Under the Same Sky

Starred review from March 9, 2015
In this powerful account of a nightmarish struggle for survival, Kim relives his childhood in North Korea and the horrors experienced by the country during the Great Famine that began in 1995, when he was five. Kim doesn’t hold anything back as he details how millions of people slowly descended into a neverending battle to stay alive, doing whatever it took to stave off starvation. He describes his father’s death, his mother’s imprisonment, his sister being sold into marriage in China, and his own years as one of the homeless kotjebi, or street children. Against all odds, he lives long enough to escape to China, where he’s able to start a new life, which ultimately brings him to America. There’s something riveting about his honesty; he portrays the bleak conditions, dwindling resources, eternal uncertainty, and loss of dignity with an unashamed matter-of-factness almost at odds with the desperate circumstances: “I noticed something in the toddler’s hands: corn chips... Instantly I felt a wild desire to steal the treats out of the baby’s hands and devour them. Hunger is humiliation. But hunger is also evil.” Kim’s tale is a vital insight into a little-understood country and a modern-day tragedy.

June 1, 2015

The United States harbors a fascination with North Korea that was rekindled with the change of leadership in late 2011; the death of Kim Jong-il and the ascension of his son Kim Jong-un resulted in extensive media attention. Joseph Kim's Under the Same Sky and Eunsun Kim's A Thousand Miles to Freedom (no relation between the authors) add to this wave of recent consideration by detailing the complexities of life as North Korean defectors. Both authors enjoyed their early childhoods in North Korea and reminisce frequently about school and memories of treats such as ice cream and candy. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, however, both writers faced difficult times, eventually sneaking across the guarded North Korean border into China, where they hid from authorities before traveling to the United States and South Korea, respectively. In spite of the similar story lines, the memoirs are substantially different.

A Thousand Miles to Freedom speaks out against the North Korean regime and is interspersed with political commentary. As an abundance of writings on this topic currently exist, Eunsun Kim's observations add little to the conversation and occasionally distract from the actual story, which vividly depicts family life in the region and is unique in its detailing of existing as a refugee in China, where Eunsun's mother was essentially sold to a farmer with whom the family was sent to live. The descriptions of time spent in China, the escape to Mongolia, and subsequent move to South Korea are fascinating and will certainly interest many readers.

Under the Same Sky's subtitle may mislead readers into assuming this narrative is anti-North Korea; however, Joseph Kim primarily focuses on his family, experience on the streets surviving as a thief, and subsequent time spent in jail. The cultural insights, such as mentions of Kim's favorite foods, school, dating, and burial rites, make the book enjoyable to read. This account differentiates itself by focusing on the author's private life, not the government. VERDICT Both volumes put a human face to an often misunderstood country and will appeal to a wide range of readers. [See Prepub Alert, 1/25/15.]--Casey Watters, Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ.

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