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A Thousand Miles to Freedom
- My Escape from North Korea
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
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Publisher's summary
Eunsun Kim was born in North Korea, one of the most secretive and oppressive countries in the modern world. As a child, Eunsun loved her country...despite her school field trips to public executions, daily self-criticism sessions, and the increasing gnaw of hunger as the countrywide famine escalated. By the time she was 11 years old, Eunsun's father and grandparents had died of starvation, and Eunsun too was in danger of starving. Finally her mother decided to escape North Korea with Eunsun and her sister, not knowing that they were embarking on a journey that would take them nine long years to complete. Told with grace and courage, her memoir is a riveting exposé of North Korea's totalitarian regime and, ultimately, a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gillian
- 03-25-16
Not Much New Here, but Courage and Hope to Spare
There are so many defector books out now that it takes quite a bit to distinguish one from the other. There are plenty of books about North Korea also.
If you're really, really interested in North Korea, I suggest "Nothing to Envy," here on Audible. If, however, you've not been introduced to stories from defectors, "A Thousand Miles to Freedom" is quite fine indeed. Eunsun is a strong, courageous young woman and her story deserves to be heard. You'll learn of the famine in the 90's, the terrifying reality of crossing the border, life in China (where things are supposed to be great), selling body, soul, and family for a chance, just a chance for a life without so much hunger and suffering.
And it's extraordinary to watch (or should I say, listen) as Eunsun realizes that she's lived a life of brainwashing, where no one is allowed to question or to think for themselves.
All along the way, her despair, her anger, her fear are palpable, and Emily Woo Zeller turns in a good performance.
If you've listened or are addicted to defector memoirs, there's really not much new here, but it's definitely worth it as a half-credit or Daily Deal. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just that it's really fairly short and there are so many, many other memoirs out now. But Eunsun is admirable and what she and her family went through is harrowing and worth the listen. Pretty edge-of-your-seat stuff, with plenty of courage and hope to go around.
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130 people found this helpful
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- Ketia B. Wick
- 09-26-15
A powerful and moving true life story
This book was exceptionally well written and narrated. Eunsun Kim has done an exceptional job in providing us with an honest and revealing true story of the horrors of The North Korean dictatorship and the struggles of the people of that country, whether they remain there, or whether they struggle to escape.
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30 people found this helpful
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- Kevin Stokes
- 09-09-15
An unforgettable story written from the heart.
What do you do when the government food store just closes up and doesn't reopen? There are places where you can buy food but you don't have any money at all. As she and her mother struggle to survive, they travel far and experience unbelievably rough times. Eunsun Kim does a great job conveying the both what it was like to grow up in North Korea during better times, and the amazing journey to freedom. The description of the escape into Mongolia was particularly gripping. When in the end, she makes her way to true freedom, it is a real pleasure when she finally gets to experience a much better life.
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29 people found this helpful
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- Jfm
- 07-29-15
Fantastic book
Where does A Thousand Miles to Freedom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This story is so unreal. I can't believe there are humans on Earth still going through things like this. Please give it a read and it will open your eyes to a struggle most of us could not even comprehend. I will probably listen to this audiobook more than once.
What other book might you compare A Thousand Miles to Freedom to and why?
?
What does Emily Woo Zeller bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The way the book is read makes you almost picture Eunsun Kim reading the book. Very well done.
If you could give A Thousand Miles to Freedom a new subtitle, what would it be?
N/A
Any additional comments?
Listen to this audiobook.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Taryn
- 04-12-16
Compelling
This is the first book I have read about North Korean's horrible conditions and those who risk everything to leave and it was compelling for me. There are no adequte words to describe how heartbreaking this story is, yet it tells us how the human spirit cannot be broken. The story of one familys journey to freedom is told in an unflinching manner. I am looking forward to reading more about N. Korea. It puts our lives here in America with our freedoms and all the things we take for granted in perspective!
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13 people found this helpful
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- suzanne
- 08-05-15
Another defector
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I've read a few books on North Koreans defecting. While Eunsun demonstrates amazing emotional strength and I cannot imagine the trials and tribulations, the book didn't WOW me, but maybe because I've read so many other books about North Korean defectors.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
Relief for Eunsun.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
Just ok.
Do you think A Thousand Miles to Freedom needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
No. I think the story is based on her defection which was complete.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-11-15
Only A Heart of Stone Could Fail To Be Moved
The one great achievement of horrendous tyrannies is that they produce our most inspiring stories of human courage and triumph against impossible odds. Eunsun Kim's book is a worthy addition to this literature. Read î.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Kristian Pulz
- 04-04-16
A wonderful story
Where does A Thousand Miles to Freedom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Top 3
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
All the problems they incurred in China
Any additional comments?
This was one of the best true stories I've ever heard. I'm not usually big into non-fiction, but after this book I'm more inclined to listened to the more often. It was interesting to hear about North Korea, a country not many know much about, and the people within. I was amazed throughout the whole story. Also the narrator did a wonderful job.
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8 people found this helpful
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- major123
- 12-06-15
Fascinating!
Well written and well performed. Great insight into a country of which we know so little. I highly recommend this book!
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8 people found this helpful
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- Jan
- 03-26-16
Nicely told escape from North Korea
I own several escape from North Korea books and although I have enjoyed the others a great deal... The author of this one is so straightforward and positive in her account that I listened in one setting and wanted more. Nicely done.
