Escape from Camp 14
One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
Ratings57
Average rating3.9
15
One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
Ratings57
Average rating3.9
The heartwrenching New York Times bestseller about the only known person born inside a North Korean prison camp to have escaped
North Korea’s political prison camps have existed twice as long as Stalin’s Soviet gulags and twelve times as long as the Nazi concentration camps. No one born and raised in these camps is known to have escaped. No one, that is, except Shin Dong-hyuk.
In Escape From Camp 14, Blaine Harden unlocks the secrets of the world’s most repressive totalitarian state through the story of Shin’s shocking imprisonment and his astounding getaway. Shin knew nothing of civilized existence—he saw his mother as a competitor for food, guards raised him to be a snitch, and he witnessed the execution of his mother and brother.
The late “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il was recognized throughout the world, but his country remains sealed as his third son and chosen heir, Kim Jong Eun, consolidates power. Few foreigners are allowed in, and few North Koreans are able to leave. North Korea is hungry, bankrupt, and armed with nuclear weapons. It is also a human rights catastrophe. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people work as slaves in its political prison camps. These camps are clearly visible in satellite photographs, yet North Korea’s government denies they exist.
Harden’s harrowing narrative exposes this hidden dystopia, focusing on an extraordinary young man who came of age inside the highest security prison in the highest security state. Escape from Camp 14 offers an unequalled inside account of one of the world’s darkest nations. It is a tale of endurance and courage, survival and hope.
Reviews with the most likes.
I find it really hard to review this book. I loved this book when I read it. It was my favorite book for the longest time because of how powerful it was and I was recommending it to everyone to shed some light on the atrocities committed in North Korean prison camps. However, now, after knowing that large elements of Donghyuk's story was fabricated and altered.... I don't know how to feel. What he experienced was inhumane and terrible for sure, but.. knowing now that he lied changes how I feel about it. I have the original 2012 printing and read it not long after it's original release, so I feel like if I'm going to reread this book, I will have to get the new 2015 printing to due to the revisions Blaine Harden has made since my initial read.
I would give it 4.5 stars if not for Shin Dong-hyuk admitting that he had fabricated details for the book. With that in mind, it is still a worthy read.
We are introduced to Shin Dong-hyuk at the execution of his mother and older brother. By the second chapter a six year old girl is beaten to death at the camp school for the crime of stealing 5 kernels of corn. It's tough slogging here as Blaine Harden profiles the only know person to have been born in a total control zone camp (in this case Camp 14 considered one of the harshest) and escaped. North Korea's labour camps hold between 150,000 and 200,000 prisoners and have existed for twice as long as the Soviet gulags and 12 times longer than Nazi concentration camps.
Shin's life outside North Korea has proven no less challenging. Being raised in that environment leaves Shin suspicious of others, aping the human emotions expected of him. He's still looking for footing in a world completely foreign to him and once again raises the spectre of how a reunified Korea could ever hope to reintegrate such a starkly divided nation.
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