The Orphan Master's Son: A Novel

Adam Johnson

I suppose that this is fictional realism. That is, a fictional story that is based in reality. This could have actually happened. In fact, the story and writing reminded me a lot of both Unbroken and Shantaram. Specifically, all of these stories follow a protagonist through a portion of their life and the life described is fantastical. The events and interactions and series of coincidences are crazy/amazing that they could happen to a single person. And these three books are non-fiction, fiction based on a true character and pure fiction. But the gestalt is the same.

Based on his research and interviews with those who have interacted with North Korea, Johnson creates the character Pak Jun Do. Jun Do is raised by his father (a single dad) in an orphanage. He takes on the identity and characteristics of an orphan (a particularly low social class) while his self identity is as a regular kid who lost his mother. As Jun Do grows, we follow him through his jobs as a tunnel rat (military position of living/fighting in the tunnels that cut under the DMZ), a covert radio operator on fishing boat and in prison. We are introduced to the crazy social strictures of North Korea, ostensibly a fear based society where it is better to feed yourself to a shark that to lose your copy of the portrait of the Great Leader Kim Jung Il. It is also a society where the story is king. It is more important to have a believable story, or at least plausible, than to be a truthful person. This way at least you give the listener something to hold their hat. Johnson contrasts this with the American society, where the truth of the story doesn't matter, but it is because we judge the honesty/trustworthiness of the person. Johnson demonstrates this throughout the book, but really drives it home in the second half when he starts following Commander Ga, the Minister of Prisons and Mines. His interactions with the interrogation unit are highly illuminating.

Perhaps the most valuable part of the text is the appendix interview between Johnson and his editor. This interview gives some background on the research done to create the characters and describe the culture of the close North Korean society. This interview gives confidence that we really are reading fictional realism. Without this, you could easily mis-categorize this novel as dystopian. In fact, maybe the most amazing thing is that this story is more on par with Hunger Games and Divergent than it is with any realistic situation. 

A great book on many levels.
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