The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea

I heard about Charles Robert Jenkins and The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea when I watched a documentary called Crossing the Line about a different American who defected to and still lived in North Korea.
The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea is a short book (under 200 pages), but is not a quick read. Even with a shadow writer, Jenkins’ literary limitations become apparent when we fail to get a sense of how much time has passed while he is held prisoner in North Korea. The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea does a great job of detailing how little autonomy Jenkins had once he entered North Korea and how subversive the tiniest acts of rebellion are. The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea surprisingly has moments of great tenderness when Jenkins recounts meeting and falling in love with his wife and implies the sexual violence experienced by women under the Communist dictatorship.
Despite its literary failings, The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea is a must read for anyone interested in learning more about life in North Korea.