Born and raised in a North Korean prison camp, Shin Dong-hyuk knows only what decades of indoctrination and back-breaking labor have taught him. His mother is more of a rival than a family member. Other prisoners exist in order to be snitched on. The outside world barely exists.
Despite this, after twenty years of starvation, torture and ignorance, there’s a desire for something more. Eventually, Shin escapes, bringing with him the first comprehensive account of life inside the world’s most secretive gulag system.
Korea watchers have questioned some details of Shin’s story, and Harden himself suspects Shin is loose with the truth at times, but the bulk of the story is generally agreed to be accurate (and, in fact, understated in places). This is a gripping story about the triumph of the will—and a mini-education on just how warped the Hermit Kingdom really is. Reviewed on Nov. 4, 2021