| rdfs:comment | - Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea is a novel by Michael Harrold
- Comrades and Strangers Michael Harrold, an intrepid young college graduate, was the first Briton ever to go into North Korea and live there. While working there as a translator for the speeches of Kim Il Sun and Kim Jong Il, he began to learn about one of the most closed societies on Earth. Harrold's life within North Korea was one of intrigue, but also one of space between him and the inhabitants if North Korea. Harrold quickly learned what made North Korea a different country from others through many North Korean traditions and ideas, such as the idea of Juche, or that man is the master of his own destiny, leading the entire nation to politically center their revolution on themselves as individuals. Another North Korean idea that was impressed upon foreigners was the understanding that t
- Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea ' 'author' ' Michael Harrold Michael Harrold tells the story of his seven-year stint in the North Korean city of Pyongyang as a translation editor, all the while he is pestered, watched and accused by his North Korean government caretakers. During his stay in North Korea a series of events further destabilize the country the economy flounders due to international economic boycott and a decision to hold the Olympics in South Korea after they were thought to be shared with South Korea.
|
| abstract | - Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea ' 'author' ' Michael Harrold Michael Harrold tells the story of his seven-year stint in the North Korean city of Pyongyang as a translation editor, all the while he is pestered, watched and accused by his North Korean government caretakers. During his stay in North Korea a series of events further destabilize the country the economy flounders due to international economic boycott and a decision to hold the Olympics in South Korea after they were thought to be shared with South Korea. Michael Harrold applies for and eventually receives a job in closed North Korea as an editor of articles, mostly from Kim Jong Il’s office translated into English. The position makes him the first British citizen to live and work in North Korea. Harrold repeatedly blunders over communist cultural differences. After early embarrassment Harrold only half-heartedly tries to assimilate, instead he resists the North Korean rules. As a result, partially because of his resistance, partially because of the North’s paranoia, Harrold is accused of a laundry list of crimes, the charges of which are quickly dropped. The latter two parts of the book mostly talk of his attempt to become adopted into normal North Korean society. Harrold combines history from the period with his own personal experiences and perceived opinions of his local friends. Harrold’s account of North Korea, while interesting and often insightful, is tainted, perhaps unavoidably because it is written by a stranger in a foreign land, but even more so than necessary because he lived in a separate world than the North Koreans. Again, only part of this is because of his own fault; the North Koreans treat foreigners with extreme hospitality and caution, but also his accounts of events are almost always tempered by obvious western attitudes. Subsequently, he comes off as just the type kind of person the North Koreans don’t want in their country and he is “asked to leave.”
- Comrades and Strangers Michael Harrold, an intrepid young college graduate, was the first Briton ever to go into North Korea and live there. While working there as a translator for the speeches of Kim Il Sun and Kim Jong Il, he began to learn about one of the most closed societies on Earth. Harrold's life within North Korea was one of intrigue, but also one of space between him and the inhabitants if North Korea. Harrold quickly learned what made North Korea a different country from others through many North Korean traditions and ideas, such as the idea of Juche, or that man is the master of his own destiny, leading the entire nation to politically center their revolution on themselves as individuals. Another North Korean idea that was impressed upon foreigners was the understanding that the reason there were many restrictions in North Korea was because of the possibility of another American invasion, which led to an exaggerated sense of the Cold War throughout the history of North Korea, and even now. This helped to also emphasize the space that North Koreans put between themselves and foreigners. These restrictions often resulted in Harrold becoming paranoid about why people were genuinely asking him questions, or were trying to get information to use against him. Harrold experienced these ideas and other views in North Korea, and in his attempt to "open up" North Korea he portrayed the "typical" foreigner role that the North Koreans expected, and subsequently was asked to leave North Korea. Although his tenure within North Korea was seven years, he gathered what he could of the isolated communist culture, and presented it in a way that westerners could understand. Comrades and Stangers cracks the locked door of North Korea enough to let Westerners know why North Korea is the guarded and isolated culture that it is.
- Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea is a novel by Michael Harrold
|
