In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Yeonmi Park (Author), Eji Kim (Narrator), Penguin Books Ltd (Publisher)

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Yeonmi Park was not dreaming of freedom when she escaped from North Korea. She didn't even know what it meant to be free. All she knew was that she was running for her life, that if she and her family stayed behind they would die - from starvation or disease or even execution.

This book is the story of Park's struggle to survive in the darkest, most repressive country on Earth; her harrowing escape to South Korea through China's underworld of smugglers and human traffickers; and her emergence as a leading human rights activist - all before her 21st birthday.

Listening Length

9 hours and 37 minutes
Author

Yeonmi Park
Narrator

Eji Kim
Audible release date

29 September 2015
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books Ltd
ASIN

B015JF2HP6
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	9 hours and 37 minutes
Author	Yeonmi Park
Narrator	Eji Kim
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	29 September 2015
Publisher	Penguin Books Ltd
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B015JF2HP6
Best Sellers Rank	1,965 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 1 in Refugee Studies 2 in Biographies of Activists 2 in Fascism

Customer reviews

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3 star		4%
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1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Adam

Inspirational Story

Reviewed in Australia on 3 January 2020

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I knew I was going to have trouble reading this book because I had already heard Yeonmi's story a few years earlier in an interview. Still, when I saw she had written a book I had to find out the full story.

Yeonmi’s is an inspirational story about not just overcoming the most brutal regime on the planet, but also the prejudices and personal challenges that followed after the harrowing journey. It opened my eyes to not only the treatment of North Koreans while in their home country, but also during and after their escape to freedom. Even if we have no power to change the regime in the short-term, we all have the power to improve the treatment of North Korean escapees.

I hope Yeonmi never gives up telling her story, as painful as it may be. She has now been thrust into a life of meaning and she should never stop pursuing justice. She is not only a voice for the North Korean people, but she’s a reminder to the west of what we have and what we need to protect: democracy.

PS: I was going to leave this out but I probably should mention it. This book made me contact a volunteer agency in South Korea (still waiting to hear back) to see if I could come do some volunteer work to help some North Korean people integrate into their new lives. I'm not sure what I can offer as I don't speak Korean (I'm now trying to learn), but having read about their treatment, even after overcoming everything they have to, I had to see if I could do something. I had originally thought that South Koreans greet North Koreans as if they were their long lost family members, unfortunately this book made me realise my rose-coloured view of the world was completely wrong. So Yeonmi can add one more person/thing to the list of real changes she's made just by telling her story. It is a story worth telling.

4 people found this helpful

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Brian the Brisbane Lion

Must read story about North Korea

Reviewed in Australia on 4 December 2020

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A very moving story of a 13 year old North Korean girl who escapes North Korea, only to fall prey to people smugglers in China. Eventually she makes it to South Korea,and can tell of the real story of living in the Hermit Kingdom.

One strange thing about living in North Korea; if you live in a high-rise building, the higher up you go, the poorer you are. As there is no (reliable) electricity, rich people live on the ground floor, and the poor have to trudge up stairs to the 8th floor. What a concept.

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christine woodward

A 'can't put down' read

Reviewed in Australia on 22 April 2019

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A brilliant, gutwrenching, impossible to stop reading memoir. I learnt so much more about North Korea and life after that dreadful existence for it's defectors. A book that will open people's hearts to refugees from any oppressive and dangerous countries and reinforce how lucky those of us are to know nothing of such suffering and desperation first hand. The fortunate should always show compassion and help the unfortunate.....there but for the Grace of God....

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Amazon Customer

Inspiring true account of a young girls escape from north korea.

Reviewed in Australia on 22 November 2020

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An incredible true story written by an amazing eloquent young woman. Everyone who thinks socialism is a life to aspire to,needs to read this true account of life in north korea. This girl tells it with no holes barred. Her strength and resilience helped her survive. A great read.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer CB happy reader

Amazing Story

Reviewed in Australia on 4 February 2019

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We need books like this to be read in our schools and universities so that everyone can understand the horrors that still go on in this world in places such as North Korea today in this world where so many take life and pleasure as their right. This is an amazing true story of a very courageous young girl. It made me cry but also gave me so much pleasure to see what she has achieved. You are an incredible young lady Yeonmi Park. Thank you for telling your story.

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Andre

How is this still happening in the twenty-first century?

Reviewed in Australia on 13 December 2020

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A harrowing true life story of a teenagers and her mother's escape from North Korea. Suspense filled and difficult to put down. But it doesn't stop there, you can follow Yeonmi Park's continuing story in social media and on YouTube were you can learn and discover more about her and of the treacherous North Korean dictatorship. I'd already read the eBook, but I needed a hard copy of this book to put on my book shelf!

