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readinginmagnolia 's review for:
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
by Barbara Demick
In my opinion this book would be a good introduction to the situation in North Korea. Honestly, I had next to no clue about the situation going on over there except for the knowledge that their people are subject to an oppressive regime with an apparent crazy dictator that seems to have an itchy trigger finger and a thing for nukes and I know I’m not the only one who’s history class never made it through the twentieth century (I was lucky to make it through WWII back in the day).
So for a lay person who has little to no knowledge on the situation, I think this is probably a good introduction to it. It was eye-opening and heartbreaking. A story told through a handful of defectors with an emphasis on the day to day survival of the people who live there.
That said, the book does randomly jump around back and forth through time, history and between the various defectors that the author interviewed for her book and that can at times be rather confusing and repetitious as the author reminds you of a particular defector's circumstances. It could have used a little more editing. There are several repetitious areas within the stories if you read them too closely together. For instance almost every time Dr. Kim’s child is mentioned there’s a paragraph about how men have all the rights in event of divorce and are awarded custody of children in North Korea regardless of the circumstances and endless repetition about the character's various jobs and compensation histories.
So for a lay person who has little to no knowledge on the situation, I think this is probably a good introduction to it. It was eye-opening and heartbreaking. A story told through a handful of defectors with an emphasis on the day to day survival of the people who live there.
That said, the book does randomly jump around back and forth through time, history and between the various defectors that the author interviewed for her book and that can at times be rather confusing and repetitious as the author reminds you of a particular defector's circumstances. It could have used a little more editing. There are several repetitious areas within the stories if you read them too closely together. For instance almost every time Dr. Kim’s child is mentioned there’s a paragraph about how men have all the rights in event of divorce and are awarded custody of children in North Korea regardless of the circumstances and endless repetition about the character's various jobs and compensation histories.