Book 31: Escape from Camp 14

This is the story of Shin Dong-hyuk, a North Korean defector who had been born into the prison camp and lived there his entire life until escaping at the age of 23. Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick, another North Korean story, was one of the best books I've read this year, and this was also incredibly interesting, but not quite as compelling. That might have been because I listened to the audio book instead of reading it.



Blaine Harden writes that North Korean human rights issues are essentially ignored; Tibet has the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere, Burma/Myanmar has Aung San Suu Kyi, Darfur has Mia Farrow and George Clooney, but there are no celebrity spokespeople for North Korea. It's a shame. Maybe Shin Dong-hyuk can become that spokesperson.