The Orphan Master's Son

THE ORPHAN MASTER'S SON
by Adam Johnson

 Award: Dayton Literary Peace Prize Winner 2013, Pulitzer Winner 2013

 Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2013, Dublin Longlist 2014, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2012

 Date Read: July 19, 2013

 The Orphan Master's Son hit me like a ton of bricks. Set in North Korea, this novel follows the unlikely life of Jun Do (a play on John Doe?) from his upbringing in a state orphanage, to his participation in a delegation to the U.S., to his detention in a prison camp for failure in that mission, to adopting another man's identity.

 The Orphan Master's Son is a brutal glimpse into the lives of North Koreans, a country notoriously isolated from the rest of the world. The reader is exposed to the atrocities inflicted on North Korean citizens in everyday life and, worse yet, in prison camps that offer no hope of escape. 

 This novel has haunted me from the first moment I began reading it and throughout my entire reading, I had to squelch a rescue fantasy. My knowledge of North Korean life is limited, however, life as described here, I would assume, doesn't veer far from reality. While patriotism isn't exactly flowing through my blood these days, this novel made me so happy to be an American. Someday, I may have the courage to read this one again.

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