Reconsidering My Views

A couple of posts back (here) I discussed a quick book review and excerpt from Escape for Camp 14, the story of an inmates escape from a North Korean prison camp. At the time I decided it might not be worthwhile to read. Although I am incredibly intrigued by the subject matter, the writing didn't really speak to me. This review (here) may have just changed my opinion.



This review has once again shown me that it might not matter whether the writing pulls me in or not, it is such an engaging subject matter, such a view of a dystopian, unbelievable society, that it might be impossible for a "Nork-o-phile" like myself to avoid it. It's not that I think his relationship with his mother, who he saw "not as a source of affection but as a competitor for the limited amount of food that was available to them," nor do I particularly want to read about how he was tortured and beaten during his interrogation after his mother and older brother tried to escape, (by the way, in what is another stunning revelation, he didn't mourn their eventual hanging, but blamed them for the pain he suffered during his interrogation). It's the fact that such places exist in the world that I find amazing. Doubly amazing . . . the fact that he eventually got out.

It's on my reading list now.