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Ishmael Seaward'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
by Blaine Harden
by Blaine Harden
This book is not amazing; it is horrific. It is the story of a man (Shin Dong-hyuk) who was born in a prison camp and sentenced to live out his life there, because his parents had attempted escape from North Korea. Life expectancy was about 40 years, maybe less. There are 5 of these camps, holding between 150,000 and 200,000 people total; this is slightly less than 1% of the population. North Korean is literally consuming its population to feed the military. The camp prisoners sew uniforms and raise food to feed the military. Meanwhile the prisoners augment their rations by stealing food and eating rats; they get two changes of clothes per year; no underwear, no sanitary knapkins, no bathing, no soap, but they do get open latrines.
Shin was raised without any affection, separated from his family and raised by the guards. Prisoners are required to inform on everyone perceived as violating a rule; failure to do so was immediate execution. His first memory is an execution. Ten years later he witnessed a similar execution, of his mother and brother. One of his classmates is beaten to death by the guard/teacher for having 5 grains of corn hidden in one of her pockets.
He meets an older man when they share an underground prison cell. He tells Shin a bit about the outside world, describing the food, among other things. This provides Shin his motivation to escape from the camp: He wants to eat meat. Meat is so scarce in the camp that everyone is malnourished; rats are a welcome source of meat. He doesn't know what freedom is, but he does know what meat is.
Shin finally makes it to the US, but has great difficulty making the adjustment. He trusts no-one, cannot hold a job for very long, and has a long-lasting sense of betrayal. These feelings are typical of other North Koreans who make it to South Korea and other open societies.
Blaine Harden is a reporter, and Shin's story is told in a straight forward manner, occasionally interspersed with relevant facts about NK and experiences of other defectors that corroborate Shin's story.
Another book that provides excellent insight into NK is: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives of North Koreans, by Barbara Demick
Shin was raised without any affection, separated from his family and raised by the guards. Prisoners are required to inform on everyone perceived as violating a rule; failure to do so was immediate execution. His first memory is an execution. Ten years later he witnessed a similar execution, of his mother and brother. One of his classmates is beaten to death by the guard/teacher for having 5 grains of corn hidden in one of her pockets.
He meets an older man when they share an underground prison cell. He tells Shin a bit about the outside world, describing the food, among other things. This provides Shin his motivation to escape from the camp: He wants to eat meat. Meat is so scarce in the camp that everyone is malnourished; rats are a welcome source of meat. He doesn't know what freedom is, but he does know what meat is.
Shin finally makes it to the US, but has great difficulty making the adjustment. He trusts no-one, cannot hold a job for very long, and has a long-lasting sense of betrayal. These feelings are typical of other North Koreans who make it to South Korea and other open societies.
Blaine Harden is a reporter, and Shin's story is told in a straight forward manner, occasionally interspersed with relevant facts about NK and experiences of other defectors that corroborate Shin's story.
Another book that provides excellent insight into NK is: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives of North Koreans, by Barbara Demick
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