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Censorship: A Year of Reading North Korean Lit
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Reflection on a Year or Reading North Korean Lit
Word count: 525
1). North Korea South Korea U.S. Policy At A Time Of Crisis by John Feffer
2). My Last Empress by Da Chen
3). Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout
4). The Boy Who Escaped Paradise by J.M Lee
Reflection on Country : North Korea sparked my interest ever since sophomore year. I always wanted to learn more about the culture and the lifestyle. North Korea is definitely an interesting county, it shows a different side in each book I read. It discusses love, war, death, and economic problems. I could relate the most to Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout. Grace’s fear of change is common for any student in high school going on to college. In My Last Empress the North Korean culture, beliefs, and traditions were depicted. They had servants, got married at a young age, women had to be obedient to any male figure, and the Emperors could gift one of their servants as a gift to another wealthy family. The book even included Korean vocabulary, names, and places. Then in North Korea South Korea U.S. Policy At A Time Of Crisis It discussed their economic and political problems as well as their military strategies, alliances and enemies. I’m not a huge fan of history but this book opened my eyes to many things I had no clue that occurred in the country. They went through a lot of battles and political issues with the United States which still reflects on their relationship nowadays.
What I Learned About Life: Each book taught me a different lesson about life. First, in North Korea South Korea U.S. Policy At A Time Of Crisis by John Feffer I learned that you to know who trust because if things don’t go as planned you never know who will truly be on your side and be there for you. You never truly know someone until their bad side comes out, only then you find out who they really are deep down inside. I also learned about love in My Last Empress by Da Chen and Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout. Love is powerful, and if it’s real, it can sustain anything that tries to break it apart. The love Pickens had for Qiu was very strong, even though she was married to someone else, that didn’t stop their love from continuing to grow. He was willing to risk everything in order for Q to be safe. This is similar to what happens in Hello, I Love You. Grace loved Jason, at first she tried denying it and so did he, but their feelings was stronger than their pride in the end. I learned that if you truly love someone you’ll put them first, you’ll fight for them, and you’ll do anything for that person no matter what.
What I Learned about Myself : I definitely learned to manage time better and to gives books a chance. I’m not the biggest fan of reading but I surprisingly ended up liking some of the books more than I expected. Sometimes I didn’t want to just read 15 pages, I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Time management was very important during this assignment. I had to make sure to leave space in my day to get the reading done even though sometimes I didn’t feel like opening the book.
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Week 20 Blog
The Boy Who Escaped Paradise by J.M. Lee
Pages read- 244-289
Word count- 376
Summary: His teacher asked him to make a huge image of their leader Kim Il-Sung for his fifty fifth anniversary, his school wanted to display the students capabilities at such a young age. This was a big deal for Gil-Mo since thousands of people would be involved in something he created for life Pyongyang. They took this anniversary so seriously that they had many rehearsals days before it actually happened. Kids that could afford lunch could eat, but the rest had to rely on water on a hot summer day. They weren’t even allowed to go to the bathroom during rehearsals to show respect to the leader.
Critical analysis: The doubts I had about who Angela truly was were the complete opposite of what I thought. I thought that she was a real nurse and that she was helping Gil-Mo because she was in love with him. But instead she confesses, “ I didn’t tell you the truth. I’m not a nurse, I’m an FBI agent” (Page 267). I was just as shocked as Gil- Mo was, she felt guilty of not being honest from the beginning. Angela is deceiving because she kept a false image ever since she first met him. The way he describes the girl who was the love is his life shows that time has not changed his feelings. After not seeing her for ages he claims, “ Her ankles were still pale, but she now had sunken cheeks and rumpled hair” (Page 257). It shows that even the pass of time has not taken her beauty away, she’s still as radiant as he remembered her.
Personal response: Gil-Mo’s intelligence was shown even when he was a young boy. While he was in the fourth grade, he was asked to design a very difficult huge puzzle of their leader. His image had to be but up into tiny pieces that created a solid image. He was able to do it for the fifty fifth anniversary of Kim Il- Sung. I was a bit confused during this chapter because it went from him getting interrogated to being back to fourth grade. Last time this happened he was in fifth grade. Is he just remember certain things or going back in time even further each time?
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“I didn’t tell you the truth. I’m not a nurse, I’m an FBI agent” (Page 267).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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“Her ankles were still pale, but she now had sunken cheeks and rumpled hair” (Page 257).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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“Jesus’s colleagues had been arrested, but he had kept us in the dark, then fled” (Page 245).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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Week 19 Blog
The Boy Who Escaped Paradise by J.M. Lee
pages read: 198-243
word count: 188
Summary: After the flashback of his school life, his back at Banks’ office. He is interrogating him about a yellow notebook that he had inside of his backpack. The weird thing was that the notebook was from 1968, way before Gil-Mo was born, and banks wanted to know where he had gotten that from. Banks gets frustrated and grabs him by the throat as Angela walks in. She advices Gil-Mo to tell them the truth about the notebook, because they’ll do anything to get the truth out of him. But he mentions someone called Mr. Knight Miecher, he has no idea who he is but he has to return the notebook to him.
