Escape from Camp 14 [Kindle Edition]

"Escape From Camp 14:One Man's Remarkable Oyssey from North Korea To Freedom In The West" is a harrowing real life
story about the "life" of Shin Dong-Hyuak,born in a North Korean prison camp and to say life,there is inhuman is a gross understatment.

The author,Blaine Harden is very honest,this isn't escape,then life is wonderful type of book,Harden is honest that Shin had struggled with freedom since escaping to the West but when one reads about a life of beatings,murders,rape and "snitching" to survive or to gain extra food,to prevent starvation,life where people are treated like human beings,must be like an alien world to Shin.

I found myself feeling ashamed that North Korea,is really only talked about in the West,when they do a nuclear test or some other type of saber waving,the really depressing thing is human rights are still being abused there,at this moment in time.

The one thing I hope more than anything is that Shin's story helps increase the pressure,on North Korea,to radically improve their human rights,or,at the very least,to give them even more bad press coverage in the world.

I've read most of the recent books about North Korea; both those by scholars and those by escapees. This one, written by a journalist, Blaine Harden, is excellent. It brings to life the terrible reality of life in one of North Korea's many Gulags that exist today. And, what is even more shocking, it reveals the life of a young man actually born inside the Gulag who lived the first twenty-six years within a prison. His story makes compelling reading if only because it is a modern-day horror story the world seems unwilling to hear. After sixty years of this totally repressive regime North Korea is now home to several generations of starving, psychologically maladjusted and physically weakened people. Is it any wonder that neither South Korea nor China wants the regime to collapse? The few that have escaped to South Korea and who remain there or move on to another country, such as the United States are totally unprepared to live in our contemporary world and find the adjustment process extremely difficult. Surely this tale of a young man who has endured what few of us can even begin to imagine will urge our politicians that much more must be done to deal with this tragic country. The damage done to the North Koreans is almost worse than anywhere else on earth simply because the situation is so unknown by the outside world. Why do so few care about North Korea? Why is there no urgency in our petitions to politicians and NGOs over the on-going situation in North Korea? I can only hope that more and more people will read this book and be moved to do something to address this terrible situation.

I was very keen to read this book, as the story is unique - the tale of a man born inside a North Korean labour camp, as opposed to being sent there, who then successfully escaped. However, I was disappointed. The author stresses how he interviewed the subject for many, many hours - and yet the story is so thin, padded out with context taken from other books on the subject. I have thought that maybe I've read too many books on North Korea, and perhaps had a skewed view as everything seemed familiar. So, after finishing this book I revisited Hyok Kang's 'This is Paradise!' and once again, found it a profoundly disturbing read. I just feel Escape from Camp 14 was not very well done and having purchased the hardback, the large font helps fill what is not a particularly long read. It's still interesting, and it's a very tragic story - but so average in execution. If you're still going to buy this book, please read other books for comparison - This is Paradise, The Aquariums of Pyongjang, and most importantly, Nothing to Envy. These books give far greater insight and context on life in North Korea in my opinion.