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Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea - Barbara Demick
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
by: (author)
4.25 70
A National Book Award finalist and National Book Critics Circle finalist, Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy is a remarkable view into North Korea, as seen through the lives of six ordinary citizens Award-winning journalist Barbara Demick follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen... show more
A National Book Award finalist and National Book Critics Circle finalist, Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy is a remarkable view into North Korea, as seen through the lives of six ordinary citizens Award-winning journalist Barbara Demick follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and a devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population. 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, where displays of affection are punished, informants are rewarded, and 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, and through meticulous and sensitive reporting we see her subjects fall in love, raise families, nurture ambitions, and struggle for survival. One by one, we witness their profound, life-altering disillusionment with the government and their realization that, rather than providing them with lives of abundance, their country has betrayed them.
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9780385523912 (0385523912)
ASIN: 385523912
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Pages no: 336
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Booka
Booka rated it
3.5 Światu nie mamy czego zazdrościć
W Korei Północnej dzieci od najmłodszych lat uczą się pieśni pochwalnej, w której - między innymi - padają słowa: "Światu nie mamy czego zazdrościć". Myślę, że zarówno każdy komu udało się uciec z Korei Północnej, jak i każdy z nas z łatwością widzi jak wiele w owym haśle jest propagandy. Dobrze, ż...
JB's Reading Life
JB's Reading Life rated it
5.0 Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
Excellent book, but engenders a feeling of great sadness that people are forced to live a life of constant fear, at the mercy of a brutal regime.
Lenaribka
Lenaribka rated it
0.0 Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
DNF at 55%It is a good book if you want to have an insight into a sick political system. That's unique in many ways. It's well written and the author knows the topic from the insider view. I've never been a non-fiction reader, and the fact that I came so far speaks actually for the book. My mistake ...
Reflections
Reflections rated it
5.0 Fascinating and heart-rending--Ordinary Lives in North Korea
The hardships of living in a once modern country that no longer has enough reliable electricity to cool its citizen’s home refrigerators or run the now defunct factories where they used to work are more than I could have imagined and heart-rending, but there is at least one advantage. When the sun s...
Hol
Hol rated it
4.5 Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
This was a harrowing read; how could it not be, being about North Korea? But at the same time it was excellent and a book that everyone should read, if they have the chance. When I started it I wasn’t sure what to expect, I mean I’m a bit of a character junkie and I didn’t know how well the people i...
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