Demick's writing represents a well researched body of work about lives from such a secretive country, with enough personal details of daily life in North Korea not commonly found. Facts are presented to portray an accurate image of the state and plight North Koreans have faced, but also mentions brighter moments such hardships can create. For example, the author highlights one interviewee's fond memories of courtship, in some ways only made possible by the power-outs and lack of electricity so common in the nation. Demick also had experience working as a journalist, often reporting on North Korea specifically, and the book features follow-up pieces based on the people's stories.
Absurdity Throughout the book, Demick describes the harsh experiences her subjects faced, much of it stemming from the "
Arduous March", which involved massive, chronic starvation, as well as more recent episodes of wide-scale economic plight caused by the North Korean government's currency
2009 revaluation, explained as "a trick". (p. 287) One interviewee in particular, who considered herself loyal to socialist ideals, managed to survive and feed her family by repeatedly "starting another business". (p. 148) Facts about such contextual conditions are provided and presented in an informative and telling journalistic style. Keen insight is also provided into the personal experiences, attitudes and views about events, such as one most North Koreans remember, of what it was like for them as individuals on the day Kim Il Sung died (p. 91), and how compulsive and competitive massive weeping rallies became in the days that followed. Such depictions of a deteriorating society are contrasted and weighed against personal loyalties, with one interviewee comparing his love with liberty and life, as expressed by a Hungarian poet. (p. 279) "Absurd" is often used as the way to portray the catalysts for such calamities in
Nothing to Envy: "Along with rice and corn, soybeans have been banned from the market with the absurd explanation that they might be taken into China and resold to the enemy in South Korea." (p. 287) "The North Korean government offered a variety of explanations, from the patently absurd to the barely plausible." (p. 69) The name of the city where the featured interviewed people originate from, Chongjin, means "clear river crossing", a strictly prohibited act of treason for its residents pertaining to the border between North Korea and China, yet risked by the book's subjects. Upon escaping to China in order to avoid impending starvation, Dr. Kim experiences a stark revelation. Her experience is captured to depict both her personal, psychological perspective, as well as suddenly realizing such drastic difference in societies she is confronted with: ==Main interviewees==