Audiobook via the Hoopla app.
NOTE: The following quotes are transcriptions by the author of this blog from the above noted audiobook. Any mistakes [especially in the spellings of Korean names] in transcription are due to the blogger's error.
"My father put the portraits down with great care, then hugged the three of us -- a public display of affection that was rare between my parents.
"The next thing I knew my father came rushing into the room yelling, "Wake up!" He yanked us up by our arms and herded us, pushed us out of the room. My mother was behind him shrieking.
It was evening and almost dark. The sky was clear. Minow [younger brother] was dazed from sleep. Outside on the street, we turned and saw oily black smoke pouring from our kitchen window, and dark flames licking the outside wall.
To my astonishment, my father was running back into the house. A strange roar, a wind rushing inward swept passed us. We heard a whoompf. The tiles on one side of the roof collapsed and a fireball like a bright orange chrysanthemum rose into the sky, illuminating the street. One side of the house was ablaze. Thick, tar-black smoke was belching from the other windows.
Where was my father?
Our neighbors were suddenly all around us. Someone was throwing a bucket of water, as if that would quench this blaze. We heard the groan and splinter of wood and the rest of the roof went up in flames.
I wasn't crying, I wasn't even breathing. My father wasn't coming out of the house.
It must only have been seconds but it seemed like minutes. He emerged running towards us, coughing his lungs up. He was blackened by smoke, his face glistening. Under each arm, he was holding two flat, rectangular objects. He wasn't thinking of our possessions or our savings.
He'd rescued the portraits [of the Supreme Leader and his wife]."
Hyeon-seo Lee, The Girl With Seven Names, Prologue, 2015
It was evening and almost dark. The sky was clear. Minow [younger brother] was dazed from sleep. Outside on the street, we turned and saw oily black smoke pouring from our kitchen window, and dark flames licking the outside wall.
To my astonishment, my father was running back into the house. A strange roar, a wind rushing inward swept passed us. We heard a whoompf. The tiles on one side of the roof collapsed and a fireball like a bright orange chrysanthemum rose into the sky, illuminating the street. One side of the house was ablaze. Thick, tar-black smoke was belching from the other windows.
Where was my father?
Our neighbors were suddenly all around us. Someone was throwing a bucket of water, as if that would quench this blaze. We heard the groan and splinter of wood and the rest of the roof went up in flames.
I wasn't crying, I wasn't even breathing. My father wasn't coming out of the house.
It must only have been seconds but it seemed like minutes. He emerged running towards us, coughing his lungs up. He was blackened by smoke, his face glistening. Under each arm, he was holding two flat, rectangular objects. He wasn't thinking of our possessions or our savings.
He'd rescued the portraits [of the Supreme Leader and his wife]."
Hyeon-seo Lee, The Girl With Seven Names, Prologue, 2015
Huddled together, watching together the remains of our house collapse in a rippling glow, the neighbors may have felt sorry for us. My father looked a sight: his face was filthy, and his new civilian suit ruined. And my mother, who was house-proud and always made an effort to dress nicely, was seeing her best bowls and clothes go up in smoke.
Yet what struck me most was neither of my parents seemed that upset. Our home was just a low, two-room house with State-issued furniture, common in North Korea. It's hard to imagine now how anyone would have missed it. But my parents' reaction made a strong impression on me. They four of us were together and safe. That was all that mattered to them.
This is when I understood that we can do without almost anything, our home, even our country, but we will never do without other people, and we will never do without family."
Hyeon-seo Lee, The Girl With Seven Names, Prologue, 2015
"The whole street had seen my father saved the portraits, an act of heroism that would earn a citizen an official commendation."
Hyeon-seo Lee, The Girl With Seven Names, Prologue, 2015
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