A River in Darkness (Ishikawa)
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea , by Masaji Ishikawa (2000) Earlier this year, Amazon ran a promotion for twelve (specific) free ebooks from writers around the world. A River in Darkness was one of them, and the first one I indulged in. It tells the life story of Masaji Ishikawa, first growing up in post-war Japan being half-Korean. Life was difficult enough until the Koreans brought over during the war are promised a better way of like in the newly-created country of North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Il-sung. The promises didn't work out, as one might have expected. What follows are the hardships for his family as he grows into manhood, and then for his own family. North Korea was not a happy place to be, but don't dare say that. Everything is poorly run by the government, but you participate the way the government tells you, even if it means all the crops will fail. But hard work isn't rewarded. Just expected. The book open