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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
I cannot stop thinking about this book. It’s extremely informative without reading like a textbook and I was engrossed in the lives of the people it followed. It almost read like a fiction novel from how unbelievable (although very real) this story is. It’s important to understand how this regime began and this book is a great start. I would recommend to anyone who was as ignorant as I was about North Korea.
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This work is an impressive and immersive deep-dive into the lives of several former North Koreans who escaped one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. The scope of this work feels simultaneously broad, discussing the totality of the regime, and narrowly tailored such as when discussing the individual defectors' feelings and experiences.
This book is illuminating specifically because it attempts to capture life outside the capital, Pyongyang, which is touted as a model city specifically for foreign visitors. A powerful and necessary read.
This book is illuminating specifically because it attempts to capture life outside the capital, Pyongyang, which is touted as a model city specifically for foreign visitors. A powerful and necessary read.
A fascinating, mind opening and frankly terrifying book.
You find yourself delighting in the experience of those that escape and pitying those that do not.
It would appear that, unfortunately, George Orwell was spot on.
You find yourself delighting in the experience of those that escape and pitying those that do not.
It would appear that, unfortunately, George Orwell was spot on.
dark
reflective
sad
Interesting read! I'd love to go to North Korea before it all changes; just have to experience how "weird" it could be to be surrounded by so much bullshit!
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
A quick read, emotionally gripping, and surprisingly hopeful! A book like this could easily take a historical pro-capitalist approach and criticize the passivity of North Korea’s victims. However, the journalist author thoughtfully interviewed individuals with firsthand experience in the community, allowing for a perspective of North Korea that also includes of hopeful aspects of life such as young romance, the pursuit of higher education, and family relationships.
This was a much more interesting read than I was initially expecting! Demick follows the lives of 6 North Koreans over the course of 15 years. I had no idea things were so BAD there. And the period Demick covers sees so much change - the death of Kim Il-sung, the rise of Kim Jong-il, famine, economic collapse, and citizens trying to flee. Some of the most notable thigns:
- The country has no electricity. The US offered to help with this in the 90s but NK's refusal to give up its nuclear weapons program kept anything from coming of it. NK now blames us for their lack of electricity.
- The economic disparity between NK and SK is estimated to be at least 4 times greater than that between East and West Germany when the countries were reunified in 1990. NK would be unable to identify computer monitors, digital TVs, flash drives, etc.
- NK was formed during WWII when the US was concerned the Soviet Union might try to seize all of Korea (which had always been one country) as a way to make inroads into Japan. The US compromised and gave the northern half of Korea to a trusteeship that was supposed to be temporary. The border at the 38th parallel has no meaning and was completely arbitrary.
- Much like the Jewish endured, NK citizens were forced to wear Kim Il-sung pins and there were penalties if you were caught in public without yours. Citizens also had to keep a framed picture of il-Sung in their home. It came with a box and white cloth that was to be used only to keep the picture frame clean.
- NK citizens do not celebrate their own birthday, but rather that of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
- An enormous share of NK's wealth was squandered on the military, spending up to 25% of GNP compared to 5% for industrialized countries. Although its military has not been involved in any fighting since 1953, it maintains a 1M man army making NK (which is the size of PA), the 4th largest military in the world.
- When Kim Il-sung died, many older NK'eans suffered heart attacks and strokes. So much so that there was an immediate spike int he death rate.
- Hospitals were squalid and poor. They were still able to manufacture IV fluids, but didn't have bottles for it. Patients had to bring their own which were often beer bottles. Bandages were so scarce that bedding was cut up; patients had to bring their own food and blankets.
- Indoctrination starts early - childrent are taught violent songs about the US (such as "Shoot the Yankee B***") and are told frightening stories about Christian missionaries and American imperialists beating, burning, and splashing kids with acid.
- Food was so scarce that children would scavenge used cigarette butts and smoke them to dampen their hunger.
- The country has no electricity. The US offered to help with this in the 90s but NK's refusal to give up its nuclear weapons program kept anything from coming of it. NK now blames us for their lack of electricity.
- The economic disparity between NK and SK is estimated to be at least 4 times greater than that between East and West Germany when the countries were reunified in 1990. NK would be unable to identify computer monitors, digital TVs, flash drives, etc.
- NK was formed during WWII when the US was concerned the Soviet Union might try to seize all of Korea (which had always been one country) as a way to make inroads into Japan. The US compromised and gave the northern half of Korea to a trusteeship that was supposed to be temporary. The border at the 38th parallel has no meaning and was completely arbitrary.
- Much like the Jewish endured, NK citizens were forced to wear Kim Il-sung pins and there were penalties if you were caught in public without yours. Citizens also had to keep a framed picture of il-Sung in their home. It came with a box and white cloth that was to be used only to keep the picture frame clean.
- NK citizens do not celebrate their own birthday, but rather that of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
- An enormous share of NK's wealth was squandered on the military, spending up to 25% of GNP compared to 5% for industrialized countries. Although its military has not been involved in any fighting since 1953, it maintains a 1M man army making NK (which is the size of PA), the 4th largest military in the world.
- When Kim Il-sung died, many older NK'eans suffered heart attacks and strokes. So much so that there was an immediate spike int he death rate.
- Hospitals were squalid and poor. They were still able to manufacture IV fluids, but didn't have bottles for it. Patients had to bring their own which were often beer bottles. Bandages were so scarce that bedding was cut up; patients had to bring their own food and blankets.
- Indoctrination starts early - childrent are taught violent songs about the US (such as "Shoot the Yankee B***") and are told frightening stories about Christian missionaries and American imperialists beating, burning, and splashing kids with acid.
- Food was so scarce that children would scavenge used cigarette butts and smoke them to dampen their hunger.