Nothing to Envy (2009) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

People edit see section history

• Mrs. Song: A North Korean mother, true believer in the North Korean vision and "immiban" - the womanappointed to report back the goings on in her neighbourhood to the state.
• Kim Hyuck: A North Korean child who in his latter formative years finds himself living in very difficult circumstances and requiring the wits to look after himself.
• Mi-Ran: A Korean woman born to a father from South Korea and therefore seen as having tainted blood. Her story commences with Mi-Ran as a young girl of exceptional beauty.
• Oak-Hee: The wayward daughter of Mrs Song who is among the most willing to challenge the North Korean state.
• Jun-Sang: A bright and studious boy born to a Korean/Japanese family which is wealthier than most. The beautiful Mi-Ran catches his eye from an early age.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Really?”

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• But now she couldn’t deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.

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• BY 1998, AN ESTIMATED 600,000 to 2 million North Koreans had died as a result of the famine, as much as 10 percent of the population.

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• What distinguished him in the rogues’ gallery of twentieth-century dictators was his ability to harness the power of faith. Kim Il-sung understood the power of religion. His maternal uncle was a Protestant minister back in the pre-Communist days when Pyongyang had such a vibrant Christian community that it was called the “Jerusalem of the East.” Once in power, Kim Il-sung closed the churches, banned the Bible, deported believers to the hinterlands, and appropriated Christian imagery and dogma for the purpose of self-promotion.

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• The old class structure drew heavily on the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, who believed that humans fit strictly into a social pyramid. Kim Il-sung took the least humane elements of Confucianism and combined them with Stalinism. At the top of the pyramid, instead of an emperor, resided Kim Il-sung and his family. From there began a downward progression of fifty-one categories that were lumped into three broad classes—the core class, the wavering class, and the hostile class.

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• This kind of Confucian communism bore greater resemblance to the culture of imperial Japan, where the emperor was the sun to which all subjects bowed, than to anything envisioned by Karl Marx.

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• North Korea’s defense budget eats up 25 percent of its gross national product—as opposed to an average of less than 5 percent for industrialized countries. Although there had been no fighting in Korea since 1953, the country kept one million men under arms, giving this tiny country, no bigger than Pennsylvania, the fourth-largest military in the world.

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• But North Korea is not an undeveloped country; it is a country that has fallen out of the developed world.

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• By 2001, it was estimated that 100,000 North Koreans had sneaked into China, a small percentage of whom eventually defected to South Korea.

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• He would later credit the boy with pushing him over the edge. He now knew for sure that he didn’t believe. It was an enormous moment of self-revelation, like deciding one was an atheist. It made him feel alone. He was different from everybody else. He was suddenly self-conscious, burdened by a secret he had discovered about himself.

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• Liberty and love These two I must have. For my love I’ll sacrifice My life. For liberty I’ll sacrifice My love.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Chongjin City: Where most of the ordinary North Korean's lived in this book.
• Musan: A northern North Korean city, that is used as an escape point to China
• Mongolia: A country that North Koreans escape through (from China, on their way to South Korea). This route is chosen--despite requiring a certain amount of travel on foot through the Gobi Desert--because North Koreans can go to South Korean consulates in Mongolia to claim their citizenship and receive a flight to South Korea. North Koreans are welcome in South Korea, but must get there on their own, and cannot claim asylum in consulates in China.
• China
• Pyongyang
• Seoul
• Sea Of Japan
• United States
• Soviet Union
• Kyongsong
• Russia
• North Hamgyong
• Hanawon
• Nongpo
• Chonglin
• Hamhung
• Czechoslovakia
• Tumen River
• Qingdao
• Beijing

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Ajummas: Matronly figures; middle-aged women.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Barbara Demick (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Samuel Johnson Prize (2010: Nonfiction, Winner)
• National Book Award (Finalist, 2010: Nonfiction)
• National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist, 2010: General Nonfiction)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: HN730.6.A8D46 2009
• Dewey: 306.095193090511

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Sociology › Social Situations
• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Anthropology › Cultural
• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Special Groups › Asian American Studies
• Books › History › Asia › Korea

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