Nothing to Envy

Lately, there's been a lot of hype about North Korea and its issues. There are a lot of problems associated with North Korea. Usually, the fear of North Korea having nuclear weapons is discussed on the news. Certainly it's cause for concern considering the North struggles with consistency and stability. Recently, there have been more allegations of North Korea concerning human rights violations. Seldom is anything considering the citizens put on bargaining table. North Korea is ruthless and refuses to negotiate or even admit to the existence of labor camps that house an estimated 154,000 (Harden) prisoners; usually guilty of trivial crimes such as spelling Kim Jong Ill's name wrong or blaming the government for lack of food. This article is typically what we hear about North Korea, and if you don't know a lot about North Korea, see the BBC profile on North Korea. A nonfiction book that will explain cultural, historical, political and economic insight into the lives of North Koreans is Barbra Demick's Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea.

The mysterious country of North Korea has perplexes and confuses people throughout the world. It horrifies experts and politicians alike, and yet it is often seen no more than a political agenda. The focus of most books, documentaries and news releases on North Korea usually relate to the intensely brainwashed citizens, or the frightening death camps. Barbra Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, breaks down the political agenda and brings the conflict in North Korea to an individual level. Nothing to Envy focuses on the lives of six seemingly normal North Koreans. The people the book follows all come from the same town, Chongjin, a small town in northern North Korea. Demick accurately created a credible account of what goes on in the ostracized village. Although they do not represent the general population, as there are certainly people in North Korea who worship Kim Ill Sung and others as they are expected to. It offers a completely different perspective outsiders are usually given. This book is their stories of escaping a country trapped in the 1980s, and attempting to settle into ‘normal’ life.

One of the things I liked about Nothing to Envy is the candid way it was written. Nothing was tiptoed around and everything was stated in bold, blank statements. The focus of what was being described was uncensored and the reader can envision himself or herself in the town, park or factory. Every detail was described, the houses inside and out, the landscape and geography and the families and personalities of the people. As a reader, and someone who had limited knowledge of North Korean culture, I appreciated learning about daily life and what the culture was like. As mentioned before, I think it is difficult to remember that between nuclear bomb threats and diplomacy conflicts, a people and a culture continue to thrive. “They [people in the world] don’t stop to think that in the middle of this black hole, in this bleak, dark country where millions have died of starvation, there is also love.” This is not a book that will thoroughly explain the death camps, the way the government controls the people or even the aid the United Nations has given North Korea in the past. This book vividly describes the lives of six North Koreans and concludes with their lives in South Korea. In a way, they represent the others who have been unable to escape.

Another aspect of the book I liked is that Demick turned a non-fiction like book into a story. The book was compelling and interesting to say the least. Between lost love, lost family members and a famine, Demick still found time to talk about more political issues and explore the culture of North Korea. By using quotes given by the defectors, Demick lets the story tell itself and readers feel they are getting to know the characters, rather than just reading about them. For example, “simple and kindhearted people who did what they were told—they were the first to die,” was written when discussing the famine and the affects of the people. The enormity of what the quote says about humanity and society is disturbing because of the paradox. Demick does a good job of letting the reader ask and answer questions independently and see the situations in their own way.

Readers can only guess at what else goes on the secluded nation of North Korea, but Nothing to Envy will give them a clue. The next time we think of North Korea, instead of nuclear attacks, closed borders and the dark patch of land that appears between China and South Korea, we should be thinking of the citizens and how we can help them when North Korea finally climbs into the light.

Although the nuclear situation is cause for concern, so are the thousands of people dying of starvation, hard labor and torture.  For further reading about the prisoners of labor camps Escape from Camp 14 is a personal account of a man who escaped Camp 14.  He is also the only known person born inside a labor camp to escape.  It records his journey intermixed with information about North Korea.

1. Escape from Camp 14. Blaine Harden, 2012.