Getting inside the head of an evil man

Michael somehow gets inside this dictators head and sees things through his eyes. Must have been a dark and disturbing journey to experience the same thoughts and to see some reasoning in his decision making process. He strongman's him as a patriotic leader who cares so much about this ideology and his country that he will do anything to uphold it, which is admirable in some sense, but then you find out that does include sending any North Korean who dares question him or the Juche idea to either be executed or condemned to a life of slavery, then you see how far this man is willing to go. There are a few funny moments throughout, like how he is so full of himself and where he claims that his ideas are somehow better than any expert's in every industry in the country, such as in movie making, agriculture, manufacturing and architecture. I remember Michael speaking on a podcast saying that he read something like 40 books on North Korean history as part of the research when writing this book, I looked up a lot of the points that were mentioned throughout (all of them true) such as the Japanese military invasion and the extreme lengths they went to wipe out Koreans culture and identity, the war between North and South Korea, and several other things, thank you Michael for bringing these important events to our attention. I pray that the pschological and physical torture that has happened and is still happening to the Korean people right now will end.

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A true story

Hannah Arendt wrote of the banality of evil having witnessed the Nuremberg nazi trials. Malice uses the vehicle of the ghosted celebrity autobiography, a supremely banal genre, to explain and document the evil in a manner that will coax, cajole and finally threaten you to empathise with the dear leader.

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2 people found this helpful

Brilliant

At times hilarious and delivered in such a deadpan manner; this was great fun to listen to.

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The best audio book I've bought.

This is by far the best audio book I've listened to yet. I use it when I can't sleep. The narrators voice is so relaxing and the style of writing is so humorous despite the dark subject matter.

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Marvellous

Michael Malice shows how a socialist leader might justify the actions taken by Kim Jong Il.

This process can be repeated wherever there is socialism.

The final chapter …

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Interesting and fun

got this after seeing podcast with without, the book is simply fun and comedic but has a dark undertone throughout as much is based of facts we can research to day but from the view of the man himself

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Not the book we want but the one we need.

Michael Malice masterfully puts together this book that is centered around Kim Jong Il's life story which is parallel to North Korea's modern history.
It is written in a very clever fashion that retains humour and the irony of some matters that are found in North Korean propaganda and or literature.
I've done a fair amount of research on the author and the subject to see that it is a constructive piece of literature and one of the rare contemporary western works that are not trying to inject their point of view into the writings, the tone and irony retained in it can be perceived as such but most of the content of the book is presented in North Korean fashion.
Leaves me wanting for more such inside information made easy to consume by an NPC such as myself.
Highly Recommended.

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Weirdly engrossing

Darkly and dryly humorous, with excellent narrated style well suited to the material. fourteen fifteen

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Thin line between fiction and non-fiction.

While the format is interesting and entertaining, it is difficult for the reader to discern what is true, what is North Korean propaganda and what is a fictional improvisation from the writer.

As such if you want to learn about North Korea it would be better to watch a Michael Malice talk.

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great book and a must read

after finishing it, the only comparison I could make was with the film 'the usual suspects' you spend time wondering what was real, what was implied by the Mr malice's research, what was put down by the North Korean propaganda machine, and lastly what was written by the man himself. this book works on many levels, but at its heart is a story of power over people in a system that is no where else on earth.

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