In all honesty, for the majority of the 2nd quarter, I have been reading and focusing my attention on Thing Fall Apart, yet we've already talked quite a bit about this class novel, so I will be emphasizing on a another book that I happened to stumble upon: Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea by Sungju Lee and Susan McClelland. Ok, let me provide a brief background as best as I can. This book is basically an autobiography of Sungju Lee, telling the incredible tale of his escape and what life was like for him in North Korea. In the beginning of the book, Sungju lives a comfortable life in the capital of Pyongyang with his mother and his father, who worked for the government. Sungju was just an innocent child, always daydreaming about whatever kids daydreamed about, surrounded with love, care, and a place he called home. Soon things took a turn as Sungju and his parents are forced to live in the countryside, in a smaller house, with not as many amenities that would be found in Pyongyang. The cause of this migration was due to the fact that Sungju's father may have done something that offended the government. In the countryside, Sungju was perplexed and horrified at how life had drastically changed in front of him. He witnessed people starving and stealing as schoolchildren would abuse various substances and take fieldtrips to watch brutal executions of people who tried to escape the country. Sungju's father left in search of food since resources were incredibly limited, promising that he would return even though he never did. Sungju's mother did the same, leaving Sungju to fend for himself as he tried to comprehend the horrors of a country he was taught to be proud of. With no one to look after him, Sungju organized a gang with his new friends from the countryside, whom he called "brothers", where they would steal from markets for their survival. They were basically kids, yet they stole, smoked cigarettes, and drank to cope with the horrors of reality.
Sungju and his "brothers" became a family of their own and were dependent on each other to survive the harsh environments of poverty and starvation. They got into gang fights and were even caught at one point by authorities, but they managed to thrive on the streets as the toughest gang in all of the North Korean countryside. Sungju later had to leave his "brothers" behind when a person who had connections with Sungju's father arranged a protocol for Sungju to escape. It was a long, panic-inducing process, but by having a forged passport and pretending to be mute, Sungju reunites with his father in South Korea, however Sungju's mother's whereabouts are still unknown. Ok, I lied about providing a brief background, but this book is remarkable and is quite a bit to digest. Obviously Sungju is my favorite character (well he's a real person), mainly because of his transformation and development. In the beginning, he is just a little innocent boy living a content life in the capital with a warm home and family. Little did he know that he was blinded from the truth of North Korea by propaganda and being taught that his homeland is the best country in the world. The world pretty much flipped upside down for Sungju when he was first exposed to the poverty, desperation, and brutality of the countryside. When his parents had to leave in search of food and never returned, Sungju gathered the courage to defend himself in a dangerous environment by stealing food and creating a bond with his "brothers" to survive. Plus he managed to escape the country, fearing that he would get caught any minute, and succeeds. He is such an inspiration, telling the audience to be brave and courageous, hopeful, and to always keep wishing on every falling star.
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