Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Apr 21, 2016 Steve Sarner rated it really liked it

North Korea makes The Hunger Game’s District 12 look like Disneyland.

That’s my conclusion after reading Nothing to Envy. Scary, depressing, and sobering, Barbara Demick’s book is an often heartbreaking glimpse into the life of the people of North Korea as told by the individuals. These stories and descriptions of life in “Chosun”, happening today, are hard to fathom.

It’s a fascinating and, for the most part, an extremely well written book with a love story woven into the mix as well.

I was torn o
North Korea makes The Hunger Game’s District 12 look like Disneyland.

That’s my conclusion after reading Nothing to Envy. Scary, depressing, and sobering, Barbara Demick’s book is an often heartbreaking glimpse into the life of the people of North Korea as told by the individuals. These stories and descriptions of life in “Chosun”, happening today, are hard to fathom.

It’s a fascinating and, for the most part, an extremely well written book with a love story woven into the mix as well.

I was torn on only rating it 4 stars.

For securing first hand accounts, difficult to obtain information and telling a compelling story it’s a solid 5.

However, the book was somewhat disorganized and even sloppy at times. I was surprised to find lackluster copy editing in a number of places, One example, early on, was describing the dangerous work in the Northern coal mines where it is stated that the work was dirty and dangerous as the “mines frequently collapsed or caught fire”. The next paragraph it is explained that the worst work was in the coal mines which were “subject to frequent collapse and fires”. Not really a big deal but I was surprised of several instances of these editing slips.

Also, a glaring omission for me was on how people, in several cases, managed to obtain the funds to pay to escape the brutal and controlling country. For instance, one individual looking to defect was able to secure $2500 USD from a relative in Japan. Given all of the controls and procedures detailed in so much of the book it was hard to reconcile how this was possible. One could speculate it was done via bribes; however, these major gaps in how such a restricted and monitored population could secure funding and assistance to pursue defecting deserved additional explanation.

Those criticisms aside, it was a very engaging book that was hard to put down.

It is absolutely fascinating the power of the propaganda that helps keeps the North Korean population so suppressed. I found the chapter on the death of Kim Il-Sung particularly interesting. In a society that seems extraordinarily stoic, hysterical emotion was expected and delivered with the news of his death. Perhaps this was a welcome opportunity to allow people to grieve their own plight with a rare chance to be encouraged and even required to express profuse emotions.

It is difficult to comprehend, 7 years after the publishing of this book, how the grandson continues to maintain the grip and brutal power over the country. Of course, it is also difficult to comprehend some of the candidates for POTUS. May the odds be ever in North Korea’s and our favor.
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Feb 21, 2012 ellen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012, reviewed, nonfiction, topic-auto-biography-memoir, source-ccpl

[i]Nothing to Envy[/i] is a collection of adapted oral histories that almost reads like a novel. Her commitment to research is evident, and she narrates the events of her subjects' lives without becoming polemical or turning her book into a pity party. I appreciated her notes, but would have liked to have them indicated throughout the main text so looking up sources and commentary while reading would have been easier. Even so, I give this book a solid five stars and would recommend it to anyone ...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Laurie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012

Really good. Descriptions of life in North Korea, told from interviews with 6 defectors. I liked that the book kept its focus small and tight and didn't try to do more than it could. The writing and the people are engaging. ...more

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