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The Orphan Master's Son  By  cover art

The Orphan Master's Son

By: Adam Johnson
Narrated by: Tim Kang,Josiah D. Lee,James Kyson Lee,Adam Johnson
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Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2013

An epic novel and a thrilling literary discovery, The Orphan Master’s Son follows a young man’s journey through the icy waters, dark tunnels, and eerie spy chambers of the world’s most mysterious dictatorship, North Korea.

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother - a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang - and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows, a work camp for orphans. There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return.

Considering himself “a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world,” Jun Do becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his Korean overlords in order to stay alive. Driven to the absolute limit of what any human being could endure, he boldly takes on the treacherous role of rival to Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save the woman he loves, Sun Moon, a legendary actress “so pure, she didn’t know what starving people looked like.”

Part breathless thriller, part story of innocence lost, part story of romantic love, The Orphan Master’s Son is also a riveting portrait of a world heretofore hidden from view: a North Korea rife with hunger, corruption, and casual cruelty but also camaraderie, stolen moments of beauty, and love. A towering literary achievement, The Orphan Master’s Son ushers Adam Johnson into the small group of today’s greatest writers.

From the Hardcover edition.

©2011 Adam Johnson (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

  • Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
“An addictive novel of daring ingenuity, a study of sacrifice and freedom in a citizen-eating dynasty, and a timely reminder that anonymous victims of oppression are also human beings who love - The Orphan Master’s Son is a brave and impressive book.” (David Mitchell, author of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet)
“I’ve never read anything like it. This is truly an amazing reading experience, a tremendous accomplishment. I could spend days talking about how much I love this book. It sounds like overstatement, but no. The Orphan Master’s Son is a masterpiece.” (Charles Bock, author of Beautiful Children)
“Adam Johnson has pulled off literary alchemy, first by setting his novel in North Korea, a country that few of us can imagine, then by producing such compelling characters, whose lives unfold at breakneck speed. I was engrossed right to the amazing conclusion. The result is pure gold, a terrific novel.” (Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone)

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What listeners say about The Orphan Master's Son

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    5 out of 5 stars

The most compelling listen I've ever owned

I've been an Audible subscriber since the beginning (1999). There are over 500 books in my library. This is the most compelling story I have ever heard. I seriously couldn't turn it off.

To say it is the journey of one man through the "Looking Glass" that is the People's Democratic Republic of Korea, doesn't do it justice. Johnson draws characters that make you feel the oppression of life under that regime. He's obviously done serious study of the North Korean people and culture. The people of this book will live in my thoughts for a long time.

And Johnson addresses this tale with a light touch. It's not maudlin or morose. But it is haunting.

The performances by the readers is equal to this work. The producers uses a very interesting switch at a critical point in this story that brings everything into focus. No spoiler - you'll know it when it happens. But the production makes this recording nothing short of brilliant.

Don't bother to hold the voting this year. I can tell you who wins the Audie.

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121 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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My favorite novel set primarily in North Korea

One of my favorite novels of the year, and definitely my favorite novel set primarily in North Korea (I've read four others, or five). This is one of those contemporary novels like 'The Son' by Meyer or Carey's 'True History of the Kelly Gang', or Udall's 'The Lonely Polygamist' that delivers almost everything I search for in a novel: originality, amazing prose, fantastic characters, meaning. These novels might not be 'War and Peace' or 'Moby-Dick' but they definitely show that fiction isn't even close to being dead.

Johnson deftly examines such themes as: propaganda, stories, the concept of self and identity, totalitarianism, love, memory, etc., in a novel way. This book deserves a spot among the other great totalitarian prison books (Koestler's 'Darkness at Noon', Orwell's '1984', and Nabokov's 'Invitation to a Beheading'. Even though only a part of this novel is actually set in a prison, I'd argue that all totalitarian literature is **at heart** just a sub-genre of prison literature. An amazing novel. Don't miss it.

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60 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Nightmarish Orwellian Dimension

You are going on a journey; insert your ear buds, and be prepared to step into a vortex of imaginative chaos, oppression, corruption, cruelty--you will wonder if you need to check your navigation...is this Johnson's novel about No. Korea, or is this Orwell, Kafka, Murakami (Timothy Leary), that has hijacked your device and carried you into a surreal and convoluted parallel universe created by Phillip Dick?

