Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea

It's quite an authorial feat to write about a visit to the authoritarian dystopia of North Korea and to leave the impression that you, the author, are the most unsavoury element in the book!

I'm overstating it, I guess, but Delisle's graphic bio of his two month sojourn to North Korea overseeing an animation sweatshop (little evidence of his awareness of the exploitative nature of this) is characterised by his sneery arrogance and lack of empathy for the oppressed Korean people required to work with him, and then there's the instances of unsavoury sexism 🤢

There is still interest in his depiction of life amongst the Western enclave of corporate employees, diplomats and NGO workers in the North Korean capital, but sadly marred by a show more compassionless, supercilious authorial voice. 2.5⭐ show less

Pyongyang is subtitled ‘A Journey in North Korea.’ Journey might be overstating is somewhat: for the most part, Delisle is stationed in Pyongyang, where he is working for a French animation company, occasionally being escorted on day trips further afield. However, his experiences and commentary are fascinating and beautifully illustrated and, occasionally, hilarious. I think it is this humour that made the book special for me: the subject matter is far too depressing otherwise, if I hadn’t been able to laugh every few pages I probably would have abandoned it mid-way. Happily, I was hooked quite early when, immediately after arriving in Pyongyang, Delisle is reading a passage about the thought police from 1984 in his hotel bedroom show more and subsequently becomes somewhat paranoid about his room being tapped. This is also where I first realised the power of images over text, as the episode is conveyed without commentary.

Delisle’s experience is the same of any foreign entering a communist country. He is assigned a translator and a guide, both of whom chaperon all of his excursions outside of the sterile hotel-zone. Like all foreigners, he attempts to get his translator to admit to feeling stifled and scared by the communist regime. Like all foreigners, he fails. He is outraged by the propaganda that pervades throughout the country: his field trips are all to such inspiring sights as The Children’s Palace, the Museum of Imperialist Occupation, and the Pyongyang subway, which foreigners are only allowed to ride from one stop to the next. As Delisle notes in frustration: “there’s a banner on every building, a portrait on every wall, a pin on every chest.” Naïve to be surprised by this perhaps, but his documentation of the various forms of propaganda is fascinating nonetheless. I know so little about North Korea that any glimpse of it is fascinating and Delisle handles the little details exceedingly well – everything from the make-work projects civilians ‘volunteer’ for to the disgusting, soiled tablecloths that can be found in all restaurants.

All in all, an intriguing glimpse into a very private country and a wonderful introduction to a talented illustrator. I’m already eager to get my hands on a copy of Delisle’s The Burma Chronicles.

Full review: http://thecaptivereader.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/pyongyang-guy-delisle/ show less

This wasn't a great book. The author is describing his two-month stay in Pyongyang, North Korea, where he had a contract as an animator.

I thought it was ironic and fitting that he brought George Orwell's 1984 with him. His depiction of how empty the streets and hallways were came through especially well with the graphic format of the book. He did a good job of showing the lack of freedom in North Korea, as he was unable to go anywhere unattended by his guide. There were places only foreigners could go, and the guide had to wait outside, highlighting the strict and discriminatory rules of the regime.

However, the author seems to have gone to Pyongyang with preconceived ideas of North Korean life and looked for examples, from pictures of show more the Kims in every room to dirty tablecloths in restaurants, to reinforce his opinions. He makes little attempt to get to know the North Koreans he does meet, assuming they are brainwashed characters of a fantastical land.

I also didn't like his drawing style -- I found that the cartoonish faces of the characters (not only the North Koreans) showed little emotion. Facial expressions are, for me, a important part of graphic writing. show less

This engaging graphic novel, Pyongyang by Guy Delisle, takes a gently humorous look at North Korea. How unlikely does that sound? This is a graphic memoir of time spent there by French-Canadian Guy. He has a clean, lively graphic style. He is allowed into the country to help an animation studio complete what seems to be a poor quality kiddie cartoon. He's prohibited from going anywhere without a guide. The city has large hotels and theaters from more prosperous times that are now largely empty and becoming rundown. His hotel has no electricity except for a few floors for foreigners, and the few restaurants are also unpopulated, except for a smattering of foreigners. Photos of Kim Jong-Il and his son are everywhere, and he gets to visit show more a ridiculous museum dedicated to Kim, accompanied by an enthusiastic guide.

