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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Extremely graphic and hard to follow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail
Great novel. Now I need to learn more about North Korea to determine how much fact was in the fiction.
This book had a very skewed ratio of How I Felt while Reading: How I Feel Having Finished. I did not enjoy reading this book. The plot leapt in ways that made no sense to me (except perhaps to show that Sense is an unrealistic expectation to have of a book about the machinations of North Korea.) and the atrocities were, well, atrocious.
But, having slogged through the 100s of pages of loosely spun narrative, I can’t stop thinking about the book. The orphan master’s son, Jun Do, goes from being a non-orphan to a kidnapper to a navel intelligence officer to a prisoner in a mine. He also switches identities with Commander Ga, a high ranking regime official. But amidst this swirling literary narrative is a political narrative that trumps everything because the story that the State tells is the only story. If the novel is post modern, it is because the State is as well. There are elements of magical realism which may be the only way to deal with the horror of the story. The book took me as close as I’ll ever want to go to the abyss of totalitarianism and I‘m glad to be back. Recommended for adventurous readers and political junkies.
But, having slogged through the 100s of pages of loosely spun narrative, I can’t stop thinking about the book. The orphan master’s son, Jun Do, goes from being a non-orphan to a kidnapper to a navel intelligence officer to a prisoner in a mine. He also switches identities with Commander Ga, a high ranking regime official. But amidst this swirling literary narrative is a political narrative that trumps everything because the story that the State tells is the only story. If the novel is post modern, it is because the State is as well. There are elements of magical realism which may be the only way to deal with the horror of the story. The book took me as close as I’ll ever want to go to the abyss of totalitarianism and I‘m glad to be back. Recommended for adventurous readers and political junkies.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Historical fiction and amazing!
I haven’t read a lot about North Korea and found this book fascinating.
The second half is even better than the first. I was addicted to it.
Wow. Themes of loyalty, deception, love, brainwashing - oh and so much more.
I loved it.
I haven’t read a lot about North Korea and found this book fascinating.
The second half is even better than the first. I was addicted to it.
Wow. Themes of loyalty, deception, love, brainwashing - oh and so much more.
I loved it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not my cup of tea. Wouldn’t have finished it if it wasn’t for a book club. I’m sure part of it is because I’m just not sophisticated enough and that this some sort of literary masterpiece but oh well.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I started off slow with this one. The first part of the book felt like it dragged on a bit without really going anywhere. Part 2 is where it felt like the story become less static, and began to feel compelling and made me want to continue reading. I thought it was creative of the author (if intentional) that Jun can be translated in Korean to mean way, path, or teach - which is what I felt like Jun Do was consistently, unintentionally doing to the lives he touched throughout this epic. What I really enjoyed about the Orphan Master's Son, was the little bits of beauty that were sprinkled throughout this novel, and small glimmers of hope and gratitude present in even the darkest of places, while being oppressed under a socialist (communist) regime.
That being said, the book was extremely brutal in a lot of ways. Necessarily descriptive, in my mind, to capture the brutality of living under such a regime, but brutal nonetheless.
The point was to put the reader into view of what it would be like to live in and be a citizen of North Korea. Jun Do was meant to be anonymous, was meant to serve as a foil to North Korea - who anonymizes everyone. We weren't meant to know his full backstory.
As Jun Do continually finds his sense of self, he loses his anonymity. His identity continually shifts (orphan, kidnapper, intelligence officer, Commander Ga) and he rejects any notion that others know him completely. He also rejects his old identities as he sheds them. Ex: "I'm not an orphan." It's almost as if with each shedded identity, he realizes the only constant identity is one of values and morals. That human kindness can exist outside separate from an identity.
This novel was curiously speculative about how people would interact with one another under an oppressive regime. Who do you trust?
That being said, the book was extremely brutal in a lot of ways. Necessarily descriptive, in my mind, to capture the brutality of living under such a regime, but brutal nonetheless.
The point was to put the reader into view of what it would be like to live in and be a citizen of North Korea. Jun Do was meant to be anonymous, was meant to serve as a foil to North Korea - who anonymizes everyone. We weren't meant to know his full backstory.
This novel was curiously speculative about how people would interact with one another under an oppressive regime. Who do you trust?
I nearly gave this 4 stars but then I stopped to let the emotions I was feeling sink in, it's been a while since a novel has moved me like this.
Adam Johnson takes you into the terrifying world of North Korea. There are times when you think, and hope, that he's indulging in artistic licence when describing life in this strange totalitarian state. Yet he explains that he even had to hold back on some descriptions of life here as it was too harrowing.
This book is difficult to describe, divided into 2 parts and employing various narrative styles, it does not fall into one particular genre...and rightly so, life itself cannot be so easily categorised.
Part satire, thriller, romance and at times utterly terrifying it is a powerful tale of love, sacrifice, and survival in one of the world's last truly despotic regimes.
Adam Johnson takes you into the terrifying world of North Korea. There are times when you think, and hope, that he's indulging in artistic licence when describing life in this strange totalitarian state. Yet he explains that he even had to hold back on some descriptions of life here as it was too harrowing.
This book is difficult to describe, divided into 2 parts and employing various narrative styles, it does not fall into one particular genre...and rightly so, life itself cannot be so easily categorised.
Part satire, thriller, romance and at times utterly terrifying it is a powerful tale of love, sacrifice, and survival in one of the world's last truly despotic regimes.