This was a Buddy Read Book and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Deborah Smith's immaculate translation opens us up to the darkness and human tragedy that exists in North Korea at this time. Bandi means Firefly and what an apt name that is as the writing of this author shines a light on the oppression, darkness and harshness of existence under a dictatorial regime. This group of short stories will haunt you long after you have read them and reassess the good fortune many of us take for granted in the West. These stories are fictional but clearly drawn from the visual experiences of Bandis family, friends and associates. This author has amazingly decided not to defect to South Korea but to stay in his home state grasping the hope that the cracks of reality may one day splinter the dictatorship of modern slavery wide open and allow these oppressed people a glimpse at true freedom. I have given it 4 stars purely because I did not finish one story as the lyrical literary to...
Book reader, lover and reviewer