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Somewhere Inside, Laura Ling and Lisa Ling
number of voters: 3
percentage of voters who finished the book: 100
highest rating: 7.5
lowest rating: 6.75
average rating: 7.083
*****
The title says it all: Somewhere
Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring
Her Home.
Journalists Lisa and Laura Ling offer a competent,
back-and-forth account of Laura’s detainment in North Korea and Lisa’s tireless
efforts to rescue her sister. But while the story is interesting and the
writers capable, overall the book leaves something to be desired—mainly, any
sort of understanding of North Korea and the real danger Laura Ling was in.
We are told that the sisters feared for Laura’s life, that
North Korea is an awful place to be imprisoned. But, by her own description,
Laura is kept in fairly tolerable conditions, treated respectfully, and allowed
regular care packages from home. While that doesn’t diminish any misery she
might have endured, more explanation on North Korea itself might have helped
the reader understand her terror.
What the book does well is offer a glimpse into the inner
workings of international relations, particularly interesting when leaders from
those nations will not communicate with each other directly. Good reading for a
poli-sci major, perhaps, or an especially political average citizen.
There is one issue that the Lings completely overlook. As
readers we are constantly reminded of the sisters well-connectedness, yet it
barely occurs to them that were it not for their social and political class
they might very well be still fighting for Laura’s release. It’s an unfortunate
point to overlook when the authors so freely denounce the classism of North
Korea.
Ultimately this is a book about the separation of two
sisters and the diplomatic posturing of two nations. It holds your attention
long enough to read through to the conflict’s resolution.
{Author’s note: It’s a
delicate thing to review a book about real, traumatizing events without
running the risk of diminishing the trauma itself. The author respectfully recognizes the ordeal
the Ling sisters endured and would like to be clear that this article is no
more than a review of the book itself.}
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