A River in Darkness One Man's Escape from North Korea

So many times while reading this book I thought to myself 'That's it, he's hit rock bottom, it cannot get any worse than this'. Oh how wrong I was. At one point while reading this book I was laughing, a shocked laughter nonetheless at what was happening and the way the author was describing the ridiculous slogans and the behaviour and speech of the authorities and his compatriots. I felt sadness for him and his loved ones, I felt anger at the unfairness of such a horrid and cruel system and most of all I felt that I want to give back to this strong and kind man his life and his family. How cursed can the destiny of one man be, at which point do people completely give up their humanity and how much of yourself do you lose while pretending to believe in something you despise?

A emotion provoking first hand account of the deplorable conditions in North Korea and the amazing story not only of escape, but of a level of will to survive that we will never understand. A must read story and lesson about the power of faith, will, and family being driving forces for choices that really are not options, but has to be taken to survive. Having faith in a possibility of change and a better future for his family this account shows what a single man is capable of really doing to survive.

** spoiler alert ** Benim adım Ishikawa. Ben Japonya vatandaşıyım. Babam Koreli, annemse Japon'du. Ta 1960'ta babam bizi K.Kore'ye götürdü. Dünyadaki cennette yeni bir hayat vadedildi bize. Japonya hükümeti de bu sözün arkasındaydı. BM'in de herşeyden haberi vardı. Kızılhaç da dünyadaki en büyük göçü yönetmekten memnundu. Bize ne yaptığınızın farkında mısınız? Bizi cehenneme gönderdiniz. Bir kutu kitap'ın Nisan sayısıyla gelen Karanlıkta Bir Nehir annesi Japon babası Koreli olan bir çocuğun vadedilmiş topraklar şeklinde reklamı yapılan "sosyalizm cenneti" Kuzey Kore'ye taşınmalarının, orada geçirdiği 36 yıllık sefalet ve acı dolu hayatın ve sonunda Japonya'ya ulaşmasının öyküsü. Japonya'ya ulaştı dediysem yanlış anlaşılmasın; kitap ne yazık ki mutlu sonla bitmiyor... Kitabın en başından en sonuna kadar istemsizce nefesimi tutup, dehşet içerisinde okudum. Kuzey Kore'de insanların nasıl bir tiranlık altında yönetildiğini az da olsa medya sayesinde biliyoruz sanıyordum; fakat bildiklerimiz gerçekte yaşananların tırnağı bile değilmiş. Düşününki Japon bir anne ve Kore'li bir babaya sahipsiniz; Kore'li babanız ayrımcılığa uğruyor ve düzgün bir iş bulamıyor. Hayatınız oldukça zor ve bir anda memleketinizden insanların mutluluk, bolluk ve bereketle yaşadığına dair haberler gelmeye başlıyor. Buna ek olarak yaşadığınız ülke de ve Birleşmiş Milletler de bu bilgileri doğrulayıp; eğer isterseniz Kuzey Kore'ye geçişinizi sağlayacağını bildiriyor. Kore gözünüze taşı toprağı altın görünüyor ve tabi ki koşarak gidiyorsunuz. Ve tüm bu süreci de Kızıl Haç yönetiyor. Daha ülkenin topraklarına vardığınızda propagandanın ne büyük bir yalan olduğunu görüyorsunuz; fakat her şey için artık çok geç. Yarı Japon olduğunuz ve Japonyadan geldiğiniz için kast sisteminin en alt sınıfı olan düşman olarak etiketleniyorsunuz. İşte bu noktada sistemde yukarı çıkmanız imkansız hale geliyor; ne kadar çalışırsanız çalışın daha yukarıya çıkamayacaksınız. Fakat en küçük bir hatanızda tüm ailenizle birlikte toplama kamplarına gönderilmeniz mümkün... Yoksulluk ve sefalet hayatınızın gerçeklerine dönüşüyor daha ne kadar kötüye gidebilir ki değil mi? Ishikawa'nın hikayesi sefalet kadar ait olamamanın da hikayesi...

A heartbreaking tale of suffering. Very hard to read as a parent.

Heartbreaking.

Thought provoking. This book will make you thank for every single aspect of your life. The book is short and a concentrated depiction of people's lives in North Korea.

Nieziemsko poruszająca. Każdy powinien poznać tę historię.

This was such an emotional and breathtaking book. I haven’t read as many true story books like this as I have other genres, but this book has made me want to delve deeper into this genre. This story was absolutely heartbreaking and unforgettable. Getting a glimpse into what life was like for this man and his family in North Korea was so incredibly fascinating and unbelievable. Each word took me deeper into this mans life, and I felt every emotion he intended. This story was so incredibly amazing, and it left me at the edge of my seat waiting to find out what was next to come. Overall, this book took me into this world and life in a way I wasn’t expecting. I cannot recomend this book enough!

One of the greatest and heart-felt books I have ever read. In fact, the only one.

This is an incredibly tragic memoir. Obviously, given the subject matter, it was bound to be, but JESUS. It was very eye-opening, as you hear about how terrible North Koreans have it, but to see it in these (sometimes graphic) words is something else. The book was mostly a linear timeline, but it jumped forward quite a lot, and there were times when 10 years had gone by without really being described, so it was sometimes hard to keep up with about what year it was. I also noticed some translation/editing mistakes, such as his wife's name being Kim Te-sul and most of the time, he refers to her as Te-sul, but one time referred to her as Kim, which didn't make sense. Also, in the epilogue, something got messed up because it says "The last letter I received from Myong-hwa came in the autumn of 2005," he responded, then later he "received a letter from Ho-son" in response to that letter. The next sentence says "I last heard from Ho-son in 1998." There were a few other parts of the translation that threw me off, but those two were the only ones that really changed the meaning of what was being portrayed. Overall, this was a very insightful book and I think is a really important story, because for all the talk about how horrible living in North Korea is, this really paints a very clear picture of it.

Sometimes when I read a book like this, I’ve always say “please tell me this is fiction!”. It’s so hard to believe what human can do to other human. It’s harrowing. This is my first book about North Korea, and even though I own “Nothing to Envy” and have started a bit, this one is much easier to follow. And the way of author telling his story makes it easy to follow. It’s like telling a story to friend and it is very personal A heartbreaking yet important book to read. Highly recommend you to pick this one. But please be mindful about all the TW in this book. abuse, child abuse, very violence, blood, graphic violence scene.