Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (2010)

By Barbara Demick

(Journalism, Prison Narrative, Social Commentary)

Ms. Demick is a journalist for the L.A. Times who interviews those who escaped the North and are trying to find their way in 21st-century South Korea. By chance, she discovers that two of her interviewees used to be teenage sweethearts. As Demick reports on cruel living conditions within North Korea, the awe its citizens share for their political leaders, and the ubiquitous surveillance that haunts its people, she also weaves in the story of the two adolescent lovers. Faced with an opportunity to escape, the young woman suddenly disappears. Years later, the young man manages to flee. Demick reunites the couple, and the two are able to reveal to each other the methods of their flights to freedom and their current struggles to establish new lives in South Korea. The reporting is first class; Demick is particularly good at explaining the myriad dangers faced by those who must escape through China as well as the profound culture shock survivors experience when entering a modern, capitalist Korea.

 “What’s the tape for,” the inspector demanded.

Jung-sang’s heart pounded. He’d heard of an entire family that was taken away to the gulag because one member watched South Korean television. A friend of his who was merely suspected of listening to South Korean radio was held for a full year of interrogation, during which time he never saw sunlight. When he was released, he was deathly pale, his nerves shattered.” (193 “Frogs in the Well”)