Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West

It is not often that I go out and start raving about a book that I just read to all my reader friends. The book that I am raving about at the moment is Escape from Camp 14. I wanted to check this book out because I was born in South Korea and wanted to see what it was like being born in North Korea.

After reading this book, I am very thankful that I was not born in North Korea. The living conditions and situation that Shin Dong-hyuk had to endure, I would not want to wish on anyone. He is lucky to have escaped. To have to tattle tale on you’re suppose “friends” in order to survive is unimaginable. I could understand where Shin was coming from in hating his mom and blaming himself for her death. In the situation that he had to face, it was either survive by telling a guard that his mom and older brother were planning on escaping or face death with them.

While, I did find this book intriguing, I would have to saw I did find myself really getting into it during the last half of the book, when Shin escaped from prison camp and made his way to freedom. I liked that Mr. Harden inserted little tidbits about North Korea into this book. Mr. Harden really tried to make Shin personable. This is a book to read at your next book club meeting.