Nothing to Envy

North Korea

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick is an open window into a very closed country, North Korea. Set mainly in the 1980s and 90s, the tragic, but triumphant stories of six North Koreans are interwoven to create a tapestry of the unraveling of life under a repressive, communist government. North Koreans were taught from the cradle to literally worship their Marshal Kim Il-Sung who ruled from 1946 to 1994. In school, children were taught songs praising their communist dictator. A line of one song: Our father [Kim Il-Sung], we have nothing to envy in the world. North Koreans knew nothing except their spartan, but predictable, existence. Because news was strictly censored, and every media source from books and movies to newspapers was pure communist propaganda, North Koreans believed that every other country was worse off than they were. That is, until the death of Kim Il-Sung in 1994. The nation was rocked to its core, as its denizens had come to think of their Marshal as a god. The economy, already teetering on the brink, came crashing down after Il-Sung’s death. In the mid to late 1990s, factories shut down, people lost their jobs and their accompanying ration cards, food sources dried up, and people began to starve to death. Demick recounts the stories of six of Il-Sung’s subjects who struggled and sorrowed through those dreadful years, but survived - and eventually, defected. Faced with joblessness, scarcity, famine, death, decay, destruction, and continued repression, the ever-increasing harshness of life in North Korea began to fray the threads of a lifetime of brainwashing. The flaws of communism were laid bare to them - and they will be to you, too, as you read this book.

Notes: This is not a story for children. It’s a difficult read, with much suffering detailed, more than a few instances of profanity, as well as some descriptions that should be reserved for adults. There is nothing overly graphic, nor pornographic - just subjects and details that are best handled by individuals with more life experience than a high school student. For adults, Nothing to Envy gives insight into a long-standing communist country and the dynasty that has ruled it for 80 years.