Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea

“North Korea is indeed a hermit kingdom: a true-to-life dystopian nation. It’s against this backdrop that my story takes place.” 

The Introduction ends with this foreboding cliffhanger to entice the reader to keep reading. “Dystopian” is typically a term used to describe fiction set in a nightmarish, postapocalyptic society in which injustice and suffering are rampant. This is significant in reference to North Korea, given the conditions Sungju grew up in. By signifying that his story takes place in a “dystopia” after relaying historical facts about the Korean Peninsula, Sungju prepares the reader to enter a reality that’s scarier and more desperate than they might expect.

“Little do I know this military tactic will one day come to save my life.” 

While the majority of the book is written from the perspective of Sungju as a child and adolescent, here we see an older Sungju looking back on his life and narrating the significance of a specific event that matters deeply later on. Although there are only a few chapters devoted to Sungju’s early childhood, the military tactics and information imparted to him as a child while playing games with his abeoji end up informing and benefitting him later while living as a kotjebi. The memoir form allows Sungju to step in with his “adult” voice, adding more meditation and reflection from an older perspective.