Reading the World - Best Books - Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 1918 - 2020

Who are my readers? How many of the Pulitzer Award Winning Fiction books have you read? I'm at 15 out of the 93. Pulitzer Prize announcement for 2021 has been postponed. It is expected to be announced this month.

Pulitzer Prize in Fiction 1918 to 2020

1918 - His Family by Ernest Poole

1919 - The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

1920 - No Award

1921 - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

1922 - Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington

1923 - One of Ours by Willa Cather

1924 - The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson

1925 - So Big by Edna Ferber

1926 - Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis

1927 - Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield

1928 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

1929 - Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin

1930- Laughing Boy by Oliver Lafarge

1931 - Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes

1932 - The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

1933 - The Store by T. S. Stribling

1934 - Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller

1935 - Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson

1936 - Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis

1937 - Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

1938 - The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand

1939 - The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

1940 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

1941 - No Award

1942 - In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow

1943 - Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair

1944 - Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin

1945 - A Bell for Adano by John Hersey

1946 - No Award

1947 - All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

1948 - Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener

1949 - Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens

1950 - The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr

1951 - The Town by Conrad Richter

1952 - The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

1953 - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

1954 - No Аward

1955 - A Fable by William Faulkner

1956 - Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor

1957 - No Аward

1958 - A Death in the Family by James Agee

1959 - The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor

1960 - Advise and Consent by Allen Drury

1961 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

1962 - The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor

1963 - The Reivers by William Faulkner

1964 - No Award

1965 - The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau

1966 - The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter

1967- The Fixer by Bernard Malamud

1968 - The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron

1969 - House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

1970 - The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford

1971 - No Аward

1972 - Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

1973 - The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty

1974 - No Аward

1975 - The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

1976 - Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow

1977 - No Аward

1978 - Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson

1979 - The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever

1980 - The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer

1981 -A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

1982 - Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike

1983 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker

1984 - Ironweed by William Kennedy

1985 - Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie

1986 - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

1987 - A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor

1988 - Beloved by Toni Morrison

1989 - Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

1990 - The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

1991 - Rabbit At Rest by John Updike

1992 - A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

1993 - A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler

1994 - The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

1995 - The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

1996 - Independence Day by Richard Ford

1997 - Martin Dressler The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser

1998 - American Pastoral by Philip Roth

1999 - The Hours by Michael Cunningham

2000 - Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

2001 - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

2002 - Empire Falls by Richard Russo

2003 - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

2004 - The Known World by Edward P. Jones

2005 - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

2006 - March by Geraldine Brooks

2007 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

2008 - The Brief Wondrous Life by Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

2009 - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

2010 - Tinkers by Paul Harding

2011 - A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

2012 - No Аward

2013 - The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

2014 - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

2015 - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

2016 - The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen

2017 - The Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead

2018 - Less Andrew Sean Greer

2019 - The Overstory Richard Powers

2020 - The Nickel Boys Colson Whitehead

There are also Pulitzer Prizes awarded for General nonfiction, Biography and History.

Bookaholic - Reading the Best Books - Arrowsmith

Bookaholic - Reading the Best Books - Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century

Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis made the Reader’s List at #78.

I found the novel interesting because of its foray into science.  I obtained my BA in Chemistry and spent a summer doing antimalarial drug research at the Department of Pharmacognosy at the University of Mississippi.  

I had no idea what the subject of Arrowsmith was prior to reading it.  I did know that Sinclair Lewis was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for it back in 1926.  A prize I think he declined.  My only experience or prejudgment would have been from reading Mainstreet which placed #68 on the Board’s List of 20th Best novels.

In many ways Arrowsmith is still relevant today as the Covid19 situation once again raises issues about science and ethics both of which come into play in Arrowsmith.

Sinclair Lewis, as he did with Mainstreet, brings middle class America of the times into focus.  You can get a glimpse of history even as you read fiction.  You get glimpses of the culture, prejudices, and mindsets.  

