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SandyPP, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by SandyPP)
What do we really know about North Korea? Next to nothing. I was so grateful to finally learn something that feels accurate.
Journalist Demick was stationed in Seoul and managed to get a visa to go to the north but found it wasn't possible to be allowed to actually talk honestly with anyone. So she came back to the south and interviewed people who had escaped. It feels balanced because among her subjects is a woman who belonged to the Communist Party and believed in the government, who hadn't even wanted to leave but was tricked by one of her children.
from the reading room, February 18, 2012 (view all comments by from the reading room)
In the midst of our country’s current challenges and frustrations, Barbara Demick’s “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea”” is a timely reminder of how immensely fortunate we are to live in an American democracy. It is a book so extraordinary, so captivating that I literally could not put it down. Little wonder that it is not only a recent National Book Award finalist, but a book club favorite as well.
Focusing on the stories of six defectors who lived in North Korea from about 1900 to 2005, Demick movingly recounts their agonized struggles to survive through the final years of Kim il Sung and the cataclysmic famine that decimated the population. It horrifies me to realize that even today, as I worry about gaining too much weight, deciding what TV program to watch, or which brand of chicken to buy, millions of North Korean citizens exist without food for body or spirit in “the world’s most repressive regime.”
ferret, January 22, 2012 (view all comments by ferret)
A powerful and very personal look into the lives of ordinary citizens of North Korea. One of the best nonfiction books I have ever read.
takingadayoff, January 1, 2011 (view all comments by takingadayoff)
Nothing to Envy is a crash course in North Korean culture. Demick's journalism is like an excellent documentary, in which you are barely aware that there's a camera between you and the subject. The stories of several individuals who eventually left North Korea, was heartbreaking, riveting, and thrilling.
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Bodhisara, January 1, 2011 (view all comments by Bodhisara)
This book pulls the reader into the life stories of several North Koreans, both before and after defecting. It's a completely captivating, horrifying, and eye-opening look at the secret harsh realities of citizens of North Korea over the past 40+ years. It had me on the edge of my seat, and I was unable to stop reading. It boggles the mind to think that the totalitarian rule and famines are still going on today. It's enough to wrench the soul. It's hands-down the best book I've read in a long time.
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"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
"Nothing to Envy" follows the lives of six North Koreans over 15 years--a chaotic period that saw the unchallenged rise to power of Kim Jong Il and the devastation of a famine that killed one-fifth of the population.
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