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In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

by Yeonmi Park

Other authors: Maryanne Vollers (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
9313722,862 (4.27)22
Biography & Autobiography. History. Sociology. Nonfiction. HTML:??I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.? - Yeonmi Park
"One of the most harrowing stories I have ever heard - and one of the most inspiring." - The Bookseller
??Park's remarkable and inspiring story shines a light on a country whose inhabitants live in misery beyond comprehension. Park's important memoir showcases the strength of the human spirit and one young woman's incredible determination to never be hungry again.? ??Publishers Weekly

In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea??and to freedom.
Park confronts her past with a startling resilience. In spite of everything, she has never stopped being proud of where she is from, and never stopped striving for a better life. Indeed, today she is a human rights activist working determinedly to bring attention to the oppression taking place in her home country. Park??s testimony is heartbreaking and unimaginable, but never without hope. This is the human spirit at
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» See also 22 mentions

English (36)  German (1)  All languages (37)
Showing 1-5 of 36 (next | show all)
Yeonmi was born in Hyesan, North Korea, in 1993. She grew up in a country where people were brainwashed to love their Leader and had no idea how different the world was outside. Her father was an enterprising man who traded goods in the black market to provide for his family, but when he was arrested and sent to a labor camp, life became even more challenging. Yeonmi, her mother, and her sister, Eunmi, decided to defect across the Yalu River into China to escape their desperate situation. However, they found themselves plunged into the world of human trafficking. Yeonmi's firsthand account of her and her mother's journey is honest and sobering, shedding light on the heartbreaking reality of trafficking that exists all over the world. ( )
  PaulaGalvan | May 7, 2024 |
This is a somewhat harrowing book. It's written by a young woman who spent her childhood before escaping with her mother to South Korea as a teenager. It describes her early life of poverty and deprivation of all kinds: though compared with some, her family was privileged. The perceived behaviour of family members and friends affected how the family was treated by officials, and governed their access to decent jobs. Government propaganda radio was a compulsory constant of everyday life. Escape was fraught with danger, and the price the women paid for fleeing was that they were trafficked and sold in China, only eventually making the hazardous journey across desert through Mongolia to South Korea. Yeonmi describes her painful adaptation to western life, her efforts to get an education, and her eventual position as a spokesperson for the North Korean community. A worthwhile and disturbing read, at a time when North Korea is much in the news. ( )
  Margaret09 | Apr 15, 2024 |
Yeonmi Park has a powerful message to share.

An inspiring, informative and just heartbreaking story. Find her on YouTube for more, she became human rights activist ( )
  die-buecherdiebin | Mar 16, 2024 |
This is a powerful book.

It has echoes of Tara Westover's "Educated" -- a young woman, confronted with a series of brutal life circumstances, neglect and outright malice, nevertheless finds sufficient strength in herself and those around her to escape and to triumph. In both books, the struggle for education is amazing, and pays off hugely.

But there are stark differences, as well. Park is describing not a single family or small cult in a corner of the US. The North Korean government absolutely controls the lives of 24 million people, the vast majority of whom are impoverished. All are forbidden freedom of thought, freedom of association, freedom of movement. Much more compellingly, the abuse and rape to which Park was subjected by human traffickers in her flight from North Korea are literally terrible -- terror is the rational response. That these are frequent conditions for women in flight is certain.

I'm very glad that Yeonmi Park chose to tell this story. ( )
  mikeolson2000 | Dec 27, 2023 |
Heartbreaking and challenging, Yeonmi's story is so hard to process. A journey through life in an unfair world with so many unfortunate events... ( )
  simonamitac | Nov 27, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 36 (next | show all)
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Park, YeonmiAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Vollers, MaryanneAuthorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
We tell ourselves stories in order to live. -- Joan Didion
Dedication
For my family, and for anyone, anywhere, struggling for freedom.
First words
On a cold, black night of March 31, 2007, my mother and I scrambled down the steep, rocky bank of the frozen Yalu River that divides North Korea and China.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Biography & Autobiography. History. Sociology. Nonfiction. HTML:??I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.? - Yeonmi Park
"One of the most harrowing stories I have ever heard - and one of the most inspiring." - The Bookseller
??Park's remarkable and inspiring story shines a light on a country whose inhabitants live in misery beyond comprehension. Park's important memoir showcases the strength of the human spirit and one young woman's incredible determination to never be hungry again.? ??Publishers Weekly

In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea??and to freedom.
Park confronts her past with a startling resilience. In spite of everything, she has never stopped being proud of where she is from, and never stopped striving for a better life. Indeed, today she is a human rights activist working determinedly to bring attention to the oppression taking place in her home country. Park??s testimony is heartbreaking and unimaginable, but never without hope. This is the human spirit at

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