Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤'s Reviews > Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Satellite image of the Koreas at night, by the Expedition 38 crew

What is it about North Korea that commands our attention? I find it hard to resist books written about this strange country, ruled by the iron fist of an even stranger dictator and his strange predecessors. When I started this book, my fiancee asked why I wanted to read another book about North Korea; after all, there probably isn't much more to learn that I haven't already in other books. This closed off country doesn't exactly exude information and so much of it is a black hole. I think that is part of the mystique, part of the reason why I'm drawn to books about it, because there isn't a plethora of information to be gleaned about this country. Anything new fills in that black hole just a little. It is not easy to read about North Korea and its suffering citizens and yet I am compelled to.


Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea is an incredible look into the lives of several ordinary North Koreans who have been able to make the dangerous and difficult journey to South Korea, where they are now trying to build the best possible lives for themselves. The author, Barbara Demick, spent seven years living in South Korea where she got to know people who had defected from North Korea. This book is their stories. It is written with much insight and compassion and I feel like I really got to know the people she wrote about. Ms. Demick shares with us their lives, their hopes and dreams and fears, the suffering they endured and the suffering they still endure even though they are now "free". Many (most?) books that are written in this way, with several individual human interest stories rather than concrete facts, annoy me. And yet. And yet for a country so cloaked in secrecy as North Korea, I think books like this are the best way to learn about it. It is not easy to learn about; the suffering of these people is incredible. It is difficult to read and difficult to contemplate. Difficult to even write a review. Nothing I can say can so much as hint at the level of suffering in North Korea.

I've read several books about North Korea, and I think this one is my favourite. If you're interested in getting an inside look at the lives of North Koreans, this book is for you. Highly recommend.