A Thousand Miles to Freedom - My Escape from North Korea

This is well written, poignant memoir that would be a fabulous choice for a book club. The time spent reading is small and you can fly through the book because it is so interesting. It would inspire great discussions and bring a clarifying insight to life in North Korea.

When I hear Americans say they want socialism in their country, it makes me shudder. If one reads this book, they will see the atrocities committed against mankind through the workings of a socialist regime. The trails and tribulation this woman and her family suffered at its hand makes your heart weep with sadness. And even through all, she has endured and now helps other. Her story is one that allows you to realize how good you have it. A must read.

At first glance, this is a heartbreaking story about a young girl and her (along with her mother and sister) desperate bid for freedom from the "Socialist Utopia" that is North Korea under Kim Jong Un. True, the life of 12 year-old Eunsun is horrible by any standard of measurement. She watches her grandparents, and then her father die from malnourishment. Then she nearly dies from hunger herself when her mother and sister leave for several days to try and find food in a neighboring town. Finally, with no other option than to watch her daughters starve, Eunsun's mother decides to try and escape to South Korea. She literally has nothing left to lose except her life, which is already forfeit if she stays in North Korea.

However, as you get further into the story you begin to marvel at how time and again, Eunsun, her sister, and especially her fiercely determined and very resourceful mother escape catastrophe after catastrophe, nightmare after nightmare, and dangers that most people can't even imagine. These include sleeping on the streets in winter with ZERO resources, being sold into human slavery by fake friends, being captured TWICE and sent back to face the North Korean guards, falling into frozen rivers, getting savagely beaten repeatedly, crossing the desert on foot, fleeing from border guards from 3 different countries, making their way through China and then Mongolia to their eventual destination of South Korea (a 9 year pilgrimage), trusting their lives to smugglers,and many others.

Eunsun, her mother and sister all rise up repeatedly in the face of the harshest conditions. They can not and will not be kept down. They refuse to give in, and accept defeat. It is sheer determination on a staggering scale. The incredible juxtaposition here is that you get a first row viewing of the horrible things humans can do to each other, but also to the highest and loftiest attributes of humanity. As horrible as North Korea is, and as hard as it is for them to believe what they have to endure, they struggle to comprehend the incredible generosity and wealth presented to them in South Korea. Eunsun also demonstrates an unerring focus on getting an education, despite the loss of 9 years of schooling during her most formative years.

Overall, the book is very easy to read, and goes quickly. I did find it to be awkwardly worded at times. Other times, I wasn't sure if it was simply a bad translation, or a typo. For these reasons, I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5. However, take the semantics out of it, and the story is definitely 5 stars.

Age appropriate reading level in my opinion is 7th grade - adulthood. Younger students could understand the language easily enough, but the themes are pretty mature, even if described in delicate terms.

An honest and interesing account of just how difficult life is for North Koreans. Made me thankful I wasn't born in a country without virtually any freedom. You realize just how indoctrinated these people are. The author was very gritty and determined to finally reach South Korea. A great read.

Another incredible story of escape from the disgraceful Kim's and their ilk slowly strangling the people of North Korea. I too hope one day to see the embarassment that is the government on NK fall. This book is testament to the strength of the ordinary people of North Korea. One day you will rise!

After reading The Girl With Seven Names, this book was disappointing. There are very few, if any, details about life in North Korea, and even fewer about the journey to freedom. This author barely scratches the surface of the things I believe the rest of the world wants to hear. Don't waste your time or money on this book.

The book discusses a very important topic and my rating doesn't concern the information in it. The one-star rating is the result of the poor writing, the poor editing and the redundancies in the book. There's virtually no character development. The writer is guilty of telling rather than showing. The vocab and the writing style are typical of a high school student rather than an accomplished book author. I wouldn't recommend.

"A Thousand Miles to Freedom: MY Escape From North Korea" (original publication in France in 2012 under the title 'Coree du Nord - 9 ans pur fuir l'enfer'; 2015 release in the US; 240 pages) brings the extraordinary tale of how the author Eunsun Kim and her mother and sister fled from North Korea in the late 90s, driven by famine and fear of death. As the book opens, we are in 1997 when the then 11 yr. old author is waiting for her mom and sister to return from a desperate trip to find some, any, food. The author then shares with us what life in North Korea really was like for a young girl. "At seven o'clock sharp, we marched to school row by row, class by class, all while singing songs in praise of our country's leaders."

One of the striking themes of this book is how utterly isolated and uninformed the North Korean people really are. When Kim Il-sung dies in 1994, "I truly did believe that the skies were crying from despair. I know now, of course, that the downpours were because we were in the middle of monsoon season. There was no reason for me not to believe. Even the adults had no outside information with which to compare what we were learning in school and on TV." With 20/20 hindsight, the author now knows the reality" "The Kims are not our loving fathers, but are ruthless tyrants." And then this observation: "My people are completely isolated in a closed-off world. They cannot be blamed if they don't revolt, because they don't know how to form their own opinions and they don't fully understand the true scope of their misfortune", wow.

Aside from the big picture politics, this book is most of all an astonishing testament to the human's will to survive. I will not go into the details of how the author and her family overcame adversity time and again, you'll just have to read it for yourself, But I guarantee that you will be nothing short of amazed, and impressed. I have no idea why it has taken so long for this book to be published in the US, since it's been out for years elsewhere, but better late than never. I wish the author and her family (all of them now live in South Korea) nothing but the very best as they continue building a new life. Meanwhile, "A Thousand Miles to Freedom" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!