This is a powerful, disquieting read. These short stories, written by a member of North Korea's official writer's association, but whose identity is unknown for his own protection, was smuggled out of North Korea at huge risk in 2013.

They tell the story of ordinary people from every social class, who live with the daily risk of political ruin from an unguarded remark, gesture or action. The status of these people is determined by the political correctness of their ancestors, their living relatives. A fall from grace means exile, hard labour, or worse.

Citizens do not only have to behave correctly, they have to be seen to do so. Parks and mountainsides were despoiled following Kim-il-Sung's death in 2014 as people were required to leave flowers commemorating the dictator's demise morning, noon and night, and faced ruin for not doing so.

One man fails to obtain the necessary travel permit to visit his dying mother. Another is banished from his family to work long hours developing a soybean farm, and is indicted for anti-revolutionary crimes when the crop fails. It's even a crime if your small son bursts into tears at the sight of those ubiquitous giant posters of Stalin and Kim-il-Sung.

The style of writing is rough, jagged, raw. This book is written by a man in the grip of powerful emotion. It's not a comfortable read. But it is enlightening.

( )

The only book critical of the North Korean regime written by someone still living under that regime, making this collection of short stories one of the bravest books I have ever read.

These are stories of people with ordinary problems, living under a system with absolutely zero room for humanity — for making allowances for ordinary people with their ordinary problems. Toddlers who cry. Workers who want to visit dying mothers. Someone with a parent, uncle, or grandparent who once did something to offend the party.

These feel to me similar to other stories that have come out of Communist dictatorships, and I wonder if Bandi ever had access to any of those. What is remarkable about them to me is him. Someone who was a true believer, a party loyalist, then became disillusioned, not only in his own circumstance, but seeing how the regime crushes all those around him.

I hope for his continued safety. ( )

Aunque repetitivas ( alguien honesto y trabajador machacado por el sistema), me ha sorprendido las historias por su calidad.
Mucha suerte y ánimo. ( )

The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea by Bandi is a collection of short stories that take place in North Korea around the transition of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. Bandi, a pseudonym, is more of a mysterious person. He lived in North Korea and presumably still does. His writings have been smuggled out of North Korea and have been published in South Korea and France. Bandi is Korean for firefly and is shedding his little bit of light in a dark country.

Anyone who is trying to stay current on North Korea has read the recent nonfiction and quickly comes to realize how little is actually known about the country. After a few books, the reader will see the same stories repeat over again. Most of what is written about North Korea comes from defectors and their stories have been well used. Jang Jin-sung, poet laureate, and South Korea propaganda expert was the only high-level government official to defect until very recently. He offered more of an understanding of the whys of the regime rather than just the whats.

Bandi offers a selection of short stories that leave the reader wondering. The stories are fiction but fit so well with the actual conditions of the country. It is a bit like a dystopian episode of the Twilight Zone. You know it’s fiction but it feels so real. The feeling of being trapped in a nightmare is very real. From the sins of the father being carried to the next generation to the fear that something a child might do will damage your family’s position. Interestingly, there is very little about the outside enemy in this collection. There is no mention of the United States’ determination to end the worker’s paradise and there is only passing mention of the South’s propaganda being blasted over the border to the north. Everything happens inside North Korea as it works to make itself an island separate from the rest of the world.

Inside people spend their lives trying to stay within the ever shrinking lines. Loyalty is the most important thing. One man’s son cracks to his father, “You took a cup of sorrow and cried a pitcher of tears” concerning the death of Kim Il-Sung. Another character talks of a magical garden where cries of pain and suffering are distorted into laughter. School children watch the trial and execution of a man tied to a peach tree. The rope that was used to tie the man had more of an impact than the execution. The rope bound a person into helplessness. Perhaps there are things worse than death.

One cannot but feel the entrapment and hopelessness of many of the people. Some follow not to get noticed. Some follow out of fear. Some dare hope to escape. The majority know they are stuck and try to ignore their surroundings and live in an illusion of a positive attitude. The stories are fiction, but the feelings and emotions in them seem very real. One wonders if the stories are fiction in only that names and places have been changed. Haunting fiction because the reader knows it can very well be true.
( )

I consider this an important book. The reader gets a taste of what life is like for the population of North Korea... and it's not great. Here the party rules everything, everyone is suspicious of 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. The author gives the impression that much of the general population is aware of the facade but fear for their lives and the lives of their relatives should they speak up. These things alone make the book worth reading and remind us to keep an eye on the activities of our own governments. ( )