“I thought that, with so much current attention focused on the topic of North Korea, I might share what I think are three books which cast a rare light on the elusive realm of North Korea.”

What good’s a captive without her captor?

The urge to create a fictional narrative is a mysterious one, and when an idea comes, the writer’s sense of what a story wants to be is only vaguely visible through the penumbra of inspiration.

[I]n communism, you’d threaten a dog into compliance, while in capitalism, obedience is obtained through bribes.

All the human actions we think of as essential to a character – had be censored by the self lest they be punished by the state.

Writing is hard work, and if anything’s true about the process, it’s that fact that a good story is hard to find and even trickier to get on paper.

Conjure up all the strength you have and drive through whatever it is keeping you on your knees. Build up the strength and your knees may never buckle again!

I am a champion standing over the shadow of my former self.

Life brings what it brings. I might be young but I’ve learnt this: prepare for each blind corner with your strongest shoulder dropped, ready to smash through whatever is thrown at you next.

Imagine a place where not a single person has read a book that is truly about the character at its center.

“A name isn’t a person.” Ga said. “Don’t ever remember someone by their name.

Orphans are the only ones who get to choose their fathers, and they love them twice as much.

To keep someone alive, you put them inside you, you put their face on your heart. Then, no matter where you are, they’re always with you because they’re a part of you.”

All the lessons you need to learn in life, he said, will be taught to you by your enemy.

What’s less romantic than staring alone at a blank screen? And edgy? I’ve changed the cat little because I didn’t know what my characters were going to say next.

Today, tomorrow,” she said. “A day is nothing. A day is just a match you strike after the ten thousand matches before it have gone out.

And secretly, he’d be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change.

I always thought that life was about standing your ground, no matter how strong the current was. But going with the flow isn’t so bad after all. As long as it takes you forward.

And what does the beach knows of depths, the cold, the currents just there, where-do you see it? – Where the water turns a deeper blue.

It is not what we learn in conversation that enriches us. It is the elation that comes of swift contact with tingling currents of thought.

But all of these knew very well what they did not want, and what they did not want was the current coin, the well-worn usage.

There is the current that is flowing (for example, fluid, heat, mass, or information) and the design through which it flows.

Although commenting on issues of current importance was more common.

it must evolve in such a way that it provides easier access to the imposed currents that flow through it.

By bringing current events into the classroom, everyday discussion, and social media.