North Korea Journal

In the book "North Korea Journal", Michael Palin describes his experience in North Korea while working on a documentary project. It was my first time reading a book about North Korea and I hadn't heard of Michael Palin before. Until then I had mostly read about South Korea with only occasional mentions of North Korea's culture. Even though I read mostly fiction, I really enjoyed learning about North Korea. Michael Palin provided detailed insight into his trip to North Korea. I appreciate his openness towards the North Korean culture and the way he approached difficult topics in a respectful manner and with very little bias. The book manages to have a nice balance of objective information and descriptions as well as personal impressions. Additionally, there were a lot of pictures taken during the trip, which helped make the content memorable. Thanks to this book I came back knowing more than I did before reading it. Well, I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I did! See ya! Here are some of my favourite quotes: "Activity on either side of the train is modest and the whole place feels sleepy." "She is a modern woman, she dresses to look good, but also accepts the prevailing view that the West is far too obsessed with bare flesh." " ' The monument is 9.4 metres long symbolising the year 1994; the length of his signature is 7.7 metres to symbolise the date, July 7th; and the monument is decorated with eighty-two magnolia flowers, which are the flowers of our country. They represent his age, eighty-two.' " "I will be like your daughter,' she says." " 'Criticising our leaders is like criticising ourselves,' she persists." "As I tip back my glass of soju I look up into the heavens and am rewarded with one of the most piercingly clear views of the galaxy I have ever seen."