Orphan Masters Son [Paperback]

Let me start by saying I was so impressed with this novel that I am going to come across like Adam Johnsons' mum, publisher, editor, best friend, paid acquaintance or a combination of any of the above. I was actually lucky enough to get a copy and just read it. The blurb makes it sound like a sort of comedy set in North Korea, in actuality it is a staggering achievement as to what you can do when you truly love the subject as Johnson does.

It is in two parts, the first chronicles the life or rather endurance and suffering of Jun Do; he is the son of the Orphan Master, after his mother was taken away to entertain the big wigs in Pyongyang, they were left alone. All beautiful girls from the provinces are taken away like this. It is also shameful to be an orphan and they have their real names ignored and are replaced with the names of fallen martyrs. This way they will always carry the mark and shame of being an orphan. Jun Do's father pretends he too is an orphan and treats him more harshly than the others, it is an existence of grinding poverty ' made worse by the compulsory loud speakers that spout blatant propaganda all day and act as brain washing devices.

In turns he becomes a tunnel assassin in the Demilitarized Zone, a kidnapper and reluctant and not very good spy. He also ends up on a fishing boat where he gets the love of his life's image tattooed over his heart ' the 'best actress in the world' Sun Moon - not her real name, but chosen for her by The Dear Leader Kim Jong Il; or the fat tyrant who is famous for his song 'I so Ronery', as we know him in the Imperialist West.

Then Part Two deals with the Taekwando Champion of the World and husband to the best actress ' Commander Ga. He is famous for many things including ridding the army of homosexuals. This is done oft times by seeing if they can fend off his 'man attