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Review
An engrossing picture of a nation that remains closed to the world, aptly described as the "Jurasic Park of communism'' (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY )
This is an extraordinary story: a simple, yet luminous, account of what it means to grow up in one of the world's little known and most oppressive dictatorships. This North Korean Harry Potter has the evils of tyranny to contend with and escape is the ha (Lisa Appignanesi )
This is a rare and precious insight into the most obscure regime on earth through the startled and observant eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy who not only escaped but survived to tell this harrowing yet intriguing tale. The most penetrating account of life in North Korea I have ever read (Jon Snow )
Kang recounts his life with the kind of deadpan detail that is all the more powerful for its quiet understatement . . . His capacity as a storyteller turns out to be masterly . . . The result is a small jewel of a book, one that moves you with compassion (MAIL ON SUNDAY )
This is an extraordinary story: a simple, yet luminous, account of what it means to grow up in one of the world's little known and most oppressive dictatorships. This North Korean Harry Potter has the evils of tyranny to contend with and escape is the ha (Lisa Appignanesi )
This is a rare and precious insight into the most obscure regime on earth through the startled and observant eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy who not only escaped but survived to tell this harrowing yet intriguing tale. The most penetrating account of life in North Korea I have ever read (Jon Snow )
Kang recounts his life with the kind of deadpan detail that is all the more powerful for its quiet understatement . . . His capacity as a storyteller turns out to be masterly . . . The result is a small jewel of a book, one that moves you with compassion (MAIL ON SUNDAY )
Book Description
A fascinating account and expose of the hardships suffered in North Korea under the regime of Kim Jong-il
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A brilliant book for those wanting to learn just a little more about life under King Jong-Il. From loudspeakers in every house to pictures of the two leaders on every wall you look, North Korea is proven to be more strange that you could have ever imagined. Hyok describes, accompanied by fabulous drawings, how daily life is like for people (and believe me it definitely isn't easy) and how he, along with his family, dramatically escaped. Well worth a read!!
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you want a first-hand account (albeit pieced together with the help of a journalist) of life growing up in one of the world's last and evidently most paranoid totalitarian states, this book evokes the daily grinding hardships of hunger and fear through the eyes of a child. Interspersed with accounts of how the rest of his family and friends deal with the worsening food crises of the late 1990s, it build a picture of a society ground down in the face of the relentless, irrational demands of juche (self-sufficiency). Although the boy makes good his escape from North Korea, the overwhelming misery of a wasted childhood hangs long after.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I started this book in the morning and completed it at about 12.10am the next day. It was so compelling that I was literally unable to stop reading it, (I did pause a few times to feed the kids and such like). As the events of Hyok Kang's life, the famine that claimed many of his friends, his father's imprisonment, their escape to China and then South Korea my anger that the North Korean regime would do this to their population grew and grew. The book is written in a detached matter of fact style, almost naive in places. Possibly this is a result of the translation from Korean to French to English, but this does give the events even more impact.
I hope that in the near future stories like this will be history rather than current events.
I hope that in the near future stories like this will be history rather than current events.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
my north korean childhood
An amazing insight into real life in North Korea. I couldn't put this book down until I had finished it!
Published 1 month ago by A.Non
North Korea is a horrible place
Whilst I have read much about N Korea this book, written from the perspective of a young boy, is chilling. Read more
Published 2 months ago by nicholas
Interesting subject but not very engaging or detailed
A first person account of how life was in North Korea for one boy, so inevitably he does not describe the regime, politics or structure of the country. Read more
Published 2 months ago by CharleyBear
Excellent look into North Korean childhood
I have read numerous books now on North Korea and this rates as highly as the rest. I can easily recommend you buy it. I took it on holiday and went through it in a day.
Published 16 months ago by Dysonsphere
North Korea is a scarey place
I chose this book as I had previously read a book on North Korea and was keen to find out more. This book is written from the perspective of a young person who eventually manages... Read more
Published 19 months ago by C. Helsdon
An interesting read
With little else available about this most insular of countries, Kang's recollection of his early life in Korea makes a good read. Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2009 by Mr. J. J. Percival
Good, but short
This is a good introduction to life as a child in North Korea. It's not as authoritative as Aquariums of Pyongyang which I have also read, but it is very easy and quick to read. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2009 by James Bond
Easily read, personal story of a childhood in North Korea
"This is Paradise" is Hyok's story of his childhood in North Korea, told in the clarity of hindsight and with the assistance of a co-author. Does this devaluate the memoires? Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2009 by Louise Amkaer
Magnificent
Its a page turner, easy read and at the same time a magnificent historical account of a world that is otherwised closed to us. Well written too.
Published on 17 July 2009 by Perry Groves
north korea
It is difficult to determine how much of this book is based on the recollections of Hyok Kang-the subject portrayed- or on the imagination of the author. Read more
Published on 6 May 2009 by G. I. Forbes
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