The speakers blare out...The first blast of propaganda hints at Pak Jun Do's mother--a kidnapped opera singer, a *toy* of the Dear Leader. The father, it is assumed, is the Master of the orphanage. The story is told in 2 parts, the first section being about Jun Do and his upbringing --the dirty and horrific jobs he takes to survive. Here Johnson is at his best describing the tunnels and kidnappings, the rusting fishing boat and the voices that seem to come from nowhere through the ship's radio, the haul of Nike shoes fished up from the sea. The paranoia and oppression entrenched in the men is like the rust taking over the boat. Jun Do goes through several professions and levels of social standing, tunnel fighter, kidnapper, radio operator, then prisoner, hero, foreign dignitary, and eventually takes over an assumed identity, inheriting a wife, and finds love.

Johnson tells the story using several different methods; creative and clever, and at times even humorous, these many devices tell the horrors and atrocities almost like background music floating behind a scene: the propaganda speakers blare out the love the Dear Leader has for his people, while Jun Do travels through the country seeing his people eating grass or raising dogs for food; an interrogator thinks, "we ramp up the pain to inconceivable levels..in a few weeks he will be a contributing member of a rural farm collective" --the prisoner, a professor, was accused of playing pop music from South Korea to his students. The writing methods and devices are like passages to another place on the timeline of the story, adding a new dimension to reader participation, but just as easily can be confusing-- making this a read that requires real effort, but very worthwhile.

If you have ever used the aid of nitrous oxide at the dentist's office, you will relate: I started listening to this novel at the dentist's office (I was scheduled for a 3 hour fun-block). A new book, a fully charged ipod, and the gas mask firmly in place. After about 1 hour, I got a little break. I lifted the nitrous mask from my face, looked at my ipod and thought, "WTH?! Maybe I shouldn't be listening to this under the influence." When I got home, lungs full of oxygen, brain cleared out, I started over. I listened a while then thought, "WTH!?" Once you catch on to the methods, the story becomes clear and easily navigated. Johnson's novel is a piece of inspired literary construction with steps and passages, tunnels, holes, voices from nowhere... with writing that is just as alarmingly beautiful and incongruent. Parts seemed even beyond surreal to me and were not a good fit, thus my 4* rating. But, for all I know, behind that wall of secrecy, this could be complete reality with just a surreal and convoluted leader?


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54 people found this helpful

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  • KP
  • 06-29-13

Fascinating!

The Orphan Master’s Son was fascinating and compelling. However, if you don't like graphic violence or the depiction of really depressing situations, then this book won't be for you. (I'm now reading a Stephen King book, and it seems like cotton candy compared to this.)

The structure of the book was interesting, even if a bit confusing. The first half was a twisted adventure story – picaresque, like Don Quixote where it moves from one adventure to the next. The second half was a love story, basically. The second half was really confusing for quite a while. It finally became clear that the story was really being told in three versions – Korean propaganda version, Ga version, and interrogator version. Also, it finally becomes clear that the interrogator character’s whole story line occurs AFTER the ending of the story of Ga and Sun Moon (trying not to give too much away about that ending.)

The characters were so well drawn. The growth and change of Commander Ga (Pak Jun Do) from beginning to end was very moving. In the beginning Ga’s name is Jun Do, and the author mentions how this is like John Doe, a nameless character. I presume he is telling us that Jun Do/Ga is like an Everyman character for North Korea. His various adventures demonstrate so much of what must be going on in North Korea.

Ga’s change at the end represents a hope for lifting North Korea out of the dark ages. I had no idea that North Korea was THAT horrible before reading this book. Shame on me, but it’s true. I credit Adam Johnson for bringing this horror to the eyes of many readers who, like myself, were unaware. Change could result from this exposure; one can only hope.

I found many parts of the book to be extremely disturbing – perhaps more disturbing than any other book I’ve read. The worst parts were those narrated by the interrogator character and having to do with the extreme torture. The depth of horror in the North Korean society seemed to be most represented by him. When he described his parents and it became obvious that even they were afraid of him it was done so chillingly. And when he goes through a change toward the end, well, I suppose that is part of the “redemption” in the book, if you could call it that.

