When I decided to read a book that takes place in another country, I decided to go as far away as a book could take me. North Korea is home to a mostly dead political system and a way of life Americans can only understand by reading books like this or 1984.
I find North Korean utterly fascinating because, as an American, it's a completely alien world. I met a South African who talked about getting a book here because it was banned back home. I can't wrap my head around what it's like to be denied access to any media or not be able to find any food in your country.
I love the duality of the title. The lives of many North Koreans, especially during the famine in the 90s, is nothing to envy. It is also the refrain of a song in support of the benevolent leader who ensures they have nothing to envy from the rest of the world.
What pushed one of the people in the book to decide to defect was a starving boy singing that song. A North Korean doctor tossed the border to China to discover that dogs were eating better than she was.
One woman who defected at the behest of her daughter was nostalgic for the free health care before the regime went to hell in the 90s. It's the same kind of simplicity in knowing your role and place in the world I read about in Wayward Vol 1. Demick notes that many defectors don't know what to do with their new found freedom and 50 years of technological advances they've missed out on.
The epilogue details the continued hardship the North Korean populace still face. The economy has collapsed and no one in the country seems to have been well fed in the last 20 years. I learned there's a strong market for crystal meth since it's cheap and an appetite suppressant.
I'm sure there have been changes since this book was published in 2009 but I can't imagine the mystery that is Kim Jong-un can fix everything. I'd like to do more reading but I suspect I may see the fall of North Korea.
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