Dear Leader

Poet, Spy, Escapee - A Look inside North Korea

By: Jang Jin-sung

Narrated by: Daniel York

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

In this rare insider's view into contemporary North Korea, a high-ranking counterintelligence agent describes his life as a former poet laureate to Kim Jong-il and his breathtaking escape to freedom.

"The General will now enter the room."

Everyone turns to stone. Not moving my head, I direct my eyes to a point halfway up the archway where Kim Jong-il’s face will soon appear.

As North Korea's State Poet Laureate, Jang Jin-sung led a charmed life. With food provisions (even as the country suffered through its great famine), a travel pass, access to strictly censored information, and audiences with Kim Jong-il himself, his life in Pyongyang seemed safe and secure. But this privileged existence was about to be shattered. When a strictly forbidden magazine he lent to a friend goes missing, Jang Jin-sung must flee for his life.

Never before has a member of the elite described the inner workings of this totalitarian state and its propaganda machine. An astonishing exposé told through the heart-stopping story of Jang Jin-sung's escape to South Korea, Dear Leader is a rare and unprecedented insight into the world’s most secretive and repressive regime.

©2014 Jang Jin-Sung. All rights reserved. (P)2014 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Amazing story

This was a fascinating book in view of what we are seeing from North Korea at this time. The narration By Daniel York was very appealing. I'm considering sharing this book with my book club.

A Must Read For Anyone Who Lives In a Free Nation

Absolutely heart wrenching story and demonstrates that freedom should not be taken for granted. It should be a warning for those who would give up their freedom for the so-called Progressivism that is in reality just another brand of Socialism.

Simply Incredible

This is one of the most amazing stories I've ever heard. I was on the edge of my proverbial seat from the opening word. What a testament to the yearning to be free. Buy this book NOW and you will come away thankful for the blessing of freedom you enjoy.

READ THIS BOOK! It's amazing!

I can't recommend this book enough. I rarely, if ever, write reviews even for the books I really enjoy. But this story was incredible and I felt the need to pass on the praise. I spent countless moments in my driveway after arriving home, unable to turn the car off because I was so wrapped up in this book.

Very Informative & well done

Great story, told well, and read exceptionally well. Great insights into the inner workings of North Korea.

Riveting

This is simultaneously the most fascinating and horrifying book I’ve read in years. The power of groupthink, the pressure to conform, the risks of deviating from established norm (no matter how corrupt) are on full display. I will be digesting this book for a long time.

Meet 1984 plus a great adventure

This was a very intriguing book and relevant to current negotiations with North Korea. First, the author gives an excellent insider’s view of how the North Korean regime controls its population and executes its international strategy. This by itself would have made for an informative reading. However, much of the book is about the author’s experience during his defection— as good as any similar fictional tale that you have read, but this is real. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. The narration is equally good. I highly recommend it.

Captivating story offering insight to North Korea

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dear Leader?

I bought this audiobook hoping to learn about North Korea, but hearing it through the life of the main character gave me so much more insight and kept we interested from the first minute to the last.

Necessary

This is an important book, giving a vivid picture of life inside North Korea (for at least the privileged class) and how hard China makes it for people to escape. Jang Jin-sung has a unique perspective because his profession was to play a key role manufacturing propaganda and creating (fabricating) the history of North Korea, so he was on the inside track of strategy used by the regime. The book takes a couple of quick peeks into what life was like for the not-so-lucky majority - a trip to his hometown where his best friend's mother was able to serve him a half bowl of rice because she had been saving 10 grains every day for weeks, mandatory attendance at weekly firing squads in the marketplace as even the smallest transgressions were punished with death; a starving woman selling her daughter to afford feeding her one last time. Even for the insiders like Jang, hot water was limited to four hours a day and electricity was sporadic.

Jang is also frank about how the U.S. and South Korean approaches are understood and deftly counteracted by North Korea's strategies.

The book leaves you wondering how many millions of people have starved to death there, and why the rest of us "civilized" people tolerate it.

The narrator is a bit monotone and harsh-spoken, but he is also apparently a Korean speaker which may explain this.

Lord Byron would be proud

How York managed to maintain his composure while reading the words of Mr. Jang is beyond me. This is not your everyday story of a North Korea escapee. Jang's story is moving, informative, and narrative style I dare say give Byron a run for his money.