The Orphan Master's Son

One sentence synopsis... An imaginative portrait of a world hidden from us and the casual violence inflicted upon it's inhabitants: a North Korea rife with torture, propaganda, and innocence lost. .

Read it if you like... the writing is pretty Dickensian but the adventures are pure Fleming. .

Dream casting... Obviously Song Kang-ho as Pak Jun Do/“Commander Ga”. Let him play every character.

A book of 2 halves both equally good. A more concrete first half of life growing up, and most of all of time on the sea, followed by a more “absurdist” second half where everybody accepts the change in characted uf Jun Do, and where the writing blends Party propaganda with narrative. Both halves add up to a powerful book. I do have to remind myself that this is a work of fiction, but one thinks with a grain of truth

As a one-time resident of South Korea, I was keen to read this novel set in North Korea, and these days we all owe it to ourselves to learn more about that country and its leadership. But the first thing to remember about this book is that it is a work of fiction that takes advantage of the peculiarities of its setting. It's not strictly ABOUT North Korea. Instead, it's about one man who is trying to tell his own story and discover who he is. The pain that he endures, both physical and mental, are, in the book, real. The mental anguish would be just as real if the story were set elsewhere. So I think we have to look at the book as being one about the themes of the book: family, impostors, facades, deprivation, the lies we tell ourselves and others. And let's not worry about what the book may or may not be saying about the country of North Korea.

Ah jeeze. I know it's not cool to write about the book you wish the author had written, but man, I wish I had read a nonfiction book about contemporary life in North Korea instead. Does anyone have any good recommendations for a book like that??

That said, Adam Johnson has traveled in North Korea and has a lot of very vivid details about the surreal, Catch-22-y dystopia that is North Korea. (I kept doing Google fact checks because I wanted to see if weird shit in here was true or not. I KNOW I'M MISSING THE POINT BUT I CAN'T HELP IT.)

The plot is interesting. Some of the threads about identity seemed a little heavy handed... is that the point? Is that his technique? Maybe for me, this is a 3 star novel with a 4 star concept??

At first, I was impressed with this story. It began compelling and interesting. Then approximately 1/3 - 1/2 into the book, it really took a jump from well written to Pulitzer Prize-deserving. From that point, the story earned its place atop my five-star shelf. For those who have spent time interested in, or as students of North Korea, this will be particularly thrilling for you. The nature of the story seems so realistic against the true life stories shared by defectors from the DPRK. What's more, this novel was released two years prior to the release of [b:Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee—A Look Inside North Korea 20736640 Dear Leader Poet, Spy, Escapee—A Look Inside North Korea Jang Jin-sung https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397767877s/20736640.jpg 34433706] which convincingly (a true story) bears the realities of the Kim dynasty in North Korea and the mannerisms of Kim Jung-il. How Johnson came to personify Kim Jung-il with the realism he was able, verified by the Poet-Laureate of the DPRK is fabulous.

Adam Johnson just kills it in the Orphan Master's Son. To pull the veil on the Hermit Kingdom and render such a complex, multilevelled story is just an Herculean task. The book starts with our protagonist groping in the dark with only a vague sense of his surroundings, catching snippets of words from the outside world. Jun Do is the blank slate this world necessitates, a tool to be used. His name is a neat reminder of John Doe and an American later notes “I don't think a John Doe is a missing person, I think it's when you have the person, just not his identity”

“They lived in a land where people had been trained to accept any reality presented to them‚ and there was only one penalty, the ultimate one, for questioning reality, how a citizen could fall into great jeopardy for simply noticing that realities had changed.” And there Jun Do finds his answer and creates a new identity in the second half. Jun Do disappears.

It's peppered with enough gallows humour to keep it from getting mired in grim despair. Even the People's loudspeaker admonishing the North Koreans is a fully realized character. It's hard to know how much license the author takes, some have taken umbrage over the overly comical take on Kim Jong-il but then this was someone revered as both leader and religious figure who claimed to be able to change the weather based on his mood and regarded himself as a worldwide fashion trendsetter. If anything I worry that the author kept some of the more savage elements from the reader.

Do yourself a favor and forgo reading too many reviews if you're the type that hates spoilers. Everyone - mine included, give something away and it's one of those audacious books that has you guessing all the way through and surprises you at every turn. Fantastic read!