Krys Lee: "How I Became a North Korean"

[dreamer_easy]

I was struck by the blurb which says this novel is written with "heart and passion", because I was hypnotised by its flattened affect. The narrative is drawn from the author's real encounters with North Korean refugees. The cruelty faced by its characters face is described so matter-of-factly that it reminded me of journalism, which in turn was a reminder that these fictional events are the shadows of the real abuse suffered by thousands of North Koreans who have fled across the border into China. The danger of being caught and sent back makes them everyone's prey. Lee lets the misery speak for itself.

The story is told from the POVs of three young people, two North Koreans, one rich, one poor, and a Korean-American who goes to ground with them after facing exclusion and abuse from his American peers and betrayal by his family. They fight tooth and nail to stay alive. The rage they accumulate is intense when it finally finds expression. The fact that it is possible to come out the other side of it all, damaged but still human, makes the story bearable. Anyway I couldn't put it down: go and read it.

Krys Lee interview: ‘North Koreans became part of my world, and then I got threats’ (GA, 12 August 2016)