One person found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

A must read

Reviewed in Australia on 30 August 2020

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This book gives a deep insight in to the repression of North Korean life and the unimaginable reality it's citizens are forced to call everyday life. What's worse is that they are unaware of their own injustice.

This a brilliant, fascinating story of one girl's escape and if nothing else will leave you feeling grateful for the many things we take for granted in the free world.

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From dispair to insight.

Reviewed in Australia on 21 June 2021

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What does it mean to be truly free? Can a nation be deceived in believing the world is a certain way, only to later discover that nothing was as it seemed? We see the world through the eyes of this young girl. As we grasp her reality we realize how whole populations can be sacrificed in order to ratify one leaders interest and the courage and suffering involved to escaping from that grasp.

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Top reviews from other countries

cyborg vole

Amazing read I just wish it was fiction rather than a true account. A life changing read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2017

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Both the best and the worst thing I have ever read. Best in the fact that you can see and understand the suffering and anguish of the people of North Korea and the worst because no one should ever have to experience the things which Yeonmi has suffered. This book makes you realise how lucky you are to live in a country like the UK or US where you don't have to worry about angering a regime or starving to death. This book gives you a totally new outlook on life and I can guarantee that it will make you appreciate what you have much more than you did before.

48 people found this helpful

Jasper

Good read for people interested in North Korean fugutives. Read as addition to 'Dear Leader' or 'Escape from Camp 14'

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2017

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I've read quite a few books written by North Korean escapees over the last year or so ("Dear Leader", "Escape From Camp 14", "Aquariums of Pyongyang", and "Nothing to Envy" to name a few) and I have mixed feelings about "In Order To Live".

Don't get me wrong, it's a good book. It's well written and Yeonmi's story is at times emotional and gripping. Yet at other times, it's an accounting that is not as interesting as I wanted it to be. Honestly, part II and III of the book are most outstanding. Her and her mothers hardships in China, the search for her sister and how hard it is for North Koreans once they're out of North Korea (with no understanding of the world beyond their indoctrinated view of NK and the 'enemies' outside) is a gripping and insightful read and should be read by anyone with interest in what happens 'after North Korea'. The (re)introduction process into South Korea's society and her subsequent actions to create awareness around NK is an interesting read as well.

Overall, a great book on everything "after NK", and a good book on "inside NK", but if you want to know more about inside NK, also do read "Dear Leader" and "Escape from Camp 14" for two excellent viewpoints of two ends of life in North Korea.

34 people found this helpful

Tanya

Powerful...

Reviewed in Canada on 3 June 2021

Verified Purchase

I'm surprised there are negative reviews. Are those North Korean bots doing damage control?

As for the one, who was born and raised in Soviet Union, it greatly reminded me of my childhood. Thankfully, I experienced no famine, but shortage of everything and luck of necessities was there. Plus, the communist propaganda.
My maternal grand-grand-parents were of Russian nobles, they were killed by bolsheviks. My grandma was not allowed to go to university , because of her upbringing. My father was jailed by communists, because he made a joke about communist leaders.

I think this book is very important, especially for the youth these days, who think that socialism is a bliss.
It will open their eyes and hopefully change their perspectives.

28 people found this helpful

Pomegranate

Insight to North Korea

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 August 2020

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This book provides an insight to what life is like in North Korea. The things the author went through is horrifying and hard to believe. Having read some of the reviews provided on here, some have said that there are inconsistencies and contradictories in her story. Whilst reading the book, I did not spot them, but then this was the first book I've read from a North Korean defector retelling their story on their escape from North Korea. It's best to get a broader reading on this subject area in order to have a better understanding.

10 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

She tells us what we have forgotten

Reviewed in the United States on 8 October 2020

Verified Purchase

Why did we fight so hard to create this country? What horrors did our forefathers try to save us from? We have lived the easy life for so long that to us, dictatorships and evil regimes are just shadows and rumors. Yeonmi has traveled a very dark road to bring us a message. That freedom is not free and the price we pay for losing that freedom is beyond the imagination of soft, well-fed Americans who have never been under the grinding boot of a despot. Yeonmi gives us a first-hand account from the dark side of human nature. Some strange part of human behavior makes us easy targets for sweet-sounding ideology. We willingly support the creation of a government that promises to fill our every need but ends up tapping every ounce of our productivity. If we forget these lessons, our grandchildren will be left scrabbling in the dirt for "frozen potatoes", their free will withered away with no awareness that a choice even exists.

424 people found this helpful

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In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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