This book skips away from my preferred light-hearted fantasy track to a far more serious, but decidedly intriguing, read. Nothing To Envy is a biography that captures the lives of 6 people who at one time lived in North Korea, and eventually escaped. It starts before the death of Kim Il-sung, and spans more then a decade of time. The people featured in this book are ordinary--from a young school girl who meets her first real love, to a mother who finds herself selling food on the black market...to a school teacher who watches her children grow thinner and sicker as the country goes through a massive food shortage. I had always been curious about North Korea, and I think that this book does an amazing job of dispelling many of the assumptions I had about these people, as well as providing me far more fodder for thought then I would have originally guessed.
I listened to this book while training for my marathon (actually, I listened to it during a very long 4.5 hour run...it kept me good company), and would recommend this form of media to anyone with a long commute. I think you'll be surprised by how captivating it is...and having someone to read the occasional Korean words aloud certainly is helpful. (:
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