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A River in Darkness

One Man's Escape from North Korea

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A River in Darkness

By: Masaji Ishikawa, Risa Kobayashi - translator, Martin Brown - translator
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
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About this listen

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.

©2000 by Masaji Ishikawa. (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2017 by Risa Kobayashi and Martin Brown. Activists Cultural & Regional Politicians Politics & Activism Emotionally Gripping Thought-Provoking Heartfelt Inspiring China Memoir Imperial Japan Biography North Korea
All stars
Most relevant
I have no reason to believe there is any lack of factfulness in the book. But, even if only 50% of it was true, it still is unbelievable. The description of the situation in the early/mid nighties is so vivid and enraging you feel like not listening anymore... 1994!!! Kurt Cobain died that year... it's not like it was 150 years ago.

Makes you wonder how it is right now, hopefully not so bad...

Powerful and disturbing

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Brilliantly narrated. This is a very heartbreaking story, which is likely to be very relevant for so many families still to this day. I would definitely recommend.

Brilliant

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I liked it but it is harrowung in parts and very sad . I
want to onow what happenned next.

Interesting but sad

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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.

A Truly remarkable and unforgettable listen

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Depressing story about lives destroyed by political ideology and madness. Good narration by Brian Nishii.

Poignant

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