About this title: Famously referred to as an 'Axis-of-Evil' country, North Korea remains one of the most secretive and mysterious nations in the world today. A series of manmade and natural catastrophes have also left it one of the poorest. When the fortress-like country recently opened the door a crack to foreign investment, cartoonist Guy Delisle found himself in ...
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Date Published: 2005-09-01
ISBN-13:9781896597898ISBN:1896597890
Description: Very Good. Jacket missing. Otherwise: Clean, bright book with only very, very slight(if any) bumping at edges from shelf. Really nice book-and a great value! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781896597898ISBN:1896597890
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781897299210ISBN:1897299214
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Hardcover Edition; First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly, Montreal
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781896597898ISBN:1896597890
Description: Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1896597890. Tiny closed tear to the back panel, still about fine. One of the few Westerners granted access to North Korea documents his observations of the secretive society in this graphic travelogue that depicts the cultural alienation, boredom, and desires of ordinary North Koreans.; 184 pages. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly, Montreal
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781896597898ISBN:1896597890
Description: New in new dust jacket. (s9-5) 1st edition Hardback Book graphic novel is brand new in Near Mint cond, with dj in Near Mint condition. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 184 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Date Published: 9/22/2005
ISBN-13:9781896597898ISBN:1896597890
Description: Fine. 1896597890 May show signs of shelf wear. Choose EXPEDITED shipping, receive in 2-5 business days. Please email with questions. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: VINTAGE Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780224079907ISBN:0224079905
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 184 pages. Famously referred to as an 'axis-of-evil' country, north korea is one of the most secretive and mysterious nations in the world. a series of manmade and natural catastrophes have also left it one of the poorest. this work offers a look at an enigmatic country. blackand white illustrations throughout (Paperback) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781897299210ISBN:1897299214
Description: Acceptable. Average reading condition. There are portions of the book that are highlighted and have hand written notes. There is wear and tear present. This item was a donation to Goodwill of Greater Washington. Thank you for your purchase. Your order will be processed within 2 business days of receipt. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: DRAWN & QUARTERLY
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781897299210ISBN:1897299214
Description: New. In 2001, cartoonist Guy Delisle lived in the capital of North Korea for two months on a work visa for a French film company. In this remarkable graphic novel, Delisle recorded what he was able to see of the culture and lives of one of the last remain... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781896597898ISBN:1896597890
Description: As New in Very Good dust jacket. 1896597890. This book is in very good condition; no remainder marks. Dustjacket does have some shelfwear and small edgewear tear on the back. Inside pages are clean.; 1.3 x 8.6 x 6.2 Inches; 184 pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780224079907ISBN:0224079905
Description: New. Famously referred to as an 'Axis-of-Evil' country, North Korea is one of the most secretive and mysterious nations in the world. A series of manmade and natural catastrophes have also left it one of the poorest. This work offers a look at an enigmatic... read more
"A lot of interesting observations, but not much insight, in this comic-book-memoir. Guy Delisle was a French-Canadian cartoonist, working for an animation company in North Korea. As a rare Western glimpse inside that country, the book is valuable, and Delisle's spare cartooning creates a feeling of other-worldly bleakness. But as a story, there's not much to it, and Delisle and his European friends come off as bitter, smug jerks who joke constantly at the expense of their Korean guides and interpreters. On one level, it's an outgrowth of a political system that keeps the Western expatriates from having any contact with the Korean people. But Delisle seems less interested in using his experience to gain empathy with oppressed people than in mocking these silly people who believe the lies their government tells them. I might have cut Delisle a little more slack if he didn't repeatedly remind us that he was reading '1984', as though some of that book's gravitas would rub off on him. Nope, sorry, if you're gonna write as a Westerner in a foreign land and invoke Orwell, you're setting the bar for yourself pretty high, and while this book features some classically Orwellian situations, there's precious little of the 20th-century writer's humanism -- and humanity -- to be found in this overly slick 21st century memoir."
"This book will make you say "Oh my God..." at least a dozen times. The kinds of police states dreamed up almost exclusively in dystopian science fiction novels is apparently alive in North Korea. But far from the depressing fog that coats those novels, Delisle fills the book with humor, as we watch him struggle to understand the insane world in which he's found himself. His artwork is simple but efficient, and matches the story's quick pace well. You won't feel like you're there, but you will feel like you're witnessing something surreal playing out in the real world, which is exactly the kind of timbre Delisle carries throughout his story-telling. It feels closer to the story of Dorothy in Oz than any actual non-fiction stories I've ever read.
If you like graphic novels or you're at all curious in what Pyongyang is actually like (and oh, you should be), you have to read this book."
"I've probably read too many autobiographical comics, so I might be a little biased. Yeah he's a little racist, but that didn't bother me too much. Mostly, he's just kind of a pig. He's rude and it seems like he took the opportunity to take "A Journey in North Korea" not so much to learn, but to constantly belittle its people.
My experience with travel comics has been that they are more personal than for profit. Like a diary. I saw very little of this is Guy. He reveals nothing about himself. He is apparently perfect. Misses no one. He is completely cut off but it doesn't seem to bother him. It was my understanding that he has a family, but they are never mentioned. It's possible that the book was published so long ago that since then he has gotten married and had a kid. But no love? No feelings? He is completely emotionless.
"Carnet De Voyage" by Craig Thompson was not the most fantastic comic I'd ever read, but it was interesting to get a closer look at the person that created "Blankets". Seeing him talk about himself and showcasing the beauty of the country and the people around him.
Maybe the difference is that Guy went to North Korea to work. And two months is an awful long time to be in the same place. Whereas Craig Thompson's visit was a mix of business and pleasure.
Mostly, I am uncomfortable with his constant need to make jokes about an entire culture that he obviously does not fully understand. His little rebellions. He's like the class clown who sits in the back and makes snide remarks. It's not that I don't have a sense of humor, I just don't think that it was appropriate for a comic about North Korea. To further the comparison, one of Guy's favorite things to do during his visit was to throw paper airplanes from his 15th story window, hoping they would make it to a river. The translation from French to English comes out to, "Lately, I've bee recycling the pages from one of my storyboards to make paper airplanes that I toss from my 15th story window... I don't know why but it makes me happy." Pg 114.
"RECYCLING"!
And littering should not make people happy! No one should think littering should make them happy! Littering is stupid. And disrespectful, especially in a country that he points out is unusually clean.
It seems like everyone in the book is put off by his humor.
"I meet Richard at his hotel for lunch. I tell him about the animation cels flying in the wind... He doesn't think it's funny." Pg 71.
Page 77, when he is laughing at his own joke and his translator just sits around being unamused.
Mostly it's moments like that.
I'm interested in his other travelogues, but I'm glad I got this from the library and didn't have to pay for it."
"This book is a true account of a French animator (Guy Delisle) who travels to North Korea to oversee a cartooning project. Since North Korea is one of the most closed nations on earth and is run by a totalitarian government, this insight into North Korean life is amazing and somewhat shocking. This is a graphic novel and Delisle's drawings are simple but fun. The lack of freedom is at times heartbreaking, but there are plenty of humorous moments. Delisle also throws in some facts about the world of animation, which is also interesting. The book follows him on his two-month stay. The entire time a "guide," who is really there to keep tabs on him, shadows him and there are only a few times he and the other few visiting Westerners give the guides the slip and go adventuring without them. The amount of propaganda produced by the government will shock you-they go on a picnic in the countryside and the name of the "Great Leader" is carved into the side of a mountain. This book will not only give you a peek into a strange world, it will make you appreciate the freedoms we have."
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