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randlepap's review
emotional
tense
slow-paced
4.0
I enjoyed this book as a new type of memoir. I liked Kim's exploration of powerful propaganda across the world, the connections she drew between the worship of the great leader and the Christian missionaries she worked with. As well, this book explores the grief of the Korean war and the yearning for reunification of Korea.
angus_mckeogh's review
4.0
Shave off the first 60 pages that are a little removed from the topic of teaching in North Korea and this book might go 5 stars. Extremely interesting. Seems almost like a sci-fi novel or some dystopian series. Only the sad thing is it's about real people in a real place. Spooky.
katemc's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
3.5! This felt like a good entry point to the subject and there were a lot of beautiful passages. I especially appreciated the author’s discussion and reflection on the links and severances between North and South Korea. That added a layer I hadn’t previously considered or been exposed to, and added a personal investment from the author that deepened the emotional resonance and impact of her experience/narrative.
The main difficulty (and mentioned in a few other reviews I think) was she often flipped back and forth between her own conviction in the role she played in the lives of her students. Sometimes she’d be pushing further to expose them to ideas and try to “break” their brainwashing by alluding to the advances in the world outside NK and other times she’d say it was too dangerous and it was meaningless and she shouldn’t even bother. I can understand that she did experience ambivalence on the subject but how quickly she’d go back and forth (and how determined she was each time that it was the only way) became a little tiresome. This being positioned as a memoir also meant she was centered pretty heavily (some aspects being compelling and others less so) so I think that played a role in how interactions were presented.
Overall I was very engaged by it and it made me interested in reading more about NK/the Korean War.
The main difficulty (and mentioned in a few other reviews I think) was she often flipped back and forth between her own conviction in the role she played in the lives of her students. Sometimes she’d be pushing further to expose them to ideas and try to “break” their brainwashing by alluding to the advances in the world outside NK and other times she’d say it was too dangerous and it was meaningless and she shouldn’t even bother. I can understand that she did experience ambivalence on the subject but how quickly she’d go back and forth (and how determined she was each time that it was the only way) became a little tiresome. This being positioned as a memoir also meant she was centered pretty heavily (some aspects being compelling and others less so) so I think that played a role in how interactions were presented.
Overall I was very engaged by it and it made me interested in reading more about NK/the Korean War.
leggup's review
5.0
Really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to see her approach to teaching the impossible- how to teach a language of a culture of openness to a culture of closeness. How to teach critical thinking where it is forbidden.
I have often heard about the comparisons between evangelical Christianity and totalitarian dictatorships like North Korea. I would have liked if there had been more of that in the book. I especially would have liked if the censorship of Christianity had been discussed more. I understand that the point was North Korea and that she wasn't trying to slight the missionaries as much as possible. It would have been especially appropriate to discuss at the end of the year in the section about movies.
I really enjoyed the topic of lies. Lying as taught. Why the students lied was fascinating to me. The groupthink is so strong. The idea that the regime has an answer for everything, therefore there aren't really questions.
This book makes me even more curious about the higher levels of the regime. To maintain control, informaiton is controlled. Education and resources are controlled (and scarce). When your technology students don't know what the Internet is and can't fathom ideas critical to understanding technology, how can the regime have enough information to operate. Surely there are people in the government who use the Internet. How do the people in power know enough to restrict the 'correct' information?
I have often heard about the comparisons between evangelical Christianity and totalitarian dictatorships like North Korea. I would have liked if there had been more of that in the book. I especially would have liked if the censorship of Christianity had been discussed more. I understand that the point was North Korea and that she wasn't trying to slight the missionaries as much as possible. It would have been especially appropriate to discuss at the end of the year in the section about movies.
I really enjoyed the topic of lies. Lying as taught. Why the students lied was fascinating to me. The groupthink is so strong. The idea that the regime has an answer for everything, therefore there aren't really questions.
This book makes me even more curious about the higher levels of the regime. To maintain control, informaiton is controlled. Education and resources are controlled (and scarce). When your technology students don't know what the Internet is and can't fathom ideas critical to understanding technology, how can the regime have enough information to operate. Surely there are people in the government who use the Internet. How do the people in power know enough to restrict the 'correct' information?
nellusso's review
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
3.75
I thought the story was super interesting but that the author infused not just useful commentary but a lot of feels that at points were distracting
millslike2read's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0