With the completion of Arrowsmith, I have just 4 books left to read of the READERS’ List of Top 100 (which includes more than 100 since it includes the Mission Earth Dekalogy as a single entry). 

Remaining I have #70 - The Wood Wife by Terri Windling, #80 Naked Lunch by William Burroughs and V. by Thomas Pynchon, all of which I am currently reading off and on.  Once I finish these 3, I will have completed the Readers’ Top 100 list EXCEPT for Ulysses by James Joyce.  It’s one I have started a couple of times but haven’t managed to finished.  

Ulysses is # 11 on the Readers’ List BUT #1 on the Board’s List.  I’ve only read 46 of the 100 entries on the Board’s List so far which includes 31 books that are also on the Readers’ List.  Ulysses is the final book shared by both.  I will be tackling Ulysses again soon I think.  It shouldn’t take me too long to finish the 3 ahead of it in my reading queue.

My other ongoing Reading Goals = (1) BBC’s Big Reads Top 100 and Top 200 (Ulysses is on the Top 100) and more recently (2) Reading The World - reading books written by authors from all of the world’s countries and jurisdictions.    I hope to complete the BBC 100 this year (I’ve completed 91) along with the Modern Library’s Readers 100.  

Reading the World - Ecuador Poso Wells by Gabriela Alemán

 Reading the World - Ecuador   Poso Wells by Gabriela Alemán

When I decided to join the Read the World club, I decided to start with places I have lived - US, Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong and mainland China.  I have now read at least 1 book written by an author from those jurisdictions.

Following where I lived, places where I have worked.  That adds Ecuador to the list since I worked on an agreement for the OCP Pipeline flying to Quito for meetings.  I also did volunteer  work in Brasil (I spell the country as Brasilians spell it).  I’ve read several books written by Paulo Coelho so Brasil is covered.  Finding a book in English written by an Ecuadorian Author was more difficult.  I finally found this one.

Poso Wells is a short novel written around a poor community in Ecuador beset by problems more or less created by the political system.  Without spoiling the plot, a journalist investigating a bizarre event and the disappearance of a presidential candidate finds a bigger story.

You have drama, you have comedy, you have romance, you have intrigue, you have a religious cult, you have corrupt politicians and businesses.  You even have poetry.  What’s not to love?

Seriously I enjoyed reading this book.  I’m glad I unearthed it searching for books written by an Ecuadorian.   One of the reasons I chose her novel is because of her name - Alemán.  I lived and worked in Cuidad Miguel Alemán, Mexico so the connection was slight but enough for me to read this rather than a book by another Ecuadorian author (I only uncovered 1 other so far with books in English that I can locate / get my hands on).

If you can get a copy of Poso Wells to read, do so.  

Future Reading - Reading the World

Now my goal is to complete books written by authors in areas I have traveled.  These are the Bahamas, St Martin, Costa Rica, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, Slovakia and Austria. 

I have read several books written by Japanese authors - some of my favorite books in fact.  

Finding books from the other areas in ENGLISH may take some time.  I don’t plan to read linear - I will mix in world authors with other books I am reading - there are simply too many books I want to read. 

 Even reading at the pace I am reading (which is not sustainable) it will take a long time to complete the World list.  So far in 2021 I have completed 67 books.

Think about starting your own reading journey.

Reading the World - Spain - The SHadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

 

An excellent novel by a Spanish author, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, who died too young.

I rarely rate a book 5 stars these days but this is one that I did.  The setting is Spain in the first half of the 20th Century (with a little bit of Paris tossed in) and revolves around a young boy / young man and his quests - one is for love and the other is for information.  The cast of characters are superbly created and the storyline is unique yet authentic.  

The pace of the book will vary - fast, slow, medium as the stage is set, the back story is established and by then you are hooked.   

I enjoy books about books but this isn’t exactly that.  If you like books about books then you should read John Dunning’s Cliff Janeway books.  This is a book however that involves a bookseller and a book and author.  But it is more of a good versus evil plot and a “consequences” of actions.

