Adam Johnson, The Orphan Master’s Son
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A visceral tale of abandonment and loss in North Korea
As his name might suggest, Pak Jun Do – literally “John Doe” – has a way of slipping in and out of situations with some anonymity. Whether abducting Japanese citizens on a ship or navigatingTexason a diplomatic mission, the recent North Korean military enlistee is given some sobering responsibilities. Jun Do is the son of the director of Long Tomorrows, an orphan labor camp outsidePyongyang. When Jun Do isn’t choosing which boys will eat first, he dreams of his mother, an opera singer who was also stolen away. In his second novel, Adam Johnson skillfully describes a nation we mostly know from newswires. His everyman, Jun Do, is equal parts hero and bystander in a visceral tale of abandonment and loss. But in addition to the horror, there’s a hint of the romantic: Jun Do defeats Commander Ga, a rival of Kim Jong-Il, and squires his wife, the beautiful actress Sun Moon.
It comes as a surprise that this painstakingly detailed novel, which was published shortly after the Dear Leader’s death in December 2011, is written by an American with limited firsthand knowledge of the country’s dark landscape. Narrated artfully by the author, with Tim Kang, Josiah D. Lee and James Kyson Lee, The Orphan Master’s Son is a nail-biting listen.
