Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

by Barbara Demick

After work, she had to spend several more hours in ideological training in the factory’s auditorium.

All those years of sleep deprivation, all those lectures and self-criticisms—the very same tools used in brainwashing or interrogations—had wiped out any possibility of resistance.

I understand more than most the challenge that she had to overcome in order to rebel and fight for freedom

personality was all sharp edges. Instead of her mother’s forgiving nature, she had a keen sense of outrage and seemed permanently aggrieved. As the

Evergreen 2 mother, 8 daughter. Classic

They could see with their own eyes that life in China looked good.

Life outside of revival was curious to me

With each passing day, there was a fresh observation that would heighten her outrage over the lies she’d been fed.

I've been free almost a decade but still the fire of anger washes over me at times, with a new reflection or realization, and it's ultimately so cleansing. Some old friends say "don't hold grudges," but I think they mean, "be quiet and don't process because it makes us uncomfortable."