A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa - 5 Stars

 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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This was such a heartbreaking read, but inspirational at the same time. It's amazing that the author lived through all the horrors he went through while in North Korea. It's hard to imagine a government having complete control over your entire life. And the way they treated their citizens was awful. 

This book was translated from Japanese, and I have to say that the translating was done very well. A lot of times I feel translated books are translated into choppy English that doesn't make a lot of sense, but this one flowed really well.