The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: Charles Robert Jenkins, Jim Frederick List Price: $15.95 Our Price: $10.85 You Save: $5.10 (32%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours  |
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 | Product Details: Paperback 232 pages Release Date: 10 March 2009 Publisher: University of California Press ISBN: 0520259998 Rating:   Sales Rank: 247395 | | Look for similar books by subject: | | Customers who bought this item also bought:
| | Customer Reviews: Fiction? Obviously distorted. (26 August 2010)It's true what they say that people remember their actions as being more honorable then they actually were, particularly when it involves something they did of which they are ashamed. That is pretty clear in this book as Charles Jenkins tries to make himself a misunderstood hero from the start. I am sure his actions weren't half as honorable as he remembers them. He rationalizes everything....why he wasn't smart enough for school (but still a "super" hero, right?), why his alchoholism wasn't his fault, why his desertion wasn't his fault (they should have known he was drunk). It's very off-putting from the beginning. He projects alot. I don't really understand the point of the accusation that the US Army fabricated a letter from him to his mother as evidence of his desertion when there was plenty of evidence. They didn't need to fabricate any. Isn't it more likely that a sympathetic notification person did not want to tell someone that their son left several letters to soldiers he barely knew before deserting to North Korea but not one for his mother? The rationale at the end of the book that he doesn't think that he deserves the poor opinions of him because a lot of people desert the military is ridiculous as well. I don't know if his sentences of forty years in North Korea and 25 days in jail were sufficient because I don't know how many people suffered as a result of the information he gave the North Koreans. But it's clear that he doesn't truly regret his decision, only that he suffered for it. And his confusion on why he isn't granted forgiveness by everyone just because he demands it just reinforces how ignorant he has always been. This book is worth it for the insight into North Korean life. Buy the print version because the Kindle doesn't show the pictures, which is lame since several other Kindle books have shown that this is possible. The Thin Red Line (25 August 2010)Very disappointing read-thin on detail. The more I read, the less sympathetic I found old cock up Sgt. Jenkins. He suffered inconviences and had a low standard of living in a repressive totalitarian state. His wife rescued him. Due to political pressure he was given a walk on desertion to a hostile state. Most of his explanations of his actions ring off center. He wrote the book to cash in on his fame in Japan. An extremely disappointing effort. Mike (Ohio) Unique and fascinating account. (26 July 2010)A unique in-depth look at North Korea and its treatment of the four US soldiers who went across to the North. SGT Jenkins was different from the other three: he was an NCO (sergeant) and did not have any disciplinary problems hanging over his head. His descriptions of coping with food and material shortages over the years illustrate "good old Yankee ingenuity," nonwithstanding the fact that all four were from the South. With only one soldier (Dresnok) left in the North (Jenkins left, the other two - Parrish, Abshier - died), this account will never be duplicated. Truth or Fiction? (13 July 2010)The problem with Jenkins' version of events is accuracy, veracity. Jenkins has more than ample motive to fabricate. There can be little doubt that he was ready to say whatever needed in order to mitigate his sentence for desertion and get back to Japan. And the story worked. What is the truth? I don't know. To get another side of the story, see the film "Crossing the Line" available at Amazon or on Netflix (both as a DVD or Instant play). This film gives James Joseph Dresnok's (another deserter) version of what happened. Then you can decide. No photos in Kindle version (08 July 2010)Just a heads up, there appear to be no photos in the Kindle version of this book. I was very disappointed to find this out. It simply refers to the print version instead. FYI for those who are thinking about buying the Kindle version. I am not happy about this at all and I may return the book. I expect to get photos when I buy an ebook. | |
