In fact, every time my father and I play war games, he uses-and ruins-her makeup to decorate his toy soldiers. She’s not happy because he broke the tip. My father has drawn a thick Hitler-like mustache on his general using my eomeoni’s eyebrow pencil. The blanket on which we had our picnic is now the hospital. My mother is play-acting as my army nurse. I am carrying a wooden pistol that my father carved and painted for me. My father’s army is positioned in the middle. The rest are hidden in a bush near the river. My own troops are separated, with part of my army standing behind my general.
My father is in charge of the Japanese troops. My father and I are setting up the toy soldiers to reenact one of the decisive battles in which our eternal leader, Kim Il-sung, ousted the Japanese army from our country, Joseon-or, as most in the West know it, North Korea. My toy soldier peers over a mound of dirt not far from where my father, abeoji, my mother, eomeoni, and I have just finished our picnic, near the Daedong River in Pyongyang. This fast-paced story will likely compel its readers to learn more about North Korea after finishing it. A short foreword offers readers some historical context, but the story's emphasis on the dangers of daily survival mirrors Lee's lack of awareness at the time of larger political events. Over time the boys shed their faith in the regime but never give up on dreams of reunion with their families. Straightforward prose prevents this harrowing tale from overwhelming readers, but at times it may emotionally distance them.
Teaming up with several friends, Lee travels the country-stealing in markets fighting other gangs for territory smoking, drinking, and using opium getting arrested and imprisoned finding clients for a madam's "nightflowers" and losing two of his friends in brutal attacks. The mid-1990s famine that eventually killed over 1 million North Koreans soon takes its toll, as each of his parents leaves in search of food and does not return. Sungju Lee's carefree life, playing with his rare pedigreed dog and watching cartoons, comes to an abrupt end at age 11 when his family is banished to a remote seaside town after his army officer father transgresses in unspecified ways. Kirkus reviews: A pampered son of the elite survives a nightmarish ordeal in this page-turner of a memoir.
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