This isn’t a novel you will probably read in a day.  It is one you will probably read a little and then more.  At least that is what I did.  Then you will reach the point of no return and read it to its conclusion.

For the life philosopher, there are a lot of “quotes” worthy of thought.  I highlighted a lot of phrases, sentences, and thoughts as I read it on my Kindle.  “Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare.”  as Harriet Martineau said.  This is a novel that will at times make you think.

I mistakenly thought it was on the BBC "Big Read" Top 200 list which is why originally picked it up to read.  I've been reading my way through both the Modern Library Best Novels of the 20th Century and the BBC 200.  However it was published after the BBC list was compiled.  It was listed on a list circulated on Social media as being part of the BBC 100 but that list had several books listed that were not in fact on the BBC list. It's a mistake I'm glad I made.  It's a book worth reading and  it just so happens to fit into my latest reading the world project since the author was from Spain.

"On the Run" series by Gordon Korman

 On the Run series by Gordon Korman

This is a hexology young adult series about a young brother and sister whose parents are in jail.  The 2 youngsters travel the US trying to prove their parents innocence.  It’s not realistic but it’s not designed to be.  It’s designed to be fast paced and interesting which it is.

It’s start reminds me of Holes by Louis Sachar and other parts remind me of Runaway by Wendell Van Draanen.  I recommend both books and authors.

I love reading Young Adult genre and try to read some Newbery Award books each year (slowly try to read all the winners).  Many of my all time favorite books are YA.  

The 6 books of this series in order are:

1. Chasing the Falconers

2. The Fugitive Factor

3. Now you See Them, Now You Don’t

4. The Stowaway Solution

5. Public Enemies

6. Hunting the Hunter

All of the books are short (relatively) and didn’t take long to read.

If you have children who like adventure stories, whether they like to read or not, this series may appeal to them.  It seems like the author was simply extending the story after the first 2 and the ending wasn't the most credible.   I’d say the first 2 books are the best and the others not as “tight” but still enjoyable reading.

 

Hong Kong Author Dung Kai-cheung: Atlas

 Reading the World

Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City  by  Dung Kai-cheung — Hong Kong

I know that technically Hong Kong is considered part of China BUT Hong Kong culturally and historically is different from mainland China although recent events are changing that.  I lived in Hong Kong from February of 2011 until August of 2012.  I lived across the mainland border from Hong Kong in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China from August 2013 until October, 2020.  

Culturally Hong Kong was very different from China as of 2013.

So as I was making a list of books to read representing the different world jurisdictions, I included Hong Kong separately as I do Taiwan.

I searched online for Authors from Hong Kong and selected Atlas by Kai-cheung Dung by mistake.  I glanced through the page online too quickly.  It was the author above Atlas that I actually was interested in reading but ….  oh well.  

Atlas is different.  It is a novel that revolves around maps.  The story itself revolves around a fictional city of Victoria but clearly revolves around Hong Kong.  For people who have lived in Hong Kong as I did, the book will be more interesting than I suspect it will be to anyone who has never been there.

The discussion of the history behind some of the places I found interesting although I am uncertain how much is true and how much is pure fiction - the book is fiction after all but the history of Cantonese language included seems real.

If you’ve lived in Hong Kong, you may find the book of interest. 

World Reading Progress

So I have now read books from every jurisdiction where I have lived - US (Arkansas), Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Next will be to finish books related to authors from jurisdictions where I have worked.  This would add Canada, Ecuador and Brasil / Brazil.  I’ve read several Canadian authors including Charles de Lint and Margaret Atwood and at least one Brasilian author - Paulo Coelho.  So I need to read something from Ecuador before moving on to authors from places I have only visited on vacation - Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Slovakia, Austria, Japan, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Taiwan.  If we include airports, I can add Switzerland, Malaysia and Qatar.   

2021 Stats

So far in 2021, I have finished 46 books totaling just over 19,000 pages.  I have read books by 33 different authors (18 female) from 13 jurisdictions: the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Norway, Jamaica, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong and a Russian American.

