Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea

With the Olympics in South Korea this year, and us visiting southeast Asia, I wanted to learn more about the history of North Korea and it's people. I've heard the horror stories in the news over the last decade of labor camps, extreme hunger and the systematic approach to lying to the people, but this book goes deeper than that - by focusing on actual stories from North Korean defectors.

Some of the stories they tell are warm, like when talking about family and young love. Most are haunting, talking about the physical effects of extreme hunger or carts of corpses being removed from trains that died of hunger the previous night.

The escape process and the integration back into South Korean life is not easy either, and both have their own drawbacks which are explored in this book.

Reading this book felt eerily similar to reading books about the Holocaust. Not in content, necessarily, (although there are overlaps), but in the emotions it brought out of me and the depth at which I felt them.

Absolutely fantastic book.

Chapter 1 opens with a haunting photograph: a night satellite photo contrasting North and South Korea. Much as we first-worlders bemoan light pollution, the alternative is so horrifyingly worse.

This is a sobering book. There are other basket-case countries around – Haiti, Afghanistan, Somalia, ... – but there's just something special about North Korea. Demick transports us there, using the words and thoughts of escapees to paint a bleakness that none of us will ever really be able to understand.

I particularly enjoyed the chronological layout of the book: instead of short bios of each character, we move with them over time, through bad times and worse ones. That was a good decision: it really helps the reader develop a sense for conditions in the country.

[b:Nothing to Envy 6178648 Nothing to Envy Ordinary Lives in North Korea Barbara Demick https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320449375s/6178648.jpg 6358552] is a surreal peek behind the curtain of the lives of six North Korean defectors and their families. Rather than a dry report of the crimes behind the regime, this novel discusses the day-to-day of ordinary citizens and the trials they face. An absolute staple for any reader interested in North Korea.???Dr. Kim couldn???t remember the last time she???d seen a bowl of pure white rice. What was the bowl of rice doing there, just sitting on the ground? She figured it out just before she heard the dog???s bark??? she couldn???t deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.???[b:Nothing to Envy 6178648 Nothing to Envy Ordinary Lives in North Korea Barbara Demick https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320449375s/6178648.jpg 6358552] is simply fantastic, and I flew through this novel so fast I forgot to take any notes. Unfortunately, I find myself struggling to encompass the impact this novel has in a few short paragraphs. How do you condense the suffering and terror people face in North Korea, both then and now? When we look at the mystique and secrecy of North Korea, often we get caught up in the outlandish propaganda, in the plastic smiles of the selectively placed North Koreans during a well-staged tour, and the rundown 1970s-esque buildings. Whispers of starvation, of malnutrition, and concentration camps go unacknowledged in the face of awe. But what does all that mean? Often we hear about these realities and separate them from ourselves. It's easy to read those words and yet, not fully understand such horror. What [b:Nothing to Envy 6178648 Nothing to Envy Ordinary Lives in North Korea Barbara Demick https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320449375s/6178648.jpg 6358552] does so effectively is bring these realities to the forefront, forcing us to confront in stark black-and-white what all of those things truly mean, and how they affect ordinary people like you and me.Though [a:Barbara Demick 785914 Barbara Demick https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1325069453p2/785914.jpg] obviously walks us through the history of the regime, touching briefly on its origins (as brief as one can be), we mainly see the regime and its actions through the lens of our six North Korean defectors, moving with them through Kim II-sung???s death, the following ???Arduous March???, Kim Jung il???s succession, and the escapes all six made. None were without sacrifice, and [a:Barbara Demick 785914 Barbara Demick https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1325069453p2/785914.jpg] steps aside for you to feel their pain, their anger, their sadness, their joy. This brings home a lot of what many of us take for granted - the quality food we eat, our ability to travel freely, our warm beds, and the support of our government.[b:Nothing to Envy 6178648 Nothing to Envy Ordinary Lives in North Korea Barbara Demick https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320449375s/6178648.jpg 6358552] is many things at once, but most importantly, it is a reality check. While we may be caught up in the fascination of this closed off world, we must also understand that the horrors written in this novel are still ongoing, and no amount of fake smiles or polite diplomatic meetings should conceal that.

Gave an amazing picture of lives in North Korea, what happened there, and the shock of finding you've been lied to your entire life. It also highlighted something I had never considered–South Korean aversion to NK refugees.

