Sylvia
https://www.goodreads.com/sylvsgn
“It amazed me how quickly a lie loses its power in the face of truth.”
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
“In the free world, children dream about what they want to be when they grow up and how they can use their talents. When I was four and five years old, my only adult ambition was to buy as much bread as I liked and eat all of it.”
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
“I inhaled books like other people breathe oxygen. I didn't just read for knowledge or pleasure, I read to live.”
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
“We all have our own deserts. They may not be the same as my desert, but we all have to cross them to find a purpose in life and be free.”
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
“But when I was seven or eight years old, the film that changed my life was Titanic. It amazed me that it was a story that took place a hundred years ago. Those people living in 1912 had better technology than most North Koreans! But mostly I couldn’t believe how someone could make a movie out of such a shameful love story. In North Korea, the filmmakers would have been executed. No real human stories were allowed, nothing but propaganda about the Leader. But in Titanic, the characters talked about love and humanity. I was amazed that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were willing to die for love, not just for the regime, as we were. The idea that people could choose their own destinies fascinated me. This pirated Hollywood movie gave me my first small taste of freedom.”
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
― In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
Sylvia’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Sylvia’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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