Personal response: I have a feeling that Angela knows what happened to Gil-Mo, it like she knows he's innocent because he's very protective over him. She doesn't allow Banks to abuse his authority. She warns him about what to say, I feel like she cares for him more than a friend. I still have no idea how they met or why she's trying to help him, but I feel like she's doing it for love.
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“I could forget about the money, sure. But I wouldn’t be able to forget her” (Page 231)
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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“Is better to be a famous villain than to have a boring life, isn’t it” (Page 225).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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“People only believe in things they can see, but invisible things exist, too” (Page 202).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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Week 18 Blog
The Boy Who Escaped Paradise by J.M. Lee
Pages read : 137- 197
Word count: 370
Summary: It’s a flashback to when he attended a school for kids who were very advanced in math. He didn’t attend primary school since he was to ahead for his age. He pretty much learned everything about numbers at home. But they had math olympiads at this school and needed the best of the best to compete. They were surprised to see everything he knew without ever going to school. He got an acceptance letter saying that he would attend this school and do the competition. His father was extremely proud of him, and told him to pursue his education and focus on numbers and not death.
Critical analysis: As it’s been explained before, Gil-Mo is an extremely wise and intelligent person. He knew how to do college level math problems in fifth grade. The author claims, “He’s a math genius. A walking calculator. He’s really very talented with numbers” (Page 137). He’s compared to a calculator because of how well he knows and understands math. The calculator is personified to represent Gil-Mo. But his intelligence doesn’t stop with math, it goes beyond that. He’s aware of how to do things and why. The author states, “You have to wear a suit in a casino. Otherwise they’ll look down on you” (page 173). He was well aware of how to make himself fit in and not stand out to not get himself caught.
Personal response: I enjoy that the books goes from the present to the past even though it’s sometimes confusing. But I didn’t expect to know why he was being interrogated right away, I of course have to find out how he went from being so focused on math and nothing else to being accused of killing someone. He mentioned the only friend he made when he went to school. I really like his friend because they help each other out instead of competing with each other. His friend isn’t only aware of numbers but of all of the lies from their leader. He didn’t believe the story of how he crossed a lake using one leaf to fight the Japanese, he knew very well their leader wasn’t as honest and perfect as he perceived himself to be.
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“You have to wear a suit in a casino. Otherwise they’ll look down on you” (page 173).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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“Sometimes we can’t tell what the weather is like outside. We can’t tell if time is passing” (Page 161).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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“Being a drug mule is the easiest way for people like us to make something for ourselves. Do you understand?” (Page 153).
He boy who escaped paradise by J.M Lee
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“He’s a math genius. A walking calculator. He’s really very talented with numbers” (Page 137).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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Week 17 Blog
The Boy Who Escaped Paradise by J.M. Lee
Pages read: 76-136
Word count: 371
Summary: Gil-Mo was explaining his childhood and relationship with his father. Ever since he was young he loved math and solving complicated problems. His birthday is February 29th which means that every four years one day is left over, and that’s when his birthday is. People close to him tell him that he acts like a kid even though he’s intelligent. His father is protective of him, since he doesn’t have any friends and he doesn’t know how to play any simple kids games. His son is more about learning and understanding math. Gil-Mo’s father used to be a doctor but got his license revolved because there was a death of a very important general.
Critical analysis: In this chapter the reader gets a deeper look inside of the Gil-Mo’s life. It shows his childhood and how he gets along with his father. He is a very intriguing person, this isn’t a passing emotion because he has been this way ever since he was young. The author claims, “So many words have lost their true meaning, and people cut words up and bind them together” (Page 78). This shows how complex and deep he is about everything, even about the meaning of words. He’s not only intriguing but also intelligent. His intelligent has been demonstrated since the very beginning of he book. The author states, “I didn’t escape the prison camp, not exactly. I didn’t hatch a plot; I didn’t even have a plan. I just left” (Page 90). Gil-Mo not only knows how to solve complicated math problems but also knows how to get himself out of trouble.
Personal response: It’s the first time the author mentions the main characters name, which is Gil-Mo. He is extremely clever and curious. Since his father now works at a funeral home, dress up and putting makeup on dead people, he asked him what happens after death. His father explained that they go to paradise, but he didn’t want him to focus on dead, but to worry about life right here right now. But that didn’t stop Gil-Mo from being curious and wanting to help his father with the dead. He told his father that he was in fact not afraid of death
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“There’s one problem, but there isn’t just one answer” (Page 129).
The boy who escaped paradise by J.M. Lee
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“Meeting Zheng Hanmo was the luckiest thing that could ever happen to you” (Page 116).
The boy who escaped paradise by J. M. Lee
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