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Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives In North Korea (2009)

by Barbara Demick(Favorite Author)

4.41 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0385523904 (ISBN13: 9780385523905)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Spiegel & Grau

review 1: Write what you know. It's an old adage, and a good one as adages go. Experience can give you a unique perspective on a given topic, and writing about it can help share that perspective with someone else."Nothing to Envy" is a masterful blend of storytelling and history. Focusing on the life stories of North Koreans that escaped to South Korea, Barbara Demick weaves together their tales into a cohesive narrative shedding light on the state of the most misunderstood place in the world, interspersed with historical information to fill in the gaps. From the star-crossed lovers to the devoted mothers, from the top university students to the thieving orphans, there is a good mixture of all sorts of social strata presented here.Thankfully for me, the book assumes little to no kno... morewledge of Korean history, and includes a handy map near the front of the book which I referred to often to see how far apart various cities were from each other. The author has judiciously chosen the right pieces of information necessary for the reader to grasp the situation without forcing them to drink from the firehose of knowledge which the author clearly possesses.The book's tales do not shy away from the abysmal downward spiral North Korea takes, from a reasonably successful nation of workers determined to please their leader to a starving, suffering land filled with dying children and hardly enough food for even half the population. Perhaps most surprising to me was how well the propaganda held up even when people were dying in the streets for lack of food. The descriptions of the suffering are vivid, but never graphic or sensationalist. The reality of the situation alone is enough to force a strong reaction.The stories from the escapees are each fascinating in their own right, and each one hold an important place in the grander tale. The author uses the details of one to inform and clarify the details of another; we see the mother's perspective of the newly-formed, illegal "black markets" (illegal since, after all, no one should need to sell anything, because the government will provide all they need, even though they hadn't for years), where people would buy and sell food, as a place to start a new business. For a penniless orphan living on the streets, it was an opportunity to steal some food, assuming he could run fast enough. Another eye-opening facet of the book was the author's desire to highlight the good parts of North Korea. While certainly critical of the nation, the book also emphasizes the nation's loyalty towards family and ingenuity, as well as the few positive aspects of the regime in charge, such as the free health care and, while it lasted, decent food compensation for all of the people. It turns the nation into a more sympathetic place without making any excuses for Kim Il-Sung or Kim Jong-Il.A book brimming with tragedy and romance, intrigue and ingenuity, Nothing to Envy is one of the finest books I've read in recent memory. If you want to know how North Korea got to be the nation it is today, this is a must-read. Highly recommended.
review 2: This was another book club selection. I wouldn't have chosen this on my own, but I definitely found value in the book and content. I'm glad that I read it.This book tells the stories of various refugees from North Korea(they are considered traitors by their country). The book aims to give details about what life is like in North Korea for ordinary people.I found it slow going at first - I think this has to do more with the distant, newspaper-writing style that the author uses (she is a journalist, after all). But about half-way through, I was definitely drawn in and read it much more quickly.The stories are interesting and heart-breaking and it is easy to see why Kim Il-sung (and now his son, Kim Jong-il) was so successful at keeping the country from revolting against the horrible conditions and the greed and warmongering of their leaders. In a way, it is genius (albeit evil).Towards the end, as it shared the stories of how people fled over the border and the treatment they got from their northern neighbors (China), it made me feel sad. At times, China just ignored them. Other times, they deported them back to North Korea in some sort of political face-saving move. And other times they exploited them.It reminds me of the illegal immigration issue that the United States is trying to deal with. I hope that we can work on it with much more compassion and mercy than our Chinese counterparts have done and are doing. less

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