I recently re-read this book for a work book club (my suggestion) and so I thought this would be a great time to share my thoughts on it.
Yeonmi Park was born in 1993 and raised in North Korea by her family (mother, father and older sister). Her story takes us through her life as her family try to survive this harshly dictated country. It starts with the history of how Korea became a 'North' and a 'South' and informs us of the way the previous 'Supreme Leader' Kim Jong-il created his ruling and in turn how Kim Jong-Un has chosen to continue this regime with the Kim family clearly reaping the benefits at the expense of its citizens.
Without going into too much detail it is clear that this country has kept itself private for a reason, it is the best way to retain control. They are limited in what they have access to and the jobs they can have depending on their 'status' within the country, and are punished for owning items such as films, music etc that come from overseas. Children at a young age are even taught the leaders can read their thoughts and can be punished for anything thought against them.
When it comes to politics I put my hands up and say that I know very little, however after reading this book it made me want to learn more about what is currently happening in the world. I found it fascinating that Yeonmi Park was born the same year as my younger brother. At the age of 5 she and her older sister were having to take care of themselves with a bag of rice as their only source of food, while their mother worked away and their father was in a prison camp. His current job was illegal; he was a trader of metals and the like. Meanwhile I was safe at home, eating my way through the kitchen cupboards while constantly complaining I was hungry, my brother was playing video games to his hearts content.
Its incredible to believe that these two lives were happening at the same time, and the worst part of it was that the Park family had no idea people outside North Korea lived any differently to them. They believed they were lucky. They were lucky to have such wise and powerful leaders. They were lucky they were alive while neighbours were executed in the street for owning DVDs. And to think this could still be happening to this day is shocking.
And this is only the first part of the book... The life Yeonmi lives as she tries to escape North Korea through China is even more harrowing. With the help of her mother (her sister had already disappeared trying to escape and her father was too ill to travel) they made it to China where more horrors awaited them.
This is why I chose this book for my book club and also why I was happy to re-read. This incredible story is told from Yeonmi's point of view. The writing can be quite childlike at times. Imagine a child telling a story, the language is basic and there is little show of empathy during traumatic moments. After discussing with my book club we came up with many reasons as to why this could be: Yeonmi was not properly educated as a child as she explained in her book, there was an obvious language barrier, also North Koreans were raised to show only love of their supreme leader and emotions of any other kind were not spoken of. Personally I think the North Korean regime played a huge factor in the telling of this story, and personally for me I preferred it. It felt even more real. This is not a story to feel sad about, this is a story to be aware of.
I follow Yeonmi on social media and her message is clear. 'North Korea is an unimaginable country'. She is sharing her message in order to educate. And this book does this.
Please do pick up this book, its informative and shocking and this message should be passed on.
In addition feel free to check out Yeonmi's speech in English (please note spoilers)
In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park
Pages - 273
Goodreads rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
