Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

The author does an excellent job telling the tales of her protagonists wrapped in the totalitarian govt. The most shocking part of the book is when you hear about the measures that this imbecile leader takes to prove that he is GOD when he is not even human.

The things that people around the world take for granted are shown as luxuries in N Korea and sometimes unachievable for a regular citizen. At times, this book can be depressing but it is very informative and educational. The history of Koreas and the past, present of N Korea is very well described in this book.

The narrator was a little annoying at first with her breathing right in the mic. But I got used to it few hours in the book. This book is just too good so I didn't realize after a while how bad the narrator was. But Audible should really audition narrators before they are hired for the job.

"Ordinary lives," perhaps, but not ordinary people. The description of life in North Korea during the famine years is riveting, and the individual stories are deeply touching and ultimately inspiring. If this were a work of fiction, it would be a great novel. But as always, real life is more fascinating than fiction. This is journalism at its best.

I'm not sure why I downloaded Nothing to Envy in the first place, but I am certainly glad I did. This book was enthralling and endlessly interesting. I have a picture in my mind of life in North Korea that has stuck with me. The author weaves stories together in a way that is complex without being confusing. Well worth the 12 hours - I was sorry when it ended.

This story of the lives of several ordinary North Korean citizens, put together from interviews over a period of several years with defectors who made it to South Korea, gives a grim and fascinating look at what it's really like inside this isolated, almost hermetically-sealed dictatorship. Although much of it is what you'd expect from the little we can see from outside -- the cult of personality around the "Dear Leader," the bankrupt economy that pumps money into nuclear weapons and the military while the citizens starve -- you really cannot appreciate just how impoverished the people of North Korea are until you read these stories. Particularly heartbreaking is the story of the famine that killed millions in the 1990s. Every person interviewed for this book was literally watching friends and family drop dead of starvation all around them, while the government continued denying a problem and forbidding them even to grow gardens. The book covers the time period up until late 2009, when Kim Jong Il is still in power, could easily live for decades yet, and there is no telling just how much longer this regime can continue. For North Koreans, the future seems bleak no matter what.

In such a hermetic regime as North Korea, it is nearly impossible to give a sense of what its citizens go through every day. In one sense I was just curious as to what things were like in the DPRK, and didn't care for the personal stories as much at first. But it makes the realization that their country is a bankrupt dictatorship by these characters even more powerful at the end. I don't think you would understand the forces keeping the North Koreans under tabs had you not read this story. It's a little bit like seeing a primitive culture discover technology in a first world nation. However, what makes this even more amazing is that these two peoples are from the same nation. The narrator is a good reader, but an annoying tick happens when she breathes in before each new sentence. You will soon forget about this phenomenon, but it's good to at least be aware of it.

My family is from South Korea. I am the first generation from the States. My grandma was from the Korea War era and she always told us story about North Korea. This book was very interesting. I learned so much. Thank you for the good rating for making me read this book.

Not for the faint of heart. This book is like ice cold water pored into your warm morning bed. Like smelling salt to the nose. The inhumanity is so palpable it's like watching a holocaust film. You can only feel so deep then you go into the realm of the numb. The shameless irony of the North Korean regime feels like a kind of insanity. Like an insane class is running the country. If this were fiction it wouldn't be worth reading as it would be too fantastical. I have to recover from the first listening before listening again but listen again I must. Get a box of Kleenex and keep handy. Ironically, this may be the antidote for personal depression.

Outstanding. Prior to reading this book, I had little to no interest/knowledge about North Korea. No longer. Excellent balance of overall history and what life is like for 'normal' people living in North Korea.

Each individual's story was so compelling, I wanted to know more. I wanted to hear about more people. I didn't want the book to end.

If you want to know what happens when a dictator controls a country, read this book. People in North Korea were dying on the streets from hunger and were reduced to eating boiled weeds.