Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

An eye-opening account of life inside North Korea-a closed world of increasing global importance-hailed as a â€œtour de force of meticulous reporting" (The New York Review of Books)
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NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST â€¢ NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST
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In this landmark addition to the literature of totalitarianism, 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 (the father of Kim Jong-un), and a devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population.
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Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive 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. She 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.

Praise for Nothing to Envy

â€œProvocative . . . offers extensive evidence of the author's deep knowledge of this country while keeping its sights firmly on individual stories and human details."-The New York Times

â€œDeeply moving . . . The personal stories are related with novelistic detail."-The Wall Street Journal

â€œA tour de force of meticulous reporting."-The New York Review of Books

â€œExcellent . . . humanizes a downtrodden, long-suffering people whose individual lives, hopes and dreams are so little known abroad."-San Francisco Chronicle

â€œThe narrow boundaries of our knowledge have expanded radically with the publication of Nothing to Envy. . . . Elegantly structured and written, [it] is a groundbreaking work of literary nonfiction."-John Delury, Slate

â€œAt times a page-turner, at others an intimate study in totalitarian psychology."-The Philadelphia Inquirer
Country USA
Brand Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer Random House
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber Maps; Illustrations, black and white
Color White
ReleaseDate 2010-09-21
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780385523912

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer	Random House
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	Maps; Illustrations, black and white
Color	White
ReleaseDate	2010-09-21
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780385523912

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

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