The book had called my attention a while before, I just hadn't gotten around to reading it. All I knew is that it was about a man's life in North Korea. The book was divided into two parts and I'm not sure if this was the purpose, but this is what I think that was about: 
 The first half of the book is about a man called Pak Jun Do. He is a fisherman who has also worked as a member of the government that is responsible for kidnappings. He is a simple man with no selfish desires. He lives to help others and even though has no living family and no reason to stay in North Korea does so for fear of the unknown. He eventually gets sent to Texas as part of a delegation and gets his first taste of life outside of the bubble that is his homeland. It makes him question his life choices, but he still remains committed to North Korea. After doing everything right, he finds himself sent to a work camp and he becomes a shadow in the sea of endless faces. Its devastating to see the only world he knew betray him. 
 The second half of the book is about a man called Commander Ga. This half of the story is interesting and odd. Its told partly by a loudspeaker advertising North Korean propaganda, Commander Ga's point of view, and the point of view of a man who is interrogating Ga about events leading up to a woman named Sun Moon's death. The story helps us understand more about the dark nature of the oppression North Korean's face, then fiction takes over and a confabulated, impossible scheme to get out of the country ensues. 
 The book does not address our cultural need for a happy ending and ends as I should have expected. I found that the author did a lot of research and while its difficult to get a clear picture of what life is really like in North Korea, he created as close to a realistic story as he could. I found it informative and the narration of the story was solid.