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Um. Wow. Short stories from an anonymous author, smuggled out of #NorthKorea. They tell what it‘s like to live under such a regime, where even your emotions (or those of your young children) must not step away from authority lines. Bandi is a state-authorised writer in N Korea, although he would never be permitted to write stories like these - this is powerful literature, painfully told. All round remarkable.

Short stories from a variety of perspectives - all about people being mistreated by the North Korean government.

Realized I haven't reviewed a bunch of books I read on Litsy - been posting about them elsewhere and forgot.

I was planning on re-posting last week‘s #bookreport with notes saying ‘same, same, same...‘ Then I realised I had actually started 2 more books this week 🙄 🤯(the inside of my head does look like this!)

Even though my book reports are a total jumble, they do actually stop things getting (too) out of control!

The Windsor Knot and Noughts & Crosses might be fast reads, so I have high hopes for finishing something next week (or even this wknd)!

Should be done with this tonight. Life and other hurdles keep sidetracking me. I honestly feel for all the characters in this collection. The privilege of freedom is not one everyone gets to enjoy and we so often take for granted things as trivial as being able to draw our curtains whenever we feel like it. You will get this if you read this poignant book narrating how the people in North Korea are faced with obedience every single day.

Bandi wrote 7 short stories, each magnificently constructed, about life in North Korea.
I love how fiction is here used to depict the reality of life under such a regime. Each story resonated with me.
Disillusionment and injustice are themes that are common to several stories. But Bandi, in each story, manages to reveal something about how the North Korean regime is working. Very moving & interesting read!

Had this on the TBR for a while and it was worth the wait!
I had to remind myself that it was fiction.
Very well written and translated.
Full of spirit

This is a difficult read due to the subject matter, but reading this is so worthwhile. This is a collection of short stories, based on real people and events, about life in North Korea. Grim, sad, brutal, and beautiful at times, these stories purport to portray the realities of life in the country. The manuscript had to be smuggled out of the country in order to be published, and the author remains anonymous due to safety concerns. Read it.

The reader gets a taste of what life is like in North Korea... and it's not great. Here the party rules everything, everyone is suspicious each other, deportation of citizens from the city to the harsh countryside can happen within the hour, and lies are constantly recycled to prop up the infallibility and wisdom of the great leader. There is more. But these things alone make the book worth reading and remind us to watch our own governments.

Bailed at page 89. Not that it's bad, but I just couldn't seem to get into it. Moving on to other things.

Won't be closing this one until it's done, somehow it really drew me in from the first page.

#NorthKorea #literarytriparoundtheworld

This book has been written by Bandi, an inhabitant (still) of North Korea. He wrote this collection of short stories, yoked together to one overarching theme: criticism of the Kim Il-sun era.
What a country. What a system. What a fear.

(Picture: Vienna)

In these times I decided it is about time I learn some more about North Korea. I start with this one but do also have a copy of The Orphan Master‘s Son. Any recommendations? #currentread

To read next! I'm super excited about this one, it looks right up my street. It is a collection of short stories that were written IN North Korea and smuggled out.

#shortstory #diversity #diversebooks #diversebookbloggers #weneeddiversebooks #diversereads #reading #readdiverse #readdiversebooks #read #book #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookinspo #books #korea #hardback #collection

I don't think I've ever rated a short story collection higher than 3/5 stars, and this is the case for this anthology as well. The stories provided very interesting insight into the daily lives of North Koreans, but some stories were better than others. I skimmed through at least 2 of the stories.

#translated for #litsyreadingchallenge
#collection for #aroundtheyearin52books

At almost halfway through, I'd say this book is haunting. And raw.

Road trip to Calgary! I'm not driving though, so I get to read the whole way. 😈

Litsy is definitely not good for me. I joined three weeks ago, today I entered a book store and completely lost it.... I blame you all 😍! #blameitonlitsy #bookhaul

Wow.

Depression-related insomnia has its perks, I suppose. Starting a new read tonight, despite feeling like I'm drained of all feelings.

