An Animator goes to North Korea…

…and writes a book about it. A graphic novel to be more precise.

I learned of this book after becoming a fan of Eyagee’s Blog.

This guy’s blog is all about his life in South Korea and what it’s like there, but there are posts in which he touches on the subject of North Korea, such as the one about the poor bastard in charge of N. Korea’s public relations. I am so very amazed that man hasn’t gone completely bald from the stress…yet.

After telling a friend of mine about his entertaining blog, she recommended a graphic novel she had called “Pyongyang, A journey in North Korea” by Guy Delisle. It chronicles the author’s stay in North Korea for some animation work. Many french studios contract out parts of their animation to North Korea. The writing and art are both witty and entertaining, but still managing to be a bit sad at parts.

However, don’t expect this to be a bleeding-heart documentary about the issues in North Korea. Its more about the animator himself and his experience in a foreign and backwards-walking half-country. He does ask his guide and translator about various things and ends up learning, or in some cases ‘not learning’ about various issues or subjects. Such as the response he Guy gets when he asked about why he hasn’t seen any elderly or disabled people.

Guy Delisle has also done two similar books, ‘Shenzhen, A travelogue from China’, and ‘Burma Chronicles’. Both of which detail his stays in those countries for his work. Unfortunately I have not read them…yet.