this memoir is no doubt very inspiring but it fell short on many levels. Perhaps it was the translation which wasn't very impressive or maybe it was how the book focused more on her life in China than in NK.
.
I would still recommend this memoir so that one can read and understand the courage and strength it takes to escape from the jaws of death. Eunsun's story is inspiring and with every NK defector's story that I read, I find relief in knowing that there's at least someone who has tasted freedom.
.
Rating : 4.4/5.