an eye opening memoir

Published in 2015, In Order to Live is a memoir written by Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector and current human rights activist. At age thirteen, Yeonmi and her mother crossed the icy Yalu River to China, where she endured immense hardship and faced a host of traumas that she courageously reveals in her story. In just short of 300 pages, In Order to Live traverses her childhood in the famine-ridden nineties in North Korea, her hardship living as an illegal refugee in northeastern China, her arduous escape across the Gobi Desert into Mongolia, and her victorious battle to find true freedom in South Korea. Within these compelling, and oftentimes heart-wrenching, stories, Yeonmi effectively weaves in portions of North Korean history and culture that contextualize her narrations and provide her readers with an informed view of North Korea. Additionally, the book includes several photographs of herself as a child and of her family in North Korea.

Written in Yeonmi’s own honest and introspective voice, In Order to Live is an incredibly eye-opening memoir that helps the reader understand what life is like for an individual in North Korea beyond the familiar narratives of the hermit kingdom. Yeonmi proves not only the humanity of the North Korean people through her writing, but she highlights a certain nuance to the stories of these individuals as well: the juxtaposition of a generation reliant on black markets in a socialist country; her complex relationship with an abusive broker who keeps his promise to reunite her family; and the jarring realization that, even after crossing the border into South Korea, she feels the furthest thing from free.

healing through storytelling

Through revisiting the memories of her upbringing in North Korea and the horrors of being trafficked and abused in China, Yeonmi demonstrates the power of telling one’s story, not only for the listener but perhaps for the storyteller as well. And more than anything, In Order to Live is a product of this healing. Yeonmi speaks with unwavering bravery and vulnerability, committed to telling her story not only to fully heal from her past but to ultimately bring awareness and justice for the North Korean people. In this book, Yeonmi invites readers of all kinds to laugh with her, cry with her, and cheer her on as we listen to how she boldly chose to step forward in her journey, one foot at a time, in order to live.

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