Born into a life of exhausting labor, ruthless rivalries, and a nearly complete absence of human affection, Shin Dong-Hyuk is one of the few who managed to escape one of North Korea's most secretive prison labor camps. This is not a work of fiction. This is his story.
Escape From Camp 14 starts off with a memory of Shin witnessing the execution his mother and older brother after their escape plan was discovered. Shin was born and raised in a political prison camp in North Korea known as Camp 14. Since Shin was raised in the prison camp, closed off to the world, he knew nothing about the things outside of the camp. Shin had to live with his family who he viewed as competitors for food. Shin didn’t mind the beatings that his mother had given …show more content…
Long before Mr. Harden had met and interviewed Shin, Shin was already experiencing some horrific acts that the prison camp brought to him. Tragic events took place in a closed-off zone in North Korea. When Shin escaped from North Korea using his dead companions body to get through the electric fence was quite something. "What he remembers most clearly about crawling through the fence was that Park's body smelled like it was burning" (Harden, 118). Blaine Harden comes across this man that had escaped from North Korean, prison camp. No other escapee from North Korea was raised and lived their lives in the prison camp, so Shin's story was a little more interesting to hear about and it raises awareness on the issue of modern-day slavery under a totalitarian …show more content…
If you are the type of person who likes happy endings or bright happy plot, then I do not recommend this book to you. Through this book, I could see the unspeakable terrors that hundreds or even thousands of unfortunate victims lives. I have heard of North Korea's brutal regime, but I would have never imagined that it was this tragic. I really sympathize with those living in the prison camps, it saddens me to think that there are people waking up every day just to be put into labor, without any freedom, being treated like
Escape From Camp 14 starts off with a memory of Shin witnessing the execution his mother and older brother after their escape plan was discovered. Shin was born and raised in a political prison camp in North Korea known as Camp 14. Since Shin was raised in the prison camp, closed off to the world, he knew nothing about the things outside of the camp. Shin had to live with his family who he viewed as competitors for food. Shin didn’t mind the beatings that his mother had given …show more content…
Long before Mr. Harden had met and interviewed Shin, Shin was already experiencing some horrific acts that the prison camp brought to him. Tragic events took place in a closed-off zone in North Korea. When Shin escaped from North Korea using his dead companions body to get through the electric fence was quite something. "What he remembers most clearly about crawling through the fence was that Park's body smelled like it was burning" (Harden, 118). Blaine Harden comes across this man that had escaped from North Korean, prison camp. No other escapee from North Korea was raised and lived their lives in the prison camp, so Shin's story was a little more interesting to hear about and it raises awareness on the issue of modern-day slavery under a totalitarian …show more content…
If you are the type of person who likes happy endings or bright happy plot, then I do not recommend this book to you. Through this book, I could see the unspeakable terrors that hundreds or even thousands of unfortunate victims lives. I have heard of North Korea's brutal regime, but I would have never imagined that it was this tragic. I really sympathize with those living in the prison camps, it saddens me to think that there are people waking up every day just to be put into labor, without any freedom, being treated like