퐁양 / 深圳 - Pyongyang / Shenzhen

Pyongyang: A Journey in North , by Guy Delisle
Shenzhen：A Travelogue from China, by Guy Delisle

It seems that not even cartoon animation has survived outsourcing. The fact that capitalist economies should outsource to North Korea and China is, however, not without a considerable degree of irony. Pyongyang and Shenzhen are Guy Delisle's animated accounts of his visits to these two countries while working for a French TV channel. The books are full of wry humour, often resulting from the animator's keen eye for detail. Despite being primarily a fun read, Delisle nonetheless deals with a wide range of issues, ranging from the outward idolization of Kim Jong-Il, the restriction on individual freedoms and freedom of expression, the communist perception of Western capitalist culture, the disparity between the treatment of Westerners and natives, the homogeneity of Asian hotel rooms, food, the boredom of months living in a hotel etc. There are moments of extreme hilarity, such as his efforts to demonstrate to Chinese animators how it is physically impossible for a cartoon character to get up from a chair without leaning forward first, or his lending a copy of George Orwell's 1984 to his Korean interpreter when he asks for an English book to read. There are also very touching moments, such as the effort that one of his Chinese co-workers makes to help him celebrate Christmas, despite them not being able to communicate, and the fact that he only begins to get to know his Chinese interpreter in their last half hour, despite having spent some two months together. Pyongyang and Shenzhen are insightful and entertaining accounts of a Westerner's clash with oriental culture and communism.