May 2012 book selection
The Fairfax
Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, May 10th at
7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our May book: Nothing
to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick.
Here are some links for additional
background and information:
Below are discussion questions.
Thanks for reading with us. I look
forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.
Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
2. Talk about what happens to those who manage to defect. How do they manage life outside North Korea? What are the difficulties— both practical and psychological—they confront in their new lives?
3. Demick describes North Korea, not as an undeveloped country, but as "a country that has fallen out of the developed world." What does she mean? What would it be like for any of us to live under the conditions in North Korea? What would be most difficult for you? What shocked or angered you most about the book's descriptions of life in the DPRK?
4. Discuss the history of North Korea and its descent into deprivation. How did a formerly wealthy, industrialized country—which attracted Chinese from across the border—deteriorate into its present state?
5. What does it take to survive in North Korea? How do some get around the restrictive laws?
6. Do Koreans love their "dear leader" as much as they claim?
7. How does one explain the disparity between North and South Korea?
8. Talk about your experience reading this book? Was it hard to get through...or did you find yourself unable to put the book down? Were you depressed, angered, outraged, thankful for your own life...or all of the above?
9. If you have read 1984 by George Orwell, describe similarities between the countries of Oceania and North Korea? Similarities and differences between Kim Jong-il and Big Brother, the Thought Police and Ministry of Truth?
