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Melinda Worfolk's Reviews > Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
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4.5 stars.
This is an incredibly gripping book. While I was reading it, I was so immersed in the story that it took a while to come back to the real world.
I am glad I read Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy before reading this, because I already knew how bad the situation is for ordinary citizens in North Korea, and it was all the more powerful to realize that there are people who live even worse lives in the country's prison camps.
This is the story of Shin Dong-hyuk, a young man born and raised in a North Korean prison camp. Through sheer luck, he managed to escape to South Korea and the US. Reading about his experiences as a child and a young adult, I felt as though I were reading a dystopian work of fiction--except these prison camps really do exist.
Blaine Harden's writing is spare and relatively unsentimental, which suits the subject matter. Although its tone is quite matter-of-fact, it is not unsympathetic, and the condemnation of North Korea's human rights abuses certainly comes across. Shin is a hard person to like--he was raised to be an informant on his family and friends, and he was responsible for some brutal violence. But in the context of the world he was raised in, it is completely understandable. I had to feel sorry for him as he slowly realized that the way he grew up was not normal, and he had to deal with the horrific things he had done.
My main criticism of the book is that it is not long enough. I would have liked to read more about Shin's experiences in the Hanawon (resettlement centres in South Korea where North Korean refugees learn to adjust to life in the outside world), for example. But this is a very minor gripe.
Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in North Korea, who is not put off by graphic details and brutal descriptions. I would not say I enjoyed this, but I thought it was well worth reading.
This is an incredibly gripping book. While I was reading it, I was so immersed in the story that it took a while to come back to the real world.
I am glad I read Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy before reading this, because I already knew how bad the situation is for ordinary citizens in North Korea, and it was all the more powerful to realize that there are people who live even worse lives in the country's prison camps.
This is the story of Shin Dong-hyuk, a young man born and raised in a North Korean prison camp. Through sheer luck, he managed to escape to South Korea and the US. Reading about his experiences as a child and a young adult, I felt as though I were reading a dystopian work of fiction--except these prison camps really do exist.
Blaine Harden's writing is spare and relatively unsentimental, which suits the subject matter. Although its tone is quite matter-of-fact, it is not unsympathetic, and the condemnation of North Korea's human rights abuses certainly comes across. Shin is a hard person to like--he was raised to be an informant on his family and friends, and he was responsible for some brutal violence. But in the context of the world he was raised in, it is completely understandable. I had to feel sorry for him as he slowly realized that the way he grew up was not normal, and he had to deal with the horrific things he had done.
My main criticism of the book is that it is not long enough. I would have liked to read more about Shin's experiences in the Hanawon (resettlement centres in South Korea where North Korean refugees learn to adjust to life in the outside world), for example. But this is a very minor gripe.
Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in North Korea, who is not put off by graphic details and brutal descriptions. I would not say I enjoyed this, but I thought it was well worth reading.
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Escape from Camp 14.
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Reading Progress
January 24, 2013
–
Started Reading
January 24, 2013
– Shelved
January 26, 2013
– Shelved as:
non-fiction
January 26, 2013
– Shelved as:
memoir
January 26, 2013
–
Finished Reading
February 29, 2020
– Shelved as:
2010-2014
Comments Showing 1-4 of 4 (4 new)
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EV
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Jan 31, 2013 12:40PM
Would you suggest Demick as a starting point then?
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Yes, definitely! I would suggest you read Demick's book first--it gives so much good background. Also, even though I thought Escape From Camp 14 was good, I thought Nothing to Envy was better. If you like NTE, then definitely this would be a worthwhile followup! By the way, I borrowed Nothing to Envy from the PG Public Library--they have a copy at Nechako.
I did read "Nothing to Envy" and enjoyed it. I'm reluctant to read "Camp 14" because I have a phobia of death, it's why I dropped "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" like a hot potato - if you've read the book, you'll probably know where I stopped. At the same time, I'm still curious, could someone with my fear read something like this?
I've never read The Aquariums of Pyongyang, so I'm not sure how this would compare. To be completely honest, I think if you have a phobia of death I would not recommend you read this--it is extremely brutal at times. It's never done lightly or flippantly, but the descriptions of torture and killing really go into a distressing amount of detail. I can't stress enough that the book never glosses over the grim details. It's much more graphic in its descriptions of suffering and death than Nothing to Envy (and that wasn't exactly light-and-happy!). I'm reluctant to tell people not to read good books, but...given your explanation of your fear, I don't think I'd recommend you read it.
I hope that's helpful!
