Zydeco reviewed The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag on + 80 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
A well-written and harrowing first-person account of life in a North Korean prison camp.
Lara P. reviewed The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag on + 3 more book reviews
I found this book extremely interesting, because glimpses into North Korea are so limited. Of course, you have the gruesome aspects of the gulag, but, the perspective on daily living (pre-famine) were so interesting.
Sandra Phillips (rolfeswife) -
A heartbreaking true account of life in North Korea, when just for owning a piece of land, you can be sent to prison for 10 years, even if you didn't own it, but your grandfather did!! They were only given a small amount of corn steamed into a cereal form each day, and punished by no food at all many times. They were so hungry, they trapped rats and learned to love them. I am not a good reviewer, but this is a fascinating, very engaging memoir...eventually he escapes to South Korea, and then to America.It is amazing he withstood 10 long years of this torture and sadness. You will love this book!