Currently reading:  The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Arrowsmith (1926 Pulitzer Prize) by Sinclair Lewis, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (India), The Federalist and the Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V. E. Schwab. 

Reading the World - South Korea

 

The Girl who Wrote Loneliness , Kyung-Sook Shin

“This book … turned out to be not quite fact and not quite fiction …. I wonder if it can be called literature.”    The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness, Kyung-Sook Shin

My 40th book of 2021 and taking me to almost 17,000 pages read.

I have lived in the United States, Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong and mainland China.

I have worked in the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong and mainland China.  If you include volunteer work, then I also can include Brasil.  

So when I decided to expand my reading to purposely seek out authors from around the globe, I decided I should start with where I lived and worked, then expand to other places.  I have read tons of books written by authors from the USA and Canada.  And I’ve read books written by Mexican Authors, Brazilian Authors and Chinese Authors.  Missing from my reading menagerie were authors from South Korea, Hong Kong and Ecuador.  

How does one choose a book to read.  We all know the familiar adage “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover” but I must confess, sometimes I do choose a book to read because of the cover.  Other times I choose a book because it’s title intrigues me and sometimes it is just a feeling.

With “The Girl Who wrote Loneliness” I chose the book because it’s author was South Korean and the title intrigued me.  I’m glad I did

I moved to South Korea in August, 2009 and lived there until February, 2011.  This book is sort of historical fiction and describes a South Korea I never knew mixed with a South Korea I encountered.  How much of the history is truly South Korean history and how much is fiction?   I do not know.  The book describes a South Korea before it's democracy evolved.  People were poor, and worked hard to get an education and improve their economic conditions.  Were conditions in South Korea in the 1980s as described?  

The book follows the life of a young girl who moves from the rural countryside to Seoul to live, work and study.  The story is told by an author who is writing a historical fiction account of those days of her youth.  I don't know the socio-economic history of South Korea to separate the fact from fiction.  I did try to look up an author mentioned in the book and couldn't find anything so even though the person seems real in the book, I now presume she was created for the story.

If you have lived in South Korea in the 21st Century but not earlier, then you should enjoy learning more of Korean culture before South Korea's hard earned economic rise.  The book is captivating and a drama.  It provides insight to a culture very different from the west.  

NOTE:  From Wikipedia:  "Kyung-Sook Shin is a South Korean writer. She is the first South Korean and first woman to win the Man Asian Literary Prize [ in 2012 for 'Please Look After Mom'. ]"

Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K. Hamilton - a review

 

Guilty Pleasures   ranked 82nd on Modern Library's 100 Best Novel's of the 20th Century Reader's List.  I have been making my way through the Modern Library List and Guilty Pleasures was my 95th book to read from that list (actually there are more than 100 books on the list since number 9 on the list is The Books of the Mission Earth Dekalogy by L. Ron Hubbard.  So I guess Guilty Pleasures was maybe the 104th book I read?  

Anyway, the Reader's List is a easier to read list than the Board's List (also more than 100 since it also includes some multiple book series).  You won't find Sci-fi and Fantasy on the Board list but they are prevalent on the Reader's List.

For Guilty Pleasures you can think Buffy the Vampire Slayer (old TV series) with a twist.  It was a fun book to read but won't win many literary awards like the Pulitzer Prize.  But if you want entertaining, then it's a good read.  It was probably more of a novelty when it was written than it is today when you have many competing novels of a similar genre such as Cassandra Clare.  If you like Cassandra Clare's novels, you'll probably like Laurell K. Hamilton's "Anita Blake" novels.

Reading the World: Antarctica

 The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventures to Antarctica by Laurie Gwen Shapiro

When I decided to start trying to read books written by authors from around the world, I had to decide where to begin.  How do I break the world down into manageable segments?  

