Nothing to envy
ordinary lives in North Korea
by Barbara Demick, Demick Barbara · first published 2009
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Narrative account of six North Korean defectors' everyday lives, with enough history for context. Readers find it moving, quick and eye-opening; suits anyone curious how ordinary people lived and escaped.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A remarkable view into North Korea, as seen through the lives of six ordinary citizens Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years--a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Taking us into a landscape most of us have never before seen, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today--an Orwellian world that is by choice not connecte
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If you want to learn about NK read "Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick. Interviews with refugees.
on “North Korean Central News Agency server logs protected by client-side JavaScript” ↗…Simplifying it to, "Education is good." won't steer you wrong often. But when it does, the consequences can be horrific. And to say one doesn't agree with the DPRK is putting it far too mildly. Read Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea.[2] The stories will make you thankful to be in whatever country you live in. For many people, North Korea truly is hell on earth. It's far worse than anything Orwell wrote…
on “N.S.A. Tapped into North Korean Networks Before Sony Attack, Officials Say” ↗…North Korea' by Guy Delisle[1] which is a graphic novel detailing his few months working in North Korea for a more serious look and into the lives of those who actually live/have lived in North Korea is 'Nothing to Envy' by Barbara Demick[2] which is a detailed, if not somewhat harrowing insight. [1] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pyongyang-A-Journey-North-Korea/dp/0... [2] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothing-Envy-Lives-North-Korea/dp/18...
on “Sophie In North Korea” ↗…people who live there, who either know how bad things are (and can't do anything about it) or don't know (and thus don't care). In some ways, the latter group is probably better off. (A great book: Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick, about life in North Korea and what it's like to escape to the West.) It's amazing to see what North Korea will do to keep its own citizens in the dark, and to try to make things look…
on “Stopping All Stations – The Pyongyang Metro” ↗…Marshall's propaganda machine seems corny to us. But it's important to remember that DPRK is a brutal regime that is home to countless human rights tragedies over several decades. It is a very sad story. Read "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" by Barbara Demick if you want to feel really lucky about where you happened to be born.
on “Why is Kim Jong-un always surrounded by people taking notes?” ↗I highly recommend reading Nothing To Envy by Barbara Dendrick, which is about six people who escaped from North Korea. It was a very interesting, though sad, book, as was the AMA she did on Reddit a few years ago. It would be great to see those…
on “North and South Korea reportedly set to announce official end to war” ↗Some books I've read recently that I enjoyed: Mindstorms and The Children's Machine by Seymour Papert Privacy on the Line by Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men by Donald McCaig How Children Learn the Meanings of Words by Paul Bloom
on “Ask HN: What should I read this summer?” ↗Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick After reading this book, I started living with a lot more gratitude for everyday things that I'd previously been taking for granted. That might sound…
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗…interested in the country's history between WWII and Kim Jong-Un, check out Under the Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty by Bradley K. Martin if you want a dry but deep history, or Nothing to Envy: Oridinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick for a more narrative account.
on “The drug debate in Japan (2018)” ↗…like a real life spy novel. Some of the portions where he gets close to the border and as he survives on the lam in the Chinese border adjacent countryside while being hunted are... heart pounding. Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick is also about life in North Korea but focuses less on the party elite and more on the suffering of the general population. Heart-wrenching, horrific, well-researched and depraved. And…
on “Where is the scrutiny over FDA’s role in the overdose epidemic?” ↗You might like the book "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea." There's quite a few jaw dropping stories from people who defected from NK. It's such a mysterious country, I am completely fascinated by it. edit: a word
on “Kim Jong-il's Sushi Chef” ↗My favorite book about the DPRK is Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Envy-Ordinary-Lives-ebook/dp/B...). I'm hopeful that the DPRK is moving toward modernity, but if the stories from that book are anywhere…
on “Getting drunk in North Korea” ↗…they are just deluded that Western tourists will be fooled by the propaganda). But, what are the chances that your time there will really shed any more light on North Korea? Encouraging friends to read "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea", for example, or simply reading it or another similar book yourself and sharing your thoughts would arguably shed more light than a brief government managed trip and a…
on “Sophie In North Korea” ↗North Koreans have been "jailbreaking" their electronics for a long time. There are some good books about how ordinary people lived up to around Kim Jong-Un's reign, such as "Nothing to Envy" and "Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader". Devices such as TVs and radios were always set to only receive state broadcasts, and they are subject to regular inspections. But the safety measures…
on “North Koreans are jailbreaking phones to access forbidden media” ↗>That's not necessarily true. They don't have access to the internet or foreign media. Only propaganda. That's wildly inaccurate, read "Nothing to Envy" then educate yourself on advancements in censorship circumvention since then -- they regularly get movies and films on USB paired with broadcasts into border regions.
on “North Korea – teenagers executed for distributing South Korean movies” ↗