Review: Under the Same Sky by Joseph Kim (with Stephan Talty)
“Right now, we only share the stars. But I can look up at night and see that you are under the same sky. That will have to be enough until I find you.” –Under the Same Sky by Joseph Kim, with Stephan Talty
Last year, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation and speak to some of the amazing people that work with Liberty in North Korea, a non-profit organization that specializes in rescuing and resettling North Korean refugees. LiNK is the same organization that brought Joseph Kim to the United States. I was interested to learn more about life in North Korea and about the work that LiNK does, so I purchased Kim’s book from the LiNK website. It did not disappoint. This autobiography is filled with important and enlightening information, and it provides an invaluable look into life within an oppressive regime.
At times, I found the book to be slow moving and repetitive, but I feel this reflected an important aspect of Joseph’s life in North Korea: the same motions, day in and day out, of wandering his town and simply trying to survive. Though only 273 pages, it took me quite a while to finish this book, because the repetitive nature forced me to only read it in small sections.
However, there were some many other parts of this book that made it worth the read. There were so many resounding scenes of suffering, heartbreak, and reflections on human behavior. The multiple scenes at the beginning of the book that discussed the packed, sluggish trains filled with people moving from town to town in search of food were especially memorable.
“On the day of departure, we walked to the station in the stifling heat. There were no more scheduled departure times; with the power outages, trains simply appeared. Hundreds of people were waiting at the station, lying on the grass or sitting on benches, fanning themselves, silent and wary . . . We sat on the concrete platform guarding our few bags. After a couple of hours, the crowd stirred. A train appeared around the bend of the southbound track. But there was something odd about it. The train itself looked misshapen—instead of the sleek tubular carriages I was used to, a thick, swollen thing chugged toward us. I realized the swelling was actually bodies crouched on the train cars’ roofs and people hanging from the cars’ broken windows . . .The locomotive heaved to a stop and the people around me surged forward, letting out a collective shriek. The sight of the only way out of the famine lands triggered a kind of hysteria in the people. . . people began to shove around me and to smack each other with their fists.” –Under the Same Sky, pg. 30-31
I’ve been so lucky as to never experience the fear of starvation, familial separation, or imprisonment, but Kim was able to make the reader relate to his struggles. He expressed struggles within his family—financial worries, the drive to gain the approval of one’s parents, etc.—that anyone from any nation can relate to. He also discussed his childhood fears that every child experiences. This made the less commonly experienced scenes of violence, homelessness, and abandonment much more impactful. It inspired the thought, That could be my family. It makes the story very personal. What resounded the most was the death of Kim’s father, the imprisonment of his mother, and his separation from his sister after she was taken to China to be sold. I could never imagine the pain of that kind of separation. Kim was forced to leave his remaining family behind, and he has yet to find his sister. The search continues to this day.
The global refugee crisis is something I am very passionate about, and Under the Same Sky by Joseph Kim provided great insight into an ongoing issue. I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about North Korea and the refugee crisis to read Kim’s book. This is also a great option for educators discussing similar topics.
