"A satellite photograph of Asia by night shows a black hole where North Korea should be. There is not enough electricity to keep the lights burning. This hermetic country is Orwell's 1984 made reality. All radio and television broadcasts are government sponsored; Gone with the Wind is a dangerous, banned book; it is the only country in the world not connected to the internet. During political rallies, spies study your expression to check your sincerity." "After the death of the country's Great Leader Kim Il Sung in 1994, famine descended: people stumbled over dead bodies in the street and ate tree bark to survive. Nothing to Envy weaves together the stories of adversity and resilience of six residents of Chongjin, North Korea's third largest city. From the lovers who kept their relationship secret for a decade to the orphan who took to the streets and became a smuggler, Barbara Demick has recreated the concerns, culture and daily lives of North Korean citizens in a gripping narrative. Through extensive interviews and with tenacious investigative work, Nothing to Envy vividly reconstructs the inner workings of this extraordinary and secretive country." --Book Jacket.
Description:
"A satellite photograph of Asia by night shows a black hole where North Korea should be. There is not enough electricity to keep the lights burning. This hermetic country is Orwell's 1984 made reality. All radio and television broadcasts are government sponsored; Gone with the Wind is a dangerous, banned book; it is the only country in the world not connected to the internet. During political rallies, spies study your expression to check your sincerity." "After the death of the country's Great Leader Kim Il Sung in 1994, famine descended: people stumbled over dead bodies in the street and ate tree bark to survive. Nothing to Envy weaves together the stories of adversity and resilience of six residents of Chongjin, North Korea's third largest city. From the lovers who kept their relationship secret for a decade to the orphan who took to the streets and became a smuggler, Barbara Demick has recreated the concerns, culture and daily lives of North Korean citizens in a gripping narrative. Through extensive interviews and with tenacious investigative work, Nothing to Envy vividly reconstructs the inner workings of this extraordinary and secretive country." --Book Jacket.