In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park
In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park
13 Rating(s)
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
Club: $10.00

In Order to Live
A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

Author: Yeonmi Park

Narrator: Eji Kim

Unabridged: 9 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 09/29/2015


Synopsis

“I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.” - Yeonmi Park

"One of the most harrowing stories I have ever heard - and one of the most inspiring." - The Bookseller

“Park's remarkable and inspiring story shines a light on a country whose inhabitants live in misery beyond comprehension. Park's important memoir showcases the strength of the human spirit and one young woman's incredible determination to never be hungry again.” —Publishers Weekly

In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea—and to freedom.

Park confronts her past with a startling resilience. In spite of everything, she has never stopped being proud of where she is from, and never stopped striving for a better life. Indeed, today she is a human rights activist working determinedly to bring attention to the oppression taking place in her home country. Park’s testimony is heartbreaking and unimaginable, but never without hope. This is the human spirit at its most indomitable.

About The Author

Yeonmi Park is a human rights activist who was born in North Korea. She is also the author of While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector's Search for Freedom in America. A graduate of Columbia University, she lives in New York City.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Petrik on April 19, 2017

Some of you will probably skip reading this review since it’s a memoir and most of my friends and followers, like me are lovers of fantasy & fiction books. Believe me, memoirs or any kind of non-fiction books is a genre I avoid the most. However, after watching Yeonmi Park’s viral video on YouTube b......more

Goodreads review by Whitney on June 25, 2017

4.5 stars everything hurts and i'm crying This book just makes you take 10 seats. It's a story I can't even fathom being in. It's like an actual dystopia. Everything was so outrageous and haunting that it was almost unbelievable. What I found myself enjoying was not just Yeonmi finding physical freedo......more

Goodreads review by Taufiq on November 16, 2024

The book is titled In Order to “Live” rather than "Survive," but before Yeonmi escaped to South Korea, her family's efforts were more about avoiding hunger. In North Korea, human rights are reduced to an unimaginable extent. Yeonmi’s family was considered wealthy by North Korean standards: they cou......more

Goodreads review by April (Aprilius Maximus) on March 28, 2016

I honestly don't even know what to say. What can you possibly say after reading Yeonmi's story? Completely heartbreaking and horrific, yet inspiring all at once. Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes: - 19. A non-fiction book......more

Goodreads review by Helene Jeppesen on February 21, 2018

This is one of the most important books I’ve read in my life! “In Order to Live” tells the true story of Yeonmi and her family growing up in the dictatorship of North Korea. Yeonmi is very honest from the beginning, and her story tells about the bravery she and her family had to have in order to esc......more


Quotes

"One of the most harrowing stories I have ever heard - and one of the most inspiring." - The Bookseller

“An eloquent, wrenchingly honest work that vividly represents the plight of many North Koreans.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Park's remarkable and inspiring story shines a light on a country whose inhabitants live in misery beyond comprehension. Park's important memoir showcases the strength of the human spirit and one young woman's incredible determination to never be hungry again.” —Publishers Weekly