I felt the book was too long. I’m not sure where I’d cut it, but perhaps some of Commander Ga’s various transformations could have been left out or shortened. Another possibility would be to somehow leave out some of the torture scenes which were so graphic and disturbing.


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51 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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THE DARK SIDE OF CASABLANCA

This insanely unique novel is hard to describe. Its a literary thriller, a modern-day Casablanca, a character study and a unrelenting bleak and painful portrait of a Country (North Korea) where people are forced to live according to a script written by their sadistic leader, and one wrong word could land you in a prison camp. The pace doesn't let up for a moment as the author explores the effects of constant propaganda, deprivation, and the pain of having to hide your true self or risk torture or death. He weaves his story around a man who starts out in an orphanage, becomes a spy, a kidnapper, and ultimately, an imposter who takes on Kim Jong Il. It's beautifully written, brutally realistic and definitely not for the squeamish.

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It Went From Well Written To Pulitzer Prize Worthy

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 "Dear Leader" 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.

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23 people found this helpful

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Sometimes difficult to listen

Incredulous story but based on what I've read /heard about North Korea it's right-on. Some of the scenes are brutal but the horror and violence is never gratuitous and I thought the descriptions were fairly brief (except that your mind will continue to contemplate that which is unsaid). I have listened to some books where I've had to fast-forward through certain parts that were just too horrifying for me to bear . This book took me to that edge several times but then I was pulled back from the horror just as I was feeling I couldn't take much more.

I bought this book long before I listened to it--kept putting it off because the violence would be too much. But I was drawn in right away and often couldn't hit the "stop" button... had many "driveway moments" and the dog got walked much longer some evenings bec. I just couldn't stop listening. Bravo to Adam Johnson for his research into such a dark place and his ability to present an incredible story of devotion, bravery, soul searching, and ultimate sacrifice for the sake of others.

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WOW ....can't forget this book

Imagine that you live in a society where all your dental and medical care is free. And your food is free. And there is no violent "crime". And everyone works together for a common goal. And the leader of this place is called " Dear Leader".
You wouldn't have to worry about paying bills, what school to send your children, and what to wear at the office party. Why? Because everything is decided for you including your wife or husband, your career, your food, where you will live, and if your children will be allowed to grow up in your home.
Welcome to this book about North Korea and the orphan master's son, the main character. Identities are regularly changed, without a question. Citizens must regularly submit to "self criticism sessions". Torture is routine. You may be assigned a substitute spouse should your current spouse disappear or die. No one is allowed a voice. The dear leader always knows best. Paranoia rules.
This book is written in a style reminiscent of Haruki Murakami, although not quite as wonderful, still very solid.
I keep thinking about this book. I very glad I read this although at times it went on and on and perhaps because I was listening and not reading in print, I found it confusing with the replacement characters.

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Read Something Else

I had really high hopes for this book, but it is one of the worse novels that I ever read. It seems like the author doesn't really go in depth at what it is like being in North Korea. It seems like the author just watched a few documentaries, read news articles on North Korea and started writing the story around the premise. Yet another top secret, James Bond, spy novel. If you change the country to other than North Korea, you will have the same story with slightly alter cultural facts.

The narrators are equally as bad. I understand that you need to act like your characters, but it is almost unbearable to listen to with their Korean accents with broken English.

If you want to read about North Korea from a first person perspective, look elsewhere, like "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" or even, "The World Is Bigger Now: An American Journalist's Release from Captivity in North Korea."

They are much better books on the subject and the struggle, living/captive in a communist country.. If you don't believe me, you can search my reviews.

Read something else other than the Orphan Master's Son. The book is poorly written on speculations on Kim Jong Il and the country.

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BRAVO!

A new favorite in my 200+ audiobook library. It is a moving epic story about life in North Korea. One of the best I've ever listened to, I can not say enough about how wonderful this book is. There is a section about half way through where a case of mistaken identity makes the book a little hard to follow, and a little bit tough to believe, but work through it and you will not be dissapointed at how it all comes together. An amazing experience, absolutely engrossing, this is one I will listen to again and again and again.

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