Pages

Friday, September 17, 2010

What I'm Reading - Somewhere Inside

A couple weeks ago I picked up the book "Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home." I normally don't read stuff like that, but every once in awhile I just need to read a "lighter" tome.

The subtitle of the book gives the plot of the book in a nutshell, and while the story did hold my attention, what I found most interesting was the mindset of the North Korean people. Apparently, they still think we are at war with them! This blew my mind. Most young people today have no idea what the Korean War was about or when it was fought. Good grief, I never even studied it in school. The only thing I can say for certain about it is that when I was in elementary school, my best friend's dad had fought in the Korean War. Hey, at least I knew there was such a war!

The people in North Korea live a life without luxuries, and in many cases, without the most basic of necessities. The government blames the United States for this. According to the North Korean people, "If America didn't have sanctions on us, we would be able to live much better. It's all because of America that we live like this."

While the author was a captive in North Korea, the North Korean government were running tests on their missles. So, let's take a country that thinks they are at war with us and not get upset when they work to gain nuclear weapons. Hmmm... I don't think that's so smart.

Anyway, the book was an okay read. I'd never read it again, but it was a good "escape" book when I needed one.

No comments:

Post a Comment