North Korea may be the world's most isolated country now. There's no Internet (compare South Korea!) There is not much going on in Pyongyang. And yet this book is fascinating. It's an insider's view of a place rarely photographed, visited or reported on. It's a communist dictatorship, with military everywhere. It still has "re-education" camps. However, maybe unsurprisingly, every Korean he meets praises its "Great Leader" Kim and exclaims about the accomplishments of their country compared to the rest of the world. The U.S. and Japan are vilified, capitalism has caused all the world's ills. All in North Korea is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. When, for example, Guy asks why he has seen no handicapped people, he is told: "All North Koreans are born strong, intelligent and healthy."

By all reports there have been some excellent books written about North Korea recently, like Nothing to Envy. I'm now much more interested in reading them. If you're curious about North Korea, this is an improbably fun way to learn more about it, while being amused by Guy's everyman reactions to what he encounters. show less

Delisle's depiction of life as a visitor in North Korea - unable to take photographs, but obviously no one can prevent him from drawing - is unnerving in more than one way.

First, there's what he actually shows us; the empty highways, the empty hotels, the way nobody ever just strolls trough the streets of Pyongyang, the way the Great Leaders are literally everywhere, elevated to godhood status with all outside influences removed. His referencing 1984 several times is on the nose, but still fits: This is a society where Big Brother not only is watching, but has taught (or at least seems to have taught) the people to watch themselves as well.

"You're familiar with Marx? Very good."
"A little... but isn't everyone?"
"No. For a capitalist, show more it's very rare."
"Really...?"

Then, however, there's the fact that as a Westerner, he is completely outside this. He can afford to tell his guides exactly what he thinks, give them subversive literature that could get them in trouble, speculate on what they're actually thinking but aren't allowed to say, portray them as exactly the kind of mindless, humourless drones and tell jokes at their expense. There's an unpleasant sense of Mighty Whitey syndrome, understated but still there; it's not just that he can't get to actually know any North Koreans, but also that he doesn't seem to want to. It's all very Lost In Translation. There's a certain poetry to the fact that he's in North Korea to teach North Koreans how to animate Western cartoons - teach them how to understand how people (or fictional children's versions thereof) actually act - that I sort of wish had been developed.

I see a lot of [drawings depicting] versions of "The triumph of socialism". Always with a wide chest and a square jaw.

Good thing we don't get that over here, huh? show less

In 2001, Guy Delisle was allowed into North Korea to work on an animated cartoon. He spent about two months there. This work is a travelogue of his experiences.

His hotel room was located in one of the three hotels meant for foreigners. Although he was only in North Korea for a couple months, he met several people who had been and would continue to be there for years. He was accompanied by a guide and/or translator almost everywhere he went, which included a few sightseeing and museum trips, although there were a few places (the restaurants, I think?) where only foreigners were allowed.

This is a weird work, with Delisle's everyday experiences (and one other animator's), interspersed with research about North Korea. Delisle would show more occasionally see things (a particularly popular spot, for example) that his guide and translator would pretend not to recognize, although he might later find out what he'd really seen from someone else (in that case, a shooting gallery with silhouettes of American and Japanese soldiers for pratice).

He eventually got into the rhythms of the place (diplomats at the hotel meant there would be melon at the restaurant), but it was easy to see why those who were there for years rather than months tended to come across as a bit odd.

One particular bit stuck in my head: the North Korean person who said he was skipping out on watching a movie because North Korean movies are boring, quite possibly the most negative thing Delisle heard any North Koreans say about their country while he was there. I couldn't help but wonder how long after that the guy lasted before he ended up being "disappeared" like the one talented North Korean animator Delisle was told about.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

This is the first graphic format book I've ever read, and I zipped through the text in an evening, but I expect to revisit the drawings. After I lend it to my 13 year old nephew, who has developed a fascination with North Korea. I'm not really sure how to go about reading/viewing such a book, suspect that I've missed things. I think some of the episodes registered in my mind only because I so recently read Nothing to Envy, which details the "real" background behind the Pyongyang presentation to foreigners, and makes this book seem so much more creepy.

Followup: After my nephew read this, my 11 year old niece did too, and without any context she wondered why people think North Korea is so terrible.

(read 15 Mar 2011)