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Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea |  | Author: Barbara Demick
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $16.90
as of 3/18/2010 10:09 CDT details
You Save: $9.10 (35%)
New (22) Used (7) Collectible (1) from $14.50
Seller: Books For Batten Disease
Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 1938
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1St Edition
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0385523904
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.095193090511
EAN: 9780385523905
ASIN: 0385523904
Publication Date: December 29, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A remarkable view into North Korea, as seen through the lives of six ordinary citizens
Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population.
Taking us into a landscape most of us have never before seen, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today—an Orwellian world that is by choice not connected to the Internet, in which radio and television dials are welded to the one government station, and where displays of affection are punished; a police state where informants are rewarded and where an offhand remark can send a person to the gulag for life.
Demick takes us deep inside the country, beyond the reach of government censors. Through meticulous and sensitive reporting, we see her six subjects—average North Korean citizens—fall in love, raise families, nurture ambitions, and struggle for survival. One by one, we experience the moments when they realize that their government has betrayed them.
Nothing to Envy is a groundbreaking addition to the literature of totalitarianism and an eye-opening look at a closed world that is of increasing global importance.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 54
So Gripping . . . I couldn't put it Down March 17, 2010
Patricia Morris Craze (Phoenix, AZ United States)
This book took me on a journey to a place that I never imagined could exist. I was instantly captivated by the stories of each defector and I've gained a great understanding of the outrageous circumstances these people endured. This book is fascinating and provides such important and topical information that it is a must read for everyone, even teenagers!
 A Look At A Very Strange World March 14, 2010
Alan Poropat
The book follows the life of several North Koreans in North Korea before they escaped. Most of the time covered is from the late 1980's to the early part of this century, with the worst famine being in the middle of this time. They lived lives we would find hard to imagine, describing loosing family members to starvation, of foraging for weeds, not being able to tell even their closest friend what they thought of the government, and of using a pin to slip through the seal on the controls of a TV so it can be set to forbidden South Korean channels.
It is very interesting how people adapted to this bizarre world without even realizing how wrong it was. One thin woman, who had already lost her son to starvation, remained a proud nationalist and would not defect, even though her daughter was begging her, till, after being tricked into crossing the border into China, she saw an automatic rice cooker. A scene that said a lot: a young woman in prison sees a farm woman on the other side of the fence and wants her to take a message to her family as to where she is. As payment the prisoner on the spot removes her underwear and gives it to the farm woman, because that's how valuable used underwear can be in North Korea.
One could wonder if the book distills too much of the suffering and doesn't share enough of the happier moments, but I've stood on the border of North and South Korea, and looking across saw just a few feet away the gaunt, and weathered North Korean guards, several inches shorter than the South Korean guards, who suddenly looked so soft and baby faced. This book lets you see a lot farther across the border.
Stories of the extraordinary March 14, 2010
S. Yingling (Ohio USA)
I heard the author on NPR. Her story of Mi-ran and Jun-sang, two young North Korean sweethearts who make separate but parallel journeys to freedom, was riveting. The other stories inside the book are equally compelling. I could not put it down. I hope Ms. Demick is shopping the rights for a movie script. I would love to see the account of Mi-ran and Jun-sang made into a film. It would be Oscar-worthy.
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea March 12, 2010
M. E. Koch (VA)
An outstanding look inside the lives of people living in the most oppressed country in the world. First hand accounts of daily lives and death. Depictions of failed leadership, wrong priorities and total disregard for human life.
An engaging set of narratives that gives insight into N. Korean system March 12, 2010
P. Elliot (Boston, MA)
Ms. Demick has taken a few narratives of everyday life in North Korea and weaved them together very ably, in the meantime giving some very memorable insights into everyday life in the Hermit Kingdom. You could read elsewhere if you just wanted facts and figures about NK, but the book's narrative style is more enjoyable, and might make it easier to remember those facts/figures later on.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 54
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