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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
I gave this book more than a fair chance but it was just Boring... I started it a month ago and had no motivation to read it but I have a hard time NOT finishing books. This was one of those books that I just really didn't like, and it's better to cut my losses now, so I did not finish it. (I read about 60%+ of it.)
Compelling. Regardless of what you think of the plot, this window into life in a totalitarian system is chilling and provocative.
Complicated narrative - partly fascinating and wholly engaging, partly tedious and waiting for something. Enjoyed the first part more with the story just getting weirder and stranger as it goes along. Unusual can I say for sure! Averages out at about 3.5 stars, but certainly interesting.
I picked up this book largely because of my fascination with North Korea and my love of historical and political fiction. Unfortunately this book fell quite short of my expectations though.
The plot is quite extraordinary, and I still can't decide if that's a positive or negative point about the book. The main character personally experiences almost everything it is possible to experience in North Korea, from prison camps to the anti-american politics, the kidnapping of Japanese and the incredible hunger and brainwashing of the masses. There is no real linear plot - it reads like a real person's life in that way. Things just happen and you run along with them as best you can. The ending was a real let down for me as well. I just kind of found it absurd. But that might just be me.
If you didn't know anything about North Korea to begin with, I could understand you feeling like you had a great insight to how life in North Korea is, but for me it felt very superficial. It was also very obviously written by a westerner. The perspectives and points of view were unmistakably American. The voice of North Korea and the perspectives of North Koreans was lost. It really felt like the author had no understanding of how it feels to BE North Korean and thus failed to communicate this.
There is no doubt that the book is well written. Johnson is a master of the english language. The failings of this book for me were definitely about content, not about language or structure. If you read purely for the language, don't mind a lack of core plot and don't know much about North Korea this would be a very enjoyable book I think.
The plot is quite extraordinary, and I still can't decide if that's a positive or negative point about the book. The main character personally experiences almost everything it is possible to experience in North Korea, from prison camps to the anti-american politics, the kidnapping of Japanese and the incredible hunger and brainwashing of the masses. There is no real linear plot - it reads like a real person's life in that way. Things just happen and you run along with them as best you can. The ending was a real let down for me as well. I just kind of found it absurd. But that might just be me.
If you didn't know anything about North Korea to begin with, I could understand you feeling like you had a great insight to how life in North Korea is, but for me it felt very superficial. It was also very obviously written by a westerner. The perspectives and points of view were unmistakably American. The voice of North Korea and the perspectives of North Koreans was lost. It really felt like the author had no understanding of how it feels to BE North Korean and thus failed to communicate this.
There is no doubt that the book is well written. Johnson is a master of the english language. The failings of this book for me were definitely about content, not about language or structure. If you read purely for the language, don't mind a lack of core plot and don't know much about North Korea this would be a very enjoyable book I think.
Wowwwww. OK, so this is not a book to read when you're sleepy, distracted, or anything other than alert, sharp, and focused. In the same way Running the Rift spurred me to read and read about Rwanda after I read it, the best thing I can tell you about The Orphan Master's Son is that it's going to make me do a whole bunch of further reading about North Korea and every interview Adam Johnson gave after the book was released. That's pretty much the best compliment that I can give, truly. This isn't one of those books that you finish and say, "Ohhhh, I LOVED that book!" It is, rather, a book that you finish and say, "WOW. That was a well-written, thought-provoking, good story. Now I need to go learn more."
Surprising in it's depth of imagination and readable, although somewhat confusing due to lack of character names and pov changes. I do think that added to the idea of the collective, the parts less important than the whole they make up.
The world the author created is lush and fully realized. Interesting because it's based on a real place, but one we don't often get to see in a real way.
The world the author created is lush and fully realized. Interesting because it's based on a real place, but one we don't often get to see in a real way.
I don't remember another book dealing with North Korea, at least not that I've read and whilst this is still a work of fiction, it has the ring of authenticity. Following a number of characters in a non-linear story arc is not for the fainthearted, but is, I feel, worth the effort. A tale of character, of love and loss, of tattoos and birdtraps, of dog training and specialised martial arts, it has something for everyone, but you may need to search for a while. The power of humanity, for good and ill and the reflection of different societies through the eyes of others allows us to consider ourselves, should we choose to do so. Unique and worthwhile, entertaining and enlightening I would commend this to you.
I almost gave this 5 stars, but always hesitate to put a book in that pantheon. I don't want to be guilty of star inflation. Edit: I just changed it to 5 stars after thinking about it overnight. Anyway, I want to go back and explore the structure of this book, because it shifts back and forth in time effectively. The tension seems just about right, and the ending is not really quite the ending, but the place when the story comes to a satisfying close, if that makes any sense. The chronological ending appears in the book out of sequence, before the last pages. This book was chock-full of leitmotifs, which are my favorite things. The dark humor and the inside look at brainwashing of an entire population are worth the read, even aside from the page-turning plot. There are some gruesome scenes, but it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the book.