The Orphan Master's Son

A Novel

By: Adam Johnson

Narrated by: Tim Kang, Josiah D. Lee, James Kyson Lee, Adam Johnson

Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins

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)

A Masterpiece that defies genres

Any additional comments?

This is a monumental work of contemporary historical fiction. It works as a character study, spy thriller, and expose of the world's most reclusive country. I found the details of North Korean life - the privations, the omnipresent "Big Brotherish" intrusions by the state into every facet of life, and the duplicitous goings on of the power brokers and their minions to be utterly fascinating. The author's brief interview at the end sheds a lot of welcome light on how he managed to paint such a credible portrait of the North Korean state. I also have to give him credit for the audacity to put Kim Jong Il front and center as one of the main characters. In some ways, this book reminded me of the Arkady Renko novels of Martin Cruz Smith and will appeal to those who like their fiction set in lands both mysterious and unfathomable. The superb narration adds rather than detracts from the story which is unusual for this genre IMO. This book is not to be missed!

I went into this blind

I don’t remember what caused me to buy this book when I install the cover in my library I just assumed it was a fantasy novel. I was wrong.

This book is fantastic and you should read it in your chosen medium.

Rich with symbolism and history.

Holy cow. This will be required reading in history classes around the world. So much to sink your teeth in. Beautiful but tragic. I enjoyed every minute.

Garp Goes To Hell

The Orphan Master’s Son is an engrossing, almost leisurely paced book. Well written and very engaging, it is filled with darkness only eclipsed with pitch black humor, and a propulsive plot.

Usually audio books take time for me to appreciate. There is a dysphoria listening to books, especially books already read traditionally. But for me that usually takes some time to get into. The Orphan Master’s Son Is not like this. I have the physical book and the narration enhanced the already beautiful text.

There are a couple narrative devices that help frame the story and propel the plot. Which takes me to Garp, or rather John Irving’s. The World According To Garp and The Hotel New Hampshire where he spins tales that seem possible when actually unlikely. I felt that way with this book. The plot goes forth and in a sense characters are propelled whether we or they like it or not. And that is asking a lot for someone investing 19 minutes of listening time.

The machinations and bizarre life of those in North Korea is fascinating by itself but getting likable characters (and despicable ones) almost feels like dessert. The language is beautiful, the descriptions haunting, the pace all make for entertaining enlightenment. Adam Johnson did the work. He toured NK at some point as he as writing the book. He literally added scenes he experienced as well as the bleak ambiance experienced while there. And while there is no cultural relativism there is the way you were programmed, or the person in NK. Might it be that both cultures ingrain into us? It is a fair question that gets some narrative in this book.

I didn’t realize it won the Pulitzer Prize but it is very much a book most can get behind and feel good about awarding. It has the “it” factor. Having finished The Overstory a few weeks ago - another Pulitzer winner and nearly monolithic in layers of story and interlaced characters and their significance - although not as fun a read. It was great btw, probably the best thing I’ve read and I’ve been reading for many years. The Orphan Master’s Son is probably the second or third best. Really, it was a remarkable book.

Note: it is a dark tale made easier to deal with because of humor. It is like the comedian explaining that comedy frequently explores areas that are existentially dark, that we would be horrified if it wasn’t so funny and true. That is this book’s form of humor. I found myself snickering at some pretty bleak moments and thought, ‘yes, this would be terrible if not for the occasional quips and jabs.’

It is worth reading for plot, for the substrate, and because you will learn about NK and the Dear Leader. Some boneheads will inevitably cry about this being another libtard book bashing Trump. Just show them when it was written. That is our new post fact world, one that has a smiling, happy patina we now own as part of our lives. But at least we aren’t in North Korea.

Difficult

Scanned a lot. I understood the reality of North Korea but too difficult to read in depth about something we cannot do anything s out. These people live in hell and are undeserving of hell.

Gives a good overview of North Korea

Interesting book - Gives a good perspective of the propaganda machine of North Korea.
Story was okay but surprisingly didn't have any major revelation at the end (which was kind of sad)
Narration wise, the Narrator is horrendous in female voices but funny in the "Dear" Leader's voice.

I couldn't wait for my next drive to listen!

it was such a good book I could not stop listening period great performance as well

Outstanding!

This feels like a perfect story. It’s so vivid and well written. It’s heart braking and beautiful. The readers are incredible!!

Pretty great

The first half is my favorite. It sort of veers in to forest gump territory (hapless man bounced around by fate), but is ultimately insightful and powerfully written.

The second half is ... different. It veers into dystopian noir and veers into melodrama. Which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s hard to reconcile the two halves exactly. It works with the themes and makes sense on paper, but in practice...I’m not completely sold.

Regardless, this was one of my favorite listens this year and one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys literary fiction.

The finest North Korean love story of our times

This book caught me off guard. You get a real sense of the author’s research in the charm and minutiae of the descriptions. The details of everyday life moments go beyond historical or anectodal editorials. It presents a version of North Korea where it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction. Fantasy from reality. By the end, the book steadily gets more absurd — but by that time, the reader might find that it’s difficult to determine what is truly unbelievable.