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Genre/Form: | Personal narratives Autobiographies Biographies Récits personnels Biography biografi personliga berättelser |
---|---|
Named Person: | Charles Robert Jenkins; Charles Robert Jenkins; Charles Robert Jenkins; Charles Robert Jenkins |
Material Type: | Biography, Internet resource |
Document Type: | Book, Internet Resource |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Charles Robert Jenkins; Jim Frederick |
ISBN: | 9780520253339 0520253337 9780520259997 0520259998 |
OCLC Number: | 163708627 |
Notes: | "Japanese edition, To Tell the Truth (Kokuhaku, or Confession), was published by Kadokawa Shoten"--ECIP Dataview. |
Description: | xxxvi, 192 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm |
Contents: | Super Jenkins -- In the army, and across the DMZ -- Housemates -- Cooks, cadets, and wives -- Soga-san -- Friends and strangers -- Domestic life -- Hitomi's escape -- My escape -- Homecomings. |
Responsibility: | Charles Robert Jenkins ; with Jim Frederick. |
More information: |
Abstract:
Reviews
Publisher Synopsis
"One of the most important and devastating accounts of life inside a totalitarian society." Commentary
WorldCat User Reviews (1)
Perhaps defecting to North Korea was a bad idea.
Even as you shake your head at the sheer idiocy of defecting to North Korea, to which Jenkins fully admits, there are moments to cheer for him as the underdog of the story. When he's assigned to teach English classes...
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Even as you shake your head at the sheer idiocy of defecting to North Korea, to which Jenkins fully admits, there are moments to cheer for him as the underdog of the story. When he's assigned to teach English classes to future spies, he purposefully gives them the wrong words, out of a combination of amusement and spite. You can't help but cringe along with him when he's assigned a 'housekeeper' who lays down the law about how the house is going to be run. And you cheer at the end when he gets to teach his daughters about how the rest of the world lives.
The writing's simple, and it's a very quick read. It gives a unique and intriguing look into one of the most insular countries in the world, which would be hard to get anywhere else.
Highs: The writing's brutally honest in its self-reflection, which keeps the story from turning into a "look how hard my life is" mess.
Lows: Parts of the narrative could have been cleaned up better by the editor or co-writer.
Verdict: Material you won't get anywhere else, and short enough not to be boring.
Further Reading: North Korea Kidnapped my Daughter, Escape from Camp 14
For a more in-depth review, as well as reviews of hundreds of other books, please check out GeekLitEtc.com
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Tags
All user tags (3)
- memoir (by 1 person)
- military history (by 1 person)
- north korea (by 1 person)
- 1 items are tagged withmemoir
- 1 items are tagged withmilitary history
- 1 items are tagged withnorth korea
Similar Items
Related Subjects:(21)
- Jenkins, Charles Robert, -- 1940-2017.
- Military deserters -- United States -- Biography.
- Americans -- Korea (North) -- Biography.
- Defectors -- Korea (North) -- Biography.
- Korea (North) -- Social life and customs.
- Déserteurs -- États-Unis -- Biographies.
- Transfuges -- Corée du Nord -- Biographies.
- Jenkins, Charles Robert, -- 1940-2017
- Americans.
- Defectors.
- Manners and customs.
- Military deserters.
- Korea (North)
- United States.
- Jenkins, Charles Robert, -- (1940- ...)
- Prisonniers politiques -- Corée (République populaire démocratique)
- Amerikanska desertörer -- Nordkorea -- biografi.
- Koreakriget 1950-1953 -- personliga berättelser.
- Amerikaner -- Nordkorea -- biografi.
- Avhoppare -- Nordkorea -- biografi.
- Nordkorea -- vardagsliv och traditioner.
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by tr3sie7e updated 2015-06-09
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by bennet_an updated 2014-07-31
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