Book review: Without You, There Is No Us by Suki Kim

Ah, looking at the title of the book reminds me of my favourite Chinese movie, Us and Them. Nothing related, it’s just both titles feel similar to me.

This story is somewhat a memoir of a Korean born journalist, Suki Kim who now resided in New York with her family. It tells about her unforgettable experience being a teacher to elite students in Pyongyang University Science and Technology (PUST) as their English teacher specializing in writing. She used to cover news around the world but what strongly drove her to enter the country, not just to know the real situation there but also because the story of how her maternal grandmother struggled to survive the war with her kids including her mom (Suki’s mom was 4 at that time) but lost her eldest and her only son who she relied so much on to North Korea.

I find this book quite disturbing because the unimaginable situations described and Suki felt so helpless being there but what kept her going was the students there. Everything is being watched and controlled. Words they uttered, actions they took, teaching materials used, everything needed to go through the authority. Even though the students were 20 years old, they were not equipped with basic knowledge because they are not allowed to. They do not have the internet access like us which we can surf freely any information we wanted, they only have Intranet (their kind of internet) which is very limited things to access. They might be called elite class students because of their families’ background but the definition of ‘elite’ there is somehow completely different compared to we have in other countries. Maybe they have better complexion compared to the others but still, they are lacking in many basic things that normal souls do.

It is sad how their life being controlled and limited by the upper authority and the least freedom they should enjoy as human beings are being suppressed. Nutritious food? Clean water? Fine roadway? No, they don’t have it. We from the other side of the world seem to take all those novelties for granted since we don’t face much problem to the access. Put the basic needs aside, they can’t even talk freely in fear of being punished. I am in no place to explain further about the political issues but what I could grasp from things I read regarding this book and some reading I did on this country, the corruption within their system is deeply affecting thousands of innocent souls there when they actually deserve more than what they receive and being served. Cutting the grass using scissors and not lawnmower? It is so heart – wrenching. The description of the people there on the road is far more heart breaking; gaunt physical, severely malnourished and sunken eyes with dead looks.

It’s 5/5 from me since I am pretty satisfied with the content, the vivid description and good choice of words. Plus, I got a better picture of North Korea.