Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
Apparently life in North Korea is pretty grim. Most people don't even have electricity for more than a few hours a day, as you can see from this image that opens Nothing to Envy.
You'd think that would lead to a lot of teenage pregnancy, but according to the North Korean defectors Demick interviewed in South Korea, there's not a lot of premarital sex in the dark nation. Two of her subjects dated from their teens through early twenties without doing more than kissing, and it took them nine years to get to that point. It's just as well that the culture is so straight-laced, since the country can't feed the citizens it has. According to Demick, "Even in the best of times North Korea can produce only about 60 percent of the food needed for its population, and it currently cannot afford to import the rest." And these are not the best of times for North Korea.
