The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea(Books That Changed the World)

A PEN Translates Award-winning collection of short stories about life in North Korea under Kim Jong-Il, written in secret by a dissident author. The Accusation is a revelatory work of fiction that exposes the truth of the North Korean regime. Set during the period of Kim Jong-Il's leadership, the seven stories that make up The Accusation throw light on different aspects of life in this most bizarre and horrifying of dictatorships. One story, "Life of a Swift Seed," tells of a war hero and former ardent Communist who plants an elm tree in his back garden to commemorate one of his brothers-in-arms. When the tree is to be cut down to make way for a power line, the man is ready to defend it with his life, leaving a family friend to decide whether to intercede. In another story, "City of Specters," a Pyongyang mother's young son misbehaves during a party rally, crying out when he sees a portrait of Karl Marx, whom he thinks is a monster of Korean myth known as the Eobi. In one other story, a mother attempts to feed her husband during the worst years of North Korea's famine, and in another, a woman in a perilous situation meets the Dear Leader himself. As a whole, The Accusation is a vivid and frightening portrait of what it means to live in a completely closed-off society, and a heartbreaking yet hopeful portrayal of the humanity that persists even in such dire circumstances. "Searing fiction by an anonymous dissident . . . A fierce indictment of life in the totalitarian North."--New York Times

About the Author :
Bandi, a name derived from the Korean for "firefly," is a pseudonym for a writer who is still living in his homeland of North Korea. The Accusation is his only published book to date. Deborah Smith is the Man Booker International Prize-winning translator of The Vegetarian by Han Kang and other books.

Review :
Dissident tales from pseudonymous author Bandi, still living in the country . . . very rare fiction to emerge from the secretive dictatorship . . . on its way to becoming an international literary sensation. Alison Flood, "Guardian" Plunges us into the daily life of families in North Korea. These stories are the cry of a man suffocated by totalitarianism. These are also the cry of an entire people who have been broken under the yoke of North Korean communism . . . The author makes use of storytelling, poetry, humor, and even the burlesque to aid his condemnation of these unbearable injustices. The writing is simple, humble, which gives it its beauty. The seven novellas shine with humanity and tenderness. "Aleteia" This collection of novellas that the author managed to extract from his country is of incredible value . . . The classic construction reminds us of Gogol and Chekhov, and for their taste for absurdist satire, Ionesco and Bulgakov. "Books Magazine" Describes in very impressionistic, subtle, almost veiled tones, if I may, the daily life of a dictatorship . . . The book gives a human face, gives stories and images, to the sufferings of North Koreans . . . I was almost groggy by the time I finished reading, reminding myself of just how lucky I am to live in a democracy . . . I thought of Orwell and Kafka but realized that the country described here really exists and that there are people who are living there, perhaps not even knowing that a different kind of life is possible. "L express" Bandi, a pseudonym that means firefly, has achieved the unthinkable offering a testimony on the dictatorial regime of North Korea while remaining in situ . . . In the same way as the works of Solzhenitsyn in their time, Bandi s writing reminds us of the perennial necessity of battling censorship, whatever the cost. "L amour des livres" This author is completely unknown and would like to stay that way. He continues to live in a country that is held fast by an iron fist, putting his life at risk by writing. He describes, not without humor, the ordinary life of this dictatorship, the extreme misery there, and the surveillance networks that have been put in place by the regime, which make everyone into a potential spy or informant. "Mag Dimanche" Even if one did not know anything about the writer or the way the manuscript was smuggled out of the country, it would not diminish the fact that the force of this collection of novellas evokes the classics of world literature about totalitarianism. "L ours" A message in a bottle that is so precious that we should all reach out to grab it and better understand the tragedy of the last Marxist regime in the world. "Le Revenu" Stories of simple people that are humiliated and beaten down for absurd reasons, watched over by grotesque henchmen and toadying neighbors, arrested and punished by a dictatorship that has held the country under its heel for six decades. A book to burst the silence. "La Vie" This rare collection offers seven moving novellas, snapshots of a country where nothing normal ever leaks out . . . A far cry from the grandiloquent, ridiculous images that are thrown out by the Kim Jong-Un regime, The Accusation offers the opportunity to discover a moving portrait of a secret country, a forgotten land where humanity only asks to try to triumph. "Lire" No one could imagine that it could be at all comical to live in a dictatorship, but in describing the limitless absurdity of the system, Bandi sometimes makes the reader give out a nervous laugh . . . A fragile hint of light in a country that confuses democracy with obscurantism. "L Alsace" Each of these stories shows a different aspect of the remorseless dictatorship . . . With a fierce sense of irony and a deeply dark humor, Bandi denounces totalitarianism, the divisions in North Korean society, and the absurdity and corruption of the one party system. "La Grande Parade" Stories written with a great humanity, the work of a true writer. Lecturama.fr The appearance of this collection of seven novellas is a true publishing event. "Livres Hebdo""