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7 people found this helpful
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- By Amazon Customer on 02-15-23
By: Yeonmi Park
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A River in Darkness
- One Man's Escape from North Korea
- By: Masaji Ishikawa, Risa Kobayashi - translator, Martin Brown - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the lowest social caste. His father, himself a Korean national, was lured to the new Communist country by promises of abundant work, education for his children, and a higher station in society. But the reality of their new life was far from utopian.
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Awful! And I don't mean the book . . .
- By DJW on 01-03-18
By: Masaji Ishikawa, and others
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The Girl with Seven Names
- A North Korean Defector’s Story
- By: Hyeonseo Lee, David John
- Narrated by: Josie Dunn
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal communist regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and realise that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told, 'the best on the planet'?
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Did not like narrator
- By Linda H. Andreae on 10-09-19
By: Hyeonseo Lee, and others
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Stars Between the Sun and Moon
- One Woman's Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom
- By: Lucia Jang, Susan McClelland
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Born in 1970s North Korea, Lucia Jang grew up in a typical household - her parents worked in the factories, and the family scraped by on rations. Nightly she bowed to her photo of Kim Il-Sung. It was the beginning of a chaotic period with a decade-long famine. Jang married an abusive man who sold their baby. She left him and went home to help her family by illegally crossing the river to China to trade goods. She was caught and imprisoned twice.
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Fantastic story. Well read.
- By Jfm on 02-20-16
By: Lucia Jang, and others
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Nothing to Envy
- Ordinary Lives in North Korea
- By: Barbara Demick
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years - a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung and the unchallenged rise to power of his son, Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Taking us into a landscape never before seen, Demick brings to life what it means to be an average Korean citizen, living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today.
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The man who wants to be GOD
- By Gohar on 05-08-10
By: Barbara Demick
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In Order to Live
- A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
- By: Yeonmi Park
- Narrated by: Eji Kim
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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.
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Wow. What a story!
- By Jfm on 02-01-16
By: Yeonmi Park
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While Time Remains
- A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America
- By: Yeonmi Park
- Narrated by: Maureen Taylor
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
After defecting from North Korea, Yeonmi Park found liberty and freedom in America. But she also found a chilling crackdown on self-expression and thought that reminded her of the brutal regime she risked her life to escape. When she spoke out about the mass political indoctrination she saw around her in the United States, Park faced censorship and even death threats.
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This should be required reading. Amazing book
- By Amazon Customer on 02-15-23
By: Yeonmi Park
-
A River in Darkness
- One Man's Escape from North Korea
- By: Masaji Ishikawa, Risa Kobayashi - translator, Martin Brown - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the lowest social caste. His father, himself a Korean national, was lured to the new Communist country by promises of abundant work, education for his children, and a higher station in society. But the reality of their new life was far from utopian.
-
-
Awful! And I don't mean the book . . .
- By DJW on 01-03-18
By: Masaji Ishikawa, and others
-
The Girl with Seven Names
- A North Korean Defector’s Story
- By: Hyeonseo Lee, David John
- Narrated by: Josie Dunn
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal communist regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and realise that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told, 'the best on the planet'?
-
-
Did not like narrator
- By Linda H. Andreae on 10-09-19
By: Hyeonseo Lee, and others
-
Stars Between the Sun and Moon
- One Woman's Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom
- By: Lucia Jang, Susan McClelland
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1970s North Korea, Lucia Jang grew up in a typical household - her parents worked in the factories, and the family scraped by on rations. Nightly she bowed to her photo of Kim Il-Sung. It was the beginning of a chaotic period with a decade-long famine. Jang married an abusive man who sold their baby. She left him and went home to help her family by illegally crossing the river to China to trade goods. She was caught and imprisoned twice.
-
-
Fantastic story. Well read.
- By Jfm on 02-20-16
By: Lucia Jang, and others
-
Nothing to Envy
- Ordinary Lives in North Korea
- By: Barbara Demick
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years - a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung and the unchallenged rise to power of his son, Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Taking us into a landscape never before seen, Demick brings to life what it means to be an average Korean citizen, living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today.
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The man who wants to be GOD
- By Gohar on 05-08-10
By: Barbara Demick
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Dear Leader
- Poet, Spy, Escapee - A Look inside North Korea
- By: Jang Jin-sung
- Narrated by: Daniel York
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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.
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Outstanding! A life-changing listen.
- By Gotta Tellya on 09-29-14
By: Jang Jin-sung
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The Hard Road Out
- One Woman’s Escape from North Korea
- By: Jihyun Park, Seh-Lynn Chai, Sarah Baldwin - translator
- Narrated by: Rosa Escoda
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
North Korea is an open-air prison from which there is no escape. Only a handful of men and women have succeeded. Jihyun Park is one of these rare survivors. Twice she left the land of the ‘socialist miracle’ to flee famine and dictatorship. By the age of 29, she had already witnessed a lifetime of suffering. Family members had died of starvation; her brother was beaten nearly to death by soldiers. Even smiling and laughing was discouraged.
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Harrowing
- By Elijah Roberts on 11-26-23
By: Jihyun Park, and others
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First They Killed My Father
- A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
- By: Loung Ung
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.
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Brutal, Heartbreaking
- By Gillian on 01-27-15
By: Loung Ung
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North Korea Confidential
- Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors
- By: Daniel Tudor, James Pearson
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
North Korea is one of the most troubled societies on earth. The country's 24 million people live under a violent dictatorship led by a single family, which relentlessly pursues the development of nuclear arms, which periodically incites risky military clashes with the larger, richer, liberal South, and which forces each and every person to play a role in the "theater state" even as it pays little more than lip service to the wellbeing of the overwhelming majority.
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Interesting portrait of North Korea marred by awful pronunciation
- By