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A River in Darkness
- One Man's Escape from North Korea
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
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A River in Darkness
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Summary
A New York Times bestseller and Amazon Charts Most Read and Most Sold book.
A Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Memoir & Autobiography.
The harrowing true story of one man’s life in - and subsequent escape from - North Korea, one of the world’s most brutal totalitarian regimes.
Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the lowest social caste. His father, himself a Korean national, was lured to the new Communist country by promises of abundant work, education for his children, and a higher station in society. But the reality of their new life was far from utopian.
In this memoir translated from the original Japanese, Ishikawa candidly recounts his tumultuous upbringing and the brutal thirty-six years he spent living under a crushing totalitarian regime, as well as the challenges he faced repatriating to Japan after barely escaping North Korea with his life. A River in Darkness is not only a shocking portrait of life inside the country but a testament to the dignity - and indomitable nature - of the human spirit.
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What listeners say about A River in Darkness
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer petamd
- 27-01-18
great book
great book powerful and heartbreaking well written and translated l listened for three nights in a row an enjoyable but difficult experience highly recommend this book
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-12-20
Mind blowing!!
Must hearing. Powerful and sad story and really heart wrenching. it really helps to see the otherside of the coin.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Dean
- 03-11-18
A Truly remarkable and unforgettable listen
I’ve listened to all sort of audiobooks on tough subjects such as the holocaust. No book has been so captivating and harrowing as this.
Just when you think things can’t get any worse for the author something else happens that utterly destroys you as you wonder how any human can survive such an ordeal.
I’ve never listened to an entire audiobook in one sitting but I couldn’t put this one down, North Korea is one of the most fascinating and disturbing subjects of modern history and this account is like no other I have read (and I’ve read several).
This book will stay with me for a long time.
The narrator was absolutely spot on too.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Jamie
- 17-12-18
Brutal, horrific & necessary
This is not an easy listen. The suffering of the author, his family, the whole nation of North Korea are laid out in uncompromising honesty. But it is definitely worth hearing. Even if you think you know about the problems the country has, this deeply personal account of a much bigger tragedy is eye-opening.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- evosticky
- 08-04-18
Shocking revelation!
Finished this book very quickly as I couldn't leave it. Heart-rending account of a father's stark choice to try and ensure his family's survival.
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- Kenbank
- 02-05-20
Tragic, heartbreaking, incomprehensible suffering
A life of such tragedy that it is incomprehensible most of us. The story is like that of a movie, only it is all too real for so many people, living through it day by day, right now. I don't know how he carried on in those moments of absolute torment and hardship. I also don't know how he continues to to this day, with all that history. I hope he is as well as he can be , thank you for telling your story
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- Milie
- 10-02-24
Heartbreaking story of courage
Masaji is one of the bravest man in the world. It is heartbreaking to learn (Yup I had no idea, so forever grateful for this book) how North Korea attracted people onto their territory. The discrimination is mind-blowing. An absolute read. Teens should read this at school.
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- Avid reader
- 14-10-18
Very Moving and hope that his family are alright
Very very moving and a good read
had to keep going to find the outcome
hope his family get found safe
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- Anonymous User
- 08-01-20
A Real Gripping Page Turner..
Unbelievable feat of human endurance, what a story. In the west we get the odd story of defection from the mysterious hermit state but no idea they had it as bad as this.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 30-06-22
heartbreaking read
A great audiobook. Don't let the escape in the title fool you though, this is heart wrenching, heart breaking tale from start to finish but told with such detail and narrative skill and an eye for evocative but not salacious detail.
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