Pyongyang: phantom city in a hermit nation. There’s no internet and only one channel on TV. Propaganda broadcasts from speakers all over the city and even in the most unlikely, remote locations. It’s impossible to go anywhere without seeing President Kim Jong-Il’s face at least 30 times a day. Walking backwards is a traditional form of exercise. With a six day work week and one day of “volunteer” work (whitewashing stones at the base of trees, trimming grass along the roads with a scythe, or sweeping the deserted highway with a broom), the average citizen has almost no spare time. But even if they did, there’s no ice cream (decadent imperialism prohibited).
PYONGYANG: A JOURNEY IN NORTH KOREA
by Guy Delisle
“Do they really believe the bullshit that’s being forced down their throats?”
“At a certain level of oppression, truth hardly matters, because the greater the lie, the greater the show of power.”
Famously referred to as part of the “Axis of Evil,” North Korea is one of the most secretive and mysterious nations in the world today. A series of manmade and natural catastrophes have also left it one of the poorest. When this fortress-like country recently opened the door a crack to foreign investment, cartoonist Guy Delisle found himself in its capital of Pyongyang on a work visa for a French film animation company, becoming one of the few Westerners to witness current conditions in the surreal showcase city.
Guy Delisle’s document of this surreal country is consistently hilarious and disturbing. As a skilled animator, his illustrations also move the story along perfectly. All foreign visitors are isolated to a small island with three mostly empty hotels on it. Local citizens aren’t allowed to visit the island, and foreigners can’t travel around the city without a guide. In this way, North Koreans have virtually no contact or influence from the outside world.
Armed with a smuggled radio and a copy of 1984, Delisle was able to observe more than was intended of the culture and lives of the few North Koreans he encountered. Considering the lack of information about this mysterious country, this book is very intelligent and insightful resource.