There are 7 Continents:

    1.    Africa

    2.    Antarctica

    3.    Asia

    4.    Australia or Oceania

    5.    Europe

    6.    North America, and 

    7.    South America

I had read books written by an author from each continent except Antarctica.  The reason is pretty obvious - there are no authors from Antarctica since it is uninhabited except for Science Research bases.  So I decided to include books written by or about people who have visited / spent time in Antarctica.

I explored books searching Antarctica and found this one that had an intriguing title.  So I read it.

The Stowaway is about a Young Polish American William Gawronski who was determined to join Admiral Richard Byrd's American Exploration trip to Antarctica by stowing away on one of the vessels.  I would call it semi-biographical because by the time the book was written, the subject was deceased and information for the book was gathered from newspaper accounts and by interviewing people who knew "Billy" including his second wife and son.  Clearly there would be gaps in knowledge filled in by the author.  There is only a little information on his time in Antarctica.  

While the book wasn't the best written, it did provide an interesting insight into an historical event - the first American exploration of Antarctica from a unique angle - that of a young, Polish American who initially stowed away on a vessel.

  I plan to read another book (or two) based on first hand accounts of Antarctica before I cross Antarctica off my list of Continents.

Review: Chronicles of the Invaders

 The Chronicles of the Invaders trilogy by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard

I have read John Connolly’s Charlie Parker novels for years.  Those are crime / suspense / with a touch of Dean Koontz supernatural thrown in.  John is from Ireland.  His partner, Jennifer Ridyard is British born but grew up in South Africa; currently she resides with John in Ireland.

So when I saw a Sci-Fi series by Connolly I was intrigued.

The three books are:

1. Conquest - it revolves around an alien species conquering Earth and the resistance that                   forms

2. Empire - the focus shifts somewhat to a split among the Aliens and an uneasy alliance between Earth resistance and some factions of the Alien Invaders against the                            other ruling faction; and 

3. Dominion - the finale.  I won’t tell you how it ends.

The trilogy was an interesting and entertaining read.  I won’t say they are my favorite Sci-fi book series I’ve read but they certainly are not the worst.  There are elements of overcoming prejudices, building trust, deception and betrayals, and love / romance.  

If you enjoy action, suspense, romance and Sci-fi all thrown together, then you will probably enjoy this trilogy.

They are a departure from the normal books one expects from John Connolly but not an unpleasant departure.  

Review: Mexican Gothic - Stephen King meets Celeste Ng

 Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

This book was voted "best" by Goodreads' readers in 2020 yet it only have a 3.75 or so rating there which is a bit confusing.  Guess the readers who voted in the awards loved it (5 star) while those who didn't vote for it rated it somewhere similar to me - I gave it a 3 Star - I liked it but I didn't really like it (4 star) or love it (5 star).  Maybe I am a conservative rater on books.  If I can quit reading it to switch to another book (I almost always have more 1 book I am reading at a given time) then it is not a 5, maybe not a 4.  

Silvia writes very well so it was the plot that failed to captivate me.  I liked it but I didn't love it so much I was absorbed by it.  I titled it Stephen King (Horror) meets Celeste Ng "Little Fires Everywhere".  

 If you enjoy reading horror (and I do) then give this one a go.  You'll meet at least one creepy character along the way.

Tim

Books Read in 2021:  34 books, 14,614 pages (per GoodReads); 26 Authors, 10 or 11 nationalities (Is Ayn Rand Russian or American?) and 12 of the 26 authors have been female.  Only 1 book was targeted because it was written by a foreign author from a country I hadn't previously read anything.  I am now up to 29 nations at least from which I have read a book written by an author from that country.

Currently reading:  Spain - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; India:  A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, American - Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis  none of which were chosen because of the author's nationality.  They were already on my Best Books list to read.  South Korea - The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Kyung-Sook Shin was chosen because she is an author from a country where I once lived but haven't read anything written from an author from there.  

I have lived in The United States,  Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong and China.  I've read books written by authors from all of these except South Korea and Hong Kong (I list Hong Kong separately from China because they have a different culture and are supposed to be governed separately from China (SAR) however China has acted recently in a way to kill that independence.  

