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Barbara Demick

Barbara Demick Biography

Journalist

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“Dr. Kim couldn't remember the last time she'd seen a bowl of pure white rice. What was a bowl of rice doing there, just sitting out on the ground? She figured it out just before she heard the dog's bark. Up until that moment, a part of her had hoped that China would be just as poor as North Korea. She still wanted to believe that her country was the best place in the world. The beliefs she had cherished for a lifetime would be vindicated. But now she couldn't deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.”

PovertyCommunismDictatorshipTotalitarianismNorth KoreaFamine
Book:Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
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“North Korea invites parody. We laugh at the excesses of the propaganda and the gullibility of the people. But consider that their indoctrination began in infancy, during the fourteen-hour days spent in factory day-care centers; that for the subsequent fifty years, every song, film, newspaper article, and billboard was designed to deify Kim Il-sung; that the country was hermetically sealed to keep out anything that might cast doubt on Kim Il-sung's divinity. Who could possibly resist?”

PeopleYearsCountryMightCareFilmSongHoursLaughingDoubtCastsNewspapersPropagandaFiftyDivinityArticlesInvitesExcessFactoriesKoreaNorth KoreaInfancyFourteenParodyIndoctrinationKimBillboardsGullibilityDay CareKim Il Sung
Book:Nothing To Envy: Real Lives In North Korea
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“North Korean defectors often find it hard to settle down. It is not easy for somebody who’s escaped a totalitarian country to live in the free world. Defectors have to rediscover who they are in a world that offers endless possibilities. Choosing where to live, what to do, even which clothes to put on in the morning is tough enough for those of us accustomed to making choices; it can be utterly paralyzing for people who’ve had decisions made for them by the state their entire lives.”

PeopleWorldMadeCountryHardStatesEnoughChoicesEasyDecisionMorningPossibilityOffersClothesToughEndlessSettlingAccustomedNorth KoreaKoreanSettling DownMaking ChoicesFree WorldDecisions MadeNorth KoreanEndless PossibilitiesDefectors
Author:Barbara Demick
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“A North Korean soldier would later recall a buddy who had been given an American-made nail clipper and was showing it off to his friends. The soldier clipped a few nails, admired the sharp, clean edges, and marveled at the mechanics of this simple item. Then he realized with a sinking heart: If North Korea couldn’t make such a fine nail clipper, how could it compete with American weapons?”

IfsHeartMadeGivenSimpleFineWeaponsCleanSoldierEdgesRecallsNailsMechanicItemsKoreaBuddyNorth KoreaKoreanSinkingNorth Korean
Book:Nothing To Envy: Real Lives In North Korea
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