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| Nothing to Envy begins with an image of North Korea by satellite at night. 23 million people live there, but at night, while South Korea glows, North Korea is in total darkness. |
I just finished reading
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick.
In the course of reading
Nothing to Envy, I learned about the portraits of Kim Il Sung that were given to each household with a white cloth to be used solely to clean those portraits on a daily basis. (Inspections were held at random) I learned about new buildings with elevator shafts, but no elevators. I learned about a hospital with no electricity because it had been diverted to illuminate a statue of Kim Il Sung. I learned about the starvation that got so bad that people would inspect animal feces for undigested corn kernels.
As I was about to pick up yet another (:::cough::: silly) YA dystopia, I thought it was time to read about a real dystopia that exists today. Author Barbara Demick was the LA Times correspondent for Asia, and is now the bureau chief for Korea. She lived in South Korea and decided to write the book after interviewing a number of North Koreans. North Korea is a fascinating and horrifying place. To put it briefly, Kim Il Sung seized power after World War II, and turned the country into a totalitarian communist state. One of the unique things about the North Korean brand of totalitarian communism is that Kim Il Sung set himself up not just as a leader, but as God, Beloved Father, harnessing the power of faith and religion to sustain his power. In the 80s and 90s, the countries that had been propping North Korea up cut off their support. The money ran out, the economy tanked, food, electricity, and work all disappeared. Millions died.
Demick tells us the story of North Korea by sharing the personal stories of six North Korean defectors (“ordinary” people) and their families. She starts with a love story—two young people meeting in secret during the black of night (no electricity, you know) to walk and talk. Other stories include that of a mother completely devoted to the Supreme Leader, eager to do her part. Another is a doctor, who watches as her medical knowledge becomes less and less useful as supplies, electricity, facilities and medicine are lost.
The book is very well researched and informative. But it’s also personal—we see and feel something of what these people faced—both the good and the bad. We see their everyday lives as well as the tragedies they faced. It read like a novel, and I was totally invested. It’s difficult to fathom a place like this. I could on and on about all I learned--it's so interesting. And yet there's so much more I want to know.
Though this is a book of heart-wrenching tragedy, I found inspiring moments as I read about the absolutely incredible ingenuity of humanity and their will to survive. Some of it is simply a matter of carrying on from day to day, but even that is a feat in those conditions. It seems miraculous that so many people actually did manage to survive. Never have I encountered something that inspired so much gratitude in me for everyday things I take for granted.
I cannot recommend this book enough. Put down the dystopia and read about the reality that still exists, against all odds.
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| Photograph by
David Guttenfelder. At dawn, portraits of Kim Il Sung and his son Kim
Jong Il are still lit up in Pyongyang. Even during the city’s blackouts,
electricity is reserved to light the flame atop Juche Tower. |
David Guttenfelder is one of those rare photographers who’s been allowed
into North Korea. His work is eye-opening and informative as well as artistic and often beautiful. He, too, was featured in National
Geographic’s Photography Issue (October 2013). To see more try National Geographic
here and
here,
The Atlantic,
The Daily Beast,
Time. Listen to him talk about his work
here.
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| Photograph by David Guttenfelder. Members of one of the world’s largest militaries, over a million strong, pack a stadium in Pyongyang in 2012 during celebrations honoring North Korea’s first leader, Kim Il Sung. |
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| An illustration of a building project hangs in front of the construction project in progress in Pyongyang, North Korea, photographed on April 13, 2011. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) |
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| Children look through a subway car window in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 10, 2011. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) |
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| A person on a bicycle rides by as a man plows a field outside of Kaesong, North Korea, on April 17, 2011. North Korea's perennial food shortage has reached a crisis point in 2011, aid workers say, because of torrential rains, the coldest winter in 60 years and rising food prices. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) |
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| A woman looks up at the end of a opening ceremony for a statue unveiling at Mansu Hill in April 2012. The sky was smoke-filled after fireworks were lit. Photograph by David Guttenfelder, AP |
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| A view of central Pyongyang, North Korea, at dusk on April 12, 2011. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) |
Also, if you're interested, there's a National Geographic documentary:
Inside North Korea. It's really something to see video footage from inside.
