The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea by Bandi

The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea by Bandi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fifty years in this northern land
Living as a machine that speaks
Living as a human under a yoke
Without talent
With a pure indignation
Written not with pen and ink
But with bones drenched with blood and tears
Is this writing of mine

Though they be dry as a desert
And rough as a grassland
Shabby as an invalid
And primitive as stone tools
Reader!
I beg you to read my words
-Bandi

About 2 years ago I read Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West for the first time. It opened my eyes about the horrors going on inside North Korea; a country I previously hadn't known anything about. I became hungry for more information and watched a bunch of documentaries.

So, when I heard about this book I knew I just had to get it. I was not disappointed. Though the stories get boring at time, they provide a realistic view as to what life is like in North Korea. There is no distance, it hasn't been fed through the propaganda machine, its just one man's look at life in North Korea.

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Mademoiselle Chanel by C.W. Gortner

Mademoiselle Chanel by C.W. Gortner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

I haven't looked too much into historical accuracy, but a skimming of her Wikipedia article makes it sound pretty accurate.

I love reading novels like this instead of biographies because the person is so much more alive. You might not get entirely factual information, but you should know the general picture.

The author did such a good job writing her character, Mademoiselle Chanel came back to life in these pages. I was immersed in the story til the last page.

I know Coco Chanel was a famous designer (who's not familiar with her logo?) I had never really thought about what the meant until now. Up until the '60s or even the '70s women were expected to marry and have babies anything else was a scandal. Coco fought against these ideals to work at her shop. She was the first woman who designed clothes for women, which actually explains corsets quite well which she fights against in the book. She was truly something of a feminist even if she didn't see that of herself.

You don't need to enjoy fashion to understand this book, but what the characters are wearing are more important in this book than any other. And Coco is always describing her new line.

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