Without You, There Is No Us

Without You, There Is No Us offers an interesting and unique, albeit depressing, view of North Korea, a country so backwards it borders on the unfathomable. Kim is allowed in to North Korea for an extended period teaching English at a school to the sons of the most elite families by pretending to be a missionary. Her position is tenuous at best. Not only is she not religious and could be found out by the other teachers, all the foreign faculty is constantly watched and monitored. There is no privacy. It is utterly paranoia inducing, which is completely warranted. I appreciated the subtle comparisons and subsequent critiques between her students' faith, gullibility, and brainwashing and that of the devout teachers' attitudes about their own religion.I can barely imagine Kim actually living this, or what citizens on a daily basis must go through. She has managed to write in a straightforward and almost stark way that imparts a good representation of her experiences recounting the monotony, frustration, and fear. Rare but truly tender moments between Kim and her students break my heart.I struggle to wrap my head around North Korea. It angers me, terrifies me, and makes me profoundly grateful. It's easy to forget how lucky I am to live with even the most basic and simple choices. I love my denim and blue jeans which has been deemed too American for Koreans. I can do, say, and go where I want.Reading Without You kept reminding me of reading [b:Little House in the Big Woods 77766 Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, #1) Laura Ingalls Wilder https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350471760s/77766.jpg 1200805] as a child. I remember having a hard time actually imagining a life with such little technology or luxuries I took for granted. The students entertained themselves with songs and skits, just like I remember reading in the Little House series. North Korea is stuck between two worlds. The electricity is unreliable and looking at nighttime satellite imagery shows a country swathed in black. Citizens are kept relatively ignorant for easy control. They are fear-mongered, brainwashed, and worn down with constant labor or service.I fervently hope I live to see the day the North Korean dictatorship falls, but would Korea become one country again? It would be a huge burden on the south and the Stockholm syndrome of an entire nation seems rather absolute and daunting.I imagine Kim will no longer ever be let into North Korea, not that it would be safe for her to go back. Before starting this book I didn't understand the seriousness of her sacrifice. I'm glad I stumbled on to this book for her personal view of this tragic country and for what I learned reading it.