Nothing to Envy

Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

Demick offers a rare view inside of North Korea. She relates the lives of six North Koreans through changes in country leadership and a devastating famine that killed an estimated 20% of the population.

The reader glimpses life in the most totalitarian country in the world. North Koreans have no access to the outside world. Hard to imagine--no Internet, very limited radio and television (government run), and basically no electricity or what is commonly seen as modern convenience. You are not free to travel, you are not free to create relationships, you are not free to live your life as you wish. One misstep can send a citizen to prison (re-education camps or the gulag). And since the country is so tightly controlled, the citizen don't realize that this is not typical.

I tried to put myself in the place of each of these six people. Extremely hard for me to imagine, but I could feel sympathy and excitement for them as they realized that their life could be different.