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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
Gives a pretty bottom-up perspective regarding daily lives in North Korea- for once, not a book attempting to dissect why the leadership behaves the way it does, but rather it shows the impacts of the people living in its regime. Extremely readable, touching, entertaining- of the many accounts to emerge through interviews with escapees, this is easily the best.
Utterly fascinating, from start to finish. I was instantly hooked and engrossed with all the stories of the defectors' stories, which were woven together seamlessly with currents events in North Korea on a broad scale. This is probably one of the few books I feel everyone should read, as it opened my eyes to a world completely unlike my own - and to think such atrocities are still being committed to this day in the totalitarian country! It's unbelievable at times to imagine children starving to death, but the details, research and stories are all there and slowly, you're able to picture the terrible scenarios. To reach the end of the book is a mixed bag of emotions; there is such happiness for some in finding themselves in a free land, but with the guilt and shame of leaving loved ones behind constantly plaguing every day life. An excellent and emotional read.
informative
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
This was insane.. North Korean people have so much courage :”
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Everybody should read this book. Full disclosure, before I read it, I didnt really understand why I should read it. I knew about communist regimes, I was up to date on current and recent historical political events, I felt informed. I was wrong. I only decided to go ahead and dive in to this book because a good friend kept referencing it and I trust her recommendations. So very glad I went ahead and checked it out of the local library...albeit 9 years after publication. Demick does an amazing job of weaving together diverse memories of defectors into a cohesive, consuming story. The facts of which seem so farfetched are much more convincing in her style of storytelling. Demick succeeds in communicating the mass subterfuge that took and continues to take place all the while building a great deal of empathy for those who were not only ruled by but also supported the communist system. This book has made me even more convinced of the importance of free press as well as systems to support political refugees. It has also made me more cognizant of the resilience of the human spirit.
For several months now, even before Kim Jong-Un executed his uncle, I'd become fascinated by North Korea. It is hard to comprehend how an entire population has been so brainwashed in a cult of personality. "Nothing to Envy" provides the stories of several North Koreans who escaped and ended up in South Korea, where the author worked as a journalist for the LA Times.
The defectors' overlapping accounts document the lives of ordinary persons, most of whom believed what they were taught: their country was the best and provided best for its people, the U.S. oppressed South Korea, and the North Korean government not only "knew best", but should be trusted in its decision-making. By limiting nearly all contact with the outside world, the North Korean government convinced its citizens of the "party line." Only when famine decimated the population did some people question the ideology and, then, only very, very carefully. In a country where not only your neighbors, but your children, might report you for acts perceived to be against the state, many never voiced their concerns, even to those they loved and trusted the most. Even as they starved, and went to extraordinary measures to scrounge up anything edible to feed themselves and their families, most North Koreans kept their doubts to themselves.
In addition to telling the defectors' remarkable stories, Ms. Demick discusses the lengths she went through to confirm the information she was provided through additional sources. She made several trips to North Korea and was given access to illicit footage, so of which she uses in the form of still photography in the book. The book also includes numerous sources for continuing research in the area.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone intrigued by North Korea and its people.
The defectors' overlapping accounts document the lives of ordinary persons, most of whom believed what they were taught: their country was the best and provided best for its people, the U.S. oppressed South Korea, and the North Korean government not only "knew best", but should be trusted in its decision-making. By limiting nearly all contact with the outside world, the North Korean government convinced its citizens of the "party line." Only when famine decimated the population did some people question the ideology and, then, only very, very carefully. In a country where not only your neighbors, but your children, might report you for acts perceived to be against the state, many never voiced their concerns, even to those they loved and trusted the most. Even as they starved, and went to extraordinary measures to scrounge up anything edible to feed themselves and their families, most North Koreans kept their doubts to themselves.
In addition to telling the defectors' remarkable stories, Ms. Demick discusses the lengths she went through to confirm the information she was provided through additional sources. She made several trips to North Korea and was given access to illicit footage, so of which she uses in the form of still photography in the book. The book also includes numerous sources for continuing research in the area.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone intrigued by North Korea and its people.
"It was the simple and kindhearted people who did what they were told-- they were the first to die.”
Harrowing. Mrs. Song's story particularly resonated with me. Admirable readability.
Harrowing. Mrs. Song's story particularly resonated with me. Admirable readability.