/lit/ - Literature

"The Ayatollah Begs to Differ" is a pop-journalism one on Iran that was pretty good.

"Nothing to Envy" was pretty heavy for me regarding NK but it's definitely not sympathetic to their cause. It tells the stories of a few different people who have lived and escaped from NK.

>>3638515
Interesting, thanks.

The craving to read something like this came from a remark made by two congressmen who were investigating Jay-Z and Beyonce's trip to Cuba.

>"Therefore, U.S. dollars spent on Cuban tourism directly fund the machinery of oppression that brutally oppresses the Cuban people."

I was thinking that something so one-sided couldn't possibly be unbiased.

>>3638564
>I was thinking that something so one-sided couldn't possibly be unbiased.

Yeah, basically never assume that anything said by any public government figure is the least bit accurate.

bump for prime time

>>3638589
>>I was thinking that something so one-sided couldn't possibly be unbiased.Yeah, basically never assume that anything said by any public government figure is the least bit accurate.

True, although that certainly applies to the Cuban government as well.

>>3638501

Better than a book: experience it or yourself.

Sure, sure, there's no American Idol. There are no Wal-Marts, and you won't find a Jungle Jim to dump your chubby rascals in, while you sit and read Paulo Coelho enjoying a yummy, sugared slurpee.

On the bright side, the people smile, the women are insatiable, and all the education and books are available at the tip of your fingers.

Visit Cuba.

B.R. Meyers' "The Cleanest Race" was a really interesting look into North Korean race-based ideology, as opposed to the communist system we always assume they live under. Also, I don't care if I end a sentence with a preposition.

Red Plenty is a novel set in the Krushchev-era Soviet Union when Stalin was dead, the nation was rebuilding and things generally seemed pretty ok. It counters the common idea in the west that life in under Communism was one of dreary oppressive poverty.

P.J O'Rourkes books, particularly Give War a Chance and Eat the Rich, give very interesting insights as to how things really work in several countries. Russia, Albania, Cuba were particularly interesting.

>>3639558
It's illegal for Americans to visit Cuba without good reason. Tourism is forbidden, and I can't be bothered trying to found some cultural exchange company just to travel there.

I really liked "why nations fail"

It made some solid arguments, and the credentials of the authors are pretty solid.

>>3639610
>It counters the common idea in the west that life in under Communism was one of dreary oppressive poverty.
It was, though. Quite often you would be unable to buy day-to-day necessities, such as toilet paper or razors, because central planning simply doesn´t work. Stuff like bananas or oranges was only available around Christmas. And I´m not even talking Soviet Union, but Czechoslovakia (USSR was even worse than this).

>muh socialism

>>3639653
If this interests you, I would recommend "The Dead Hand"

>>3639639
Fly to Costa Rica, then to Cuba. I know a bunch of people who have done it.

>>3639663
Hmm, maybe I'll try it then. I've always wanted to visit Costa Rica anyway.

>>3639639

Don't be a pussy. Are you going to allow a bunch of starch necks tell you what to do? Besides, when there's a will there's a way. If you travel to Mexico first and from Mexico to Cuba, there is no track of it, and the Cubans don't stamp your passport precisely to make life easy to the THOUSANDS of U.S. citizens who go to Cuba every year.

>>3639674
This, and bring back cigars, your friends will think you are a fucking alpha

>>3639684

This. And f you go to the rollers workshop in the outskirts of Camagüey, see the ladies rolling while a woman is paid by them to read kick-ass tier books to them and pass the day. Shit is so cash.

Read Yasmina Khadra's books. They're all located in the Middle East (i.e. Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel) and give good insight.

>>3639747
In an interview with the German radio station SWR1 in 2006, Khadra said ?The West interprets the world as it likes. It develops certain theories that fit into its world outlook, but do not always represent the reality. Being a Muslim, I suggest a new perspective on Afghanistan, on religious fanaticism and what I would call religiopathy. My novel,"The Swallows of Kabul", gives readers in the West a chance to understand the core of a problem that they usually only touch on the surface. Because fanaticism is a threat for all, I contribute to the understanding of its causes and backgrounds. Perhaps then it will be possible to find a way to bring it under control.?

I dunno about books but Goodbye, Lenin! is a pretty good movie that gives a fairly positive depiction of life in Soviet-occupied Germany.

>>3638515
>mfw people actually think Iran is anywhere close to being as bad as Afghanistan or Pakistan or some shit

>>3638501
Comrades and Strangers, OP.

http://www.amazon.com/Comrades-Strangers-Behind-Closed-Doors/dp/0470869763

Enjoy.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's frustrating when I hear people spouting verbatim what they hear about these places on Fox News. It'll be nice to have date and actual accounts to refute their uninformed claims.