I also did some book therapy shopping tonight because I deserve it after the clusterfuck of a week & day I've had. But thank god for books! I've been looking forward to this one all year and finally just bought it already. That cover. 😍

Has anyone read this book? (the author's name is Bandi) It's a collection of stories that was smuggled out of North Korea. Here's an article about it: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/19/books/north-korea-the-accusation.html

5/5⭐️ I am not a huge reader of short story collections but this one was absolutely wonderful and amazing. Highly recommend

Wow! These stories are all good, but there were two in particular that made me shutter at the horror and stupidity of the North Korean regime. Can you imagine not being able to travel to see your dying mother or living a life of deprivation for the sake of the Party? Crazy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #junereads #20booksofsummer 1/20

Current reading situation. It's 6:40 am over here. Just started using the Bookout app. #obsessed

We made it! Did I mention that I don't travel well at all? I'm always a ball of anxiety and nausea. 🤢
However the view this morning is so worth it! It's funny that I had been agonizing over what books to bring on vacation, and settled on these ones. I have no idea what I'm in the mood for. I also have a ton to read on my kindle. #bookproblems #TBR

This is a collection of short stories set in North Korea, written by someone who is currently living there. The author was able to get the stories smuggled out to South Korea, where they were first published. The writing is very good, but such sad stories!

Smuggled out of North Korea, many of these stories are pretty good. But literary evaluation is utterly beside the point: any sentence from any one would get Bandi strung up. I shall never forget the woman character whose dad had been a war hero; her baby boy kept screaming and crying at the sight of the Dear Leader portrait across the street. She thought this offence would be given a pass due to her dad's valor. How do you think that turned out?

Like these incredible stories, this photo of a real, malnourished North Korean soldier was smuggled out of the country. There are more such photos here: https://petapixel.com/2016/01/25/these-photos-got-a-photographer-banned-from-nor...

This was so good. 7 short stories of North Koreans living under dictatorship. Bandi is not coy in his writings, his stories are nothing short of cries of dissent. What stands out for me is his anger, not just for himself but, for his fellow citizens caught up in this decades long impossible situation. #GRABBYHANDS #stagetruth

Even self-soothing with tea and butterscotch pie can't make this book less bleak. It's really, really good but so very sad.

This book is heart wrenching. What these people go through. Seems like such an important read.

Quick study break while I enjoy a book for fun and not for uni! Such an important book, telling the rare stories of the North Korean people, smuggled out of the country by a dissident writer. I feel that the story of the author is just as fascinating and important as the stories contained within the book!
#bandi #theaccusation #chocolate #coffee #booksandcoffee #studybreak

Brand new translation of an anthology of fiction by North Korean writers, smuggled into the West. I just saw the review by @Jessicav on Litsy and literally started reading the ebook off Scribd within 5 minutes!

It's so hard to comment on a book like this. I've read a lot already about life in North Korea, but to have a work of fiction smuggled out of the country in hopes that change will come from outside pressures is a different beast. What is there to say about a collection of work from someone risking their life to teach others and talk openly about what's happening inside closed borders. Make some time for this one.

Next up. I tend to listen to kpop while I read, and my bookmark is a photo card that came in a cd jacket. The juxtaposition could not be more stark. #highhopes #korea

Wow.

This comes out in the UK in May. Yeonmi Park, author of In Order to Live commented about this on her Facebook page today.

A little self-care today - went for a mani/pedi and then HAD to use my B&N coupon...I have wanted Desperation Road since I heard it was coming out but I just stumbled across The Accusation while browsing - love it when that happens!

Thoroughly horrifying collection of stories, from a prisoner of the the Communist regime in North Korea. Seven long and complex stories capture the horrors of life in this Stalinist gulag. Most striking is that every story is perrvaded by images of cold and hunger. In one story, a character is descrribed as "...so gaunt he looked like a stick of wood in clothes; even his bald head gave the impression of being somehow hollow." Essential reading.

So excited to start reading this. Reminds me of when I was a kid, and there was a publisher that printed translations of samizdat. Great article in the New York Times, check it out!

Regrammed from my instagram: look what came in the mail today... #toberead #intranslation #toread #shortstories

I didn't know what I didn't know about North Korea. LOVED this collection of short stories, the first thing to come out of communist North Korea.

Heard about this book on the Vintage Podcast and immediately put it down as a must read for 2017. Anyone else's TBR exploding because of all the "Best of 2016" and "2017 New Releases" lists? (Please tell me I'm not the only one...?)