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 enlarge | Authors: Chol-hwan Kang, Pierre Rigoulot
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: EBooks
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $6.96 (41%)
Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 9884
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Dewey Decimal Number: 230
ASIN: B0017ZM3S4
Publication Date: September 13, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Chilling Story, Compellingly Told June 16, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Abject stories of horror are difficult to take in. We sometimes turn aside when reading the horror because our minds find it hard to digest the bleak facts.
While this book is filled with horrors -- families torn asunder, abuse of pregnant women, torture by prison guards, among many other recountings -- the story is still told with humanity and grace, and ultimately ends with hope, if not happiness.
The story of such regimes as North Korea must be told. And because we are inclined to forget, the story must be told over and over, so that we are not fooled by the lies of the North, the excuses made by the North's apologists, and the occasional public smiles of Kim Jong-il.
This is a well-written, engaging story. I don't easily rate an item with 5 stars, but this deserves the 5 and more.
A sobering reality of North Korean gulag. June 7, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A story about how things went from good to bad, and ultimately the worst in North Korea right after their war of independence. A truly evil government is exposed in this book. All governments on earth are evil one way or the other, but the North Korean one is one of those that take home the evilness trophies.
Sometime things are difficult to believe because they are so true May 27, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one of the few books that I was compelled to read through in one sitting. His personal accounts of the life in Yoduk concentration camp are vivid and almost too surreal to believe. Sadly the story didn't end with his release from Yoduk concentration camp or his subsequent flight to South Korea via China. There are still millions people suffering in various prison camps. In fact, the entire state of North Korea is a big prison camp.
The worst part of the reality is that there are still people (though minority) who sympathize with North Korean regime. Unbelievably, there are still some people in the world who either idealize the North Korean government or help sustain the current regime. This book should help dispell any illusions associated with North Korea and compel us to help the suffering people there.
Chilling, but Uplifting May 23, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read Mr. Chol-Hwan's story late last year. Recently, I was discussing NK with someone and I recommended this book. President Bush has been pilloried by many on the left for his labeling of this evil regime as part of the "Axis of Evil"---and trust me, when you read Mr. Chol-Hwan's account, you will agree. What I find most curious about those who criticized the president, is their almost universal regard for similar dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela---dictators cut from the same Leninist-Stalinist cloth.
Mr. Chol-Hwan's suffering, and the suffering of his family should not be ignored, nor should his steadfast determination to desire and ultimately achieve freedom.
A little reality goes a long way---there is evil in this world, much as the left would have us believe otherwise---and Mr. Chol-Hwan's account serves to place an exclamation point on the notion. A must read, highly recommended.
"Aquariums of Pyongyang" February 9, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Aquariums of Pyongyang" details the experiences of a young man and his family in North Korea's gulag system. It is one of several recent biographies that show the violence and aburdity in North Korea. Considering what Kang Chol-Hwan has been through, it is a wonder that he is adjusting to life outside the prisons.
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