This should be a standard in any modern history or political science class.

With the Olympics in South Korea this year, and us visiting southeast Asia, I wanted to learn more about the history of North Korea and it's people. I've heard the horror stories in the news over the last decade of labor camps, extreme hunger and the systematic approach to lying to the people, but this book goes deeper than that - by focusing on actual stories from North Korean defectors.

Some of the stories they tell are warm, like when talking about family and young love. Most are haunting, talking about the physical effects of extreme hunger or carts of corpses being removed from trains that died of hunger the previous night.

The escape process and the integration back into South Korean life is not easy either, and both have their own drawbacks which are explored in this book.

I thought I knew a little about North Korea before I started this book. I was wrong. I knew nothing.

My eyes are opened.

North Korea is not a happy place. People died there of malnutrition and starvation. In the 90's. The people of North Korea believe all sorts of strange propaganda put out by the government, including the widespread belief that America is determined to destroy their country and that their country is a paradise and their leader is a deeply benevolent and generous man. Industry in North Korea is almost nonexistent. Many people continue to go to work even though they have not been paid for months and months. And how about this? The average adult in North Korea is seven inches shorter than the average adult in South Korea. Reason? Childhood malnutrition.

This is a fascinating story of a country that is cut off from the world, with a madman as leader, and with access to nuclear weapons.

In the aftermath of the Korean war my mother's brother left an enigmatic note on his pillow before stepping out for school. He never returned and the family lamented his apparent suicide.

A half century later a list of names is published in Koreas' national paper. Part of the warming relations between North and South Korea, it offered the chance for families separated by the border to connect. So far nearly 20 thousand Koreans have participated in face-to-face meetings. My uncle's name is there along with some briefly sketched details of the family tree. He is very much alive and living in North Korea. This was the first any of the family had ever heard from him.

My mother eventually traveled to North Korea to meet with her brother. My uncle was wearing a gold watch and a thinning suit. He confided that they were provided by the government solely for the visit. Other Koreans reunited with long lost relations were at nearby tables. Many had brought gifts of linens, food and clothing. He quietly admitted that gifts were pointless as their intended recipients would probably never see them again.

My mother never talked too much about the visit. After a lifetime apart what do you say? Her brother is relatively affluent by North Korean standards, a professor who has raised a large family. Still, his face was gaunt, his teeth stained and crooked. His hands trembled constantly.

I thought about my uncle a lot while I was reading “Nothing to Envy”. In it author Barbara Demick pieces together the lives of 6 North Koreans who eventually defect to South Korea. It is an incredible and difficult read, especially the chapters outlining the devastating famine of the 1990's which claimed almost 10% of the population. The stories are riveting and framed beautifully. This isn't some dry recounting of facts outlining the poverty of North Korea but wondrously intertwined narratives that don't end with pat answers once they reach South Korea.

Great read.

This is an extremely hard book to rate/review. I'm sure the majority has heard of the Korean War and the state of Korea during the Japanese invasion and their subsequent departure. What I don't think most have heard or read about is the state of Korea after...how it was split in the first place and how it became the country it is today.

Such a heartbreaking book to read, even though it's well written and informative. I look back on my life during the years mentioned here and reflect on where I was at that time. While I'm in my Senior year in high school...children there are dying of starvation, parents are trying to figure out how to survive without being tortured or sent to camps.

Those who managed to escape and defect to South Korea had such a hard time integrating into that society. Even though they were considered citizens and were welcomed...they were also seen as somehow being less than ideal. I can't even begin to imagine.

I added this book on my to do list when seeing the diplomatic efforts by the DPRK, South Korea and the US to move closer towards reunification. I was not disappointed.

A very well written book giving a glimpse of life in North Korea through the moving yet ordinary stories of 6 normal people.

This book goes beyond what we normally see and think through traditional media.

A must read if you want to understand how is daily life in North Korea.

It took me almost all of November to read this book, not because I wasn't fascinated (I was!) but I was reading a chapter before I fell asleep at night. I finished it today, and it was like nothing I had ever read before. You should see my notes from this book.
This shocked and saddened me. My heart was with Mi-ran and the others as their stories unfolded. I think they are all survivors and heroes.
So #nonfictionnovember a little late.