Book Review: Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James

 Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

It wasn’t my cup of tea.

It’s the first book I’ve read by Marlon James but, for me, it was just passable.  A friend of mine loved it so perhaps you will.

For me, the story seemed to be amiss - more of a shock novel with gratuitous use of vulgar language and sex similar to some other novels I read but never felt a connection with such as Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller although the plot of Tropic of Cancer was easier to follow.
  

I have always seen Vulgarity as unnecessary - an intelligent person can express his or her ideas without resorting to vulgar language.  At the same time, I understand that what is vulgar, obscene or taboo varies by culture and indeed by person.  

For me, the book didn’t tell a compelling story - it just wasn’t there for me.  If I removed the overuse of vulgar language, the story still doesn’t engage me.  I don't like to "ruin" a book by revealing too much but the story in essence follows the life of a man who finds people using paranormal ability and his trips which are always violent - lots of killing.   

Anyway, this was my first novel by an author originally from Jamaica although Marlon James now resides in the US.   

Currently reading Mexican Gothic by Canadian-Mexican author Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (1925 Pulitzer Award), The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish author who died in 2020 from cancer) and A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth of India.  Also just started The Girl who wrote Loneliness by South Korean Author Kyung-Sook Shin - the only book I'm reading now to expand my diversity of world authors although as you can see my other selections are diverse also.

I have now read books written by Authors from 29 different countries (at least).  I'm still cataloging.

Review: In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park - North Korea

 In Order to Live - Yeonmi Park / Park Yeonmi    https://www.yeonmi.com/

“We all have our own deserts.  They may not be the same as my desert, but we all have to cross them to find a purpose life and be free.”

“We weren’t capable of critical thinking because we had been trained not to ask questions.” 

“The regime wants us to be like cells in a single organism, where no unit can exist without the others…”

"I was taught never to express my opinion, never to question anything.  I was taught to simply follow what the government told me to do or say or think.”

“…is not enough for the government to control where you go, what you learn, where you work, and what you say.  They need to control you through your emotions, making you a slave to the state by destroying your individuality, …”

In Order to Live is an autobiographical  account of a young girl’s life in North Korea and her escape with her mother into China where she and her mother became sex slaves in essence before eventually finding her way to South Korea - a place she had learned to fear growing up in North Korea.  South Korea and the USA were the vilest nations on earth according to the propaganda she was taught and at one time believed.

The book isn’t the best written book, but what can you expect from a young girl who at 13 left her native country, suffered emotional trauma, and eventually made it to South Korea at the age of 15 with only the equivalent education of First or Second Grade.  The fact she was able to write a book a few years later is remarkable.  She more or less taught herself by reading after arriving in South Korea.  In about two years time she managed to pass the Korean GED and get admitted into a prestigious South Korean University where she again turned to books to improve her levels including learning English.

It was during her university years that she became "an activist”, speaking out for North Korean citizens who manage to escape but also against the human rights violations in North Korea and China including human trafficking.

I started this review with some quotes from her book that should resonant with people.  Read her book.  It isn’t written in the style of a Margaret Atwood or other highly polished author, but it tells her story in a way that is real.  Everyone should read it and think about the world it reveals.

It was interesting to note that she and I arrived in South Korea at almost the same time - August of 2009.  As far as I know, our paths never crossed.  I moved to South Korea to teach English and lived in Ansan while she lived in Asan.  I left in 2011 while she moved to the US in 2014.

I also lived and taught in China from 2013 to 2020.  I have been to some of the places she mentions in her book and know of others from people I met and got to know in China.  The corruption in China is less than before but it still exists.  There are good and bad people everywhere.  There are people who exploit others everywhere.

Other books you might want to read if you like her book.

I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban co-written with Christina Lamb.

Grey is the Color of Hope by Irina Ratushinskaya - Soviet Poet and Christian who escaped after years of oppression. 

I have now read books written by authors from 28 different Countries.