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kelly_e's review
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Title: Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea
Author: Guy Delisle
Genre: Graphic Memoir
Rating: 3.0
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
T H R E E • W O R D S
Satiric • Fast • Insightful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
North Korea remains one of the most secretive and mysterious nations in the world. In Pyongyang cartoonist Guy Delisle details his two months spent in the nation's capital. He was granted access on a work visa for a French film animation company, and his time form the basis of this graphic novel.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Graphic novels are out of my comfort zone, but I picked this one up to filled a prompt for a Canadian readathon I was participating in. Pyongyang gave me a brief (and close-minded) glimpse into life in North Korea, a place I know very little about aside from what's portrayed in the mainstream media.
I thought this travelogue about the author's time in North Korea was interesting enough, despite the author's clear Western attitudes. The story used solid graphics with simplistic art to convey the message.
This isn't one I'd highly recommend, but if you're looking for a perspective on life in North Korea this one may offer a bit more incite.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• anyone looking to learn about North Korea
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"At a certain level of oppression, truth hardly matters, because the greater the lie, the greater the show of power."
Author: Guy Delisle
Genre: Graphic Memoir
Rating: 3.0
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
T H R E E • W O R D S
Satiric • Fast • Insightful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
North Korea remains one of the most secretive and mysterious nations in the world. In Pyongyang cartoonist Guy Delisle details his two months spent in the nation's capital. He was granted access on a work visa for a French film animation company, and his time form the basis of this graphic novel.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Graphic novels are out of my comfort zone, but I picked this one up to filled a prompt for a Canadian readathon I was participating in. Pyongyang gave me a brief (and close-minded) glimpse into life in North Korea, a place I know very little about aside from what's portrayed in the mainstream media.
I thought this travelogue about the author's time in North Korea was interesting enough, despite the author's clear Western attitudes. The story used solid graphics with simplistic art to convey the message.
This isn't one I'd highly recommend, but if you're looking for a perspective on life in North Korea this one may offer a bit more incite.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• anyone looking to learn about North Korea
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"At a certain level of oppression, truth hardly matters, because the greater the lie, the greater the show of power."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and War
librarymouse's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
2.75
This was an interesting look at Pyongyang from the perspective of a foreigner on a long-term work assignment in North Korea. Most accounts I've read of North Korea have come from expats and journalists. Most recently I read a book by Suki Kim. To read about somebody living and working in North Korea as a foreigner, and walking around Pyongyang without a minder was a bit jarring, especially after reading how closely watched and isolated Suki Kim, her fellow teachers, and students were kept only 8 years later. It's very possible that in 2003 when this book was written, international relations with North Korea were different in a way that I can't fully grasp without having lived it. Overall, this was an interesting read, but far less informative than I had hoped. The author does not seem to view the people around him as people, and there's some unexpected sexism in how he discusses the attractive young women who run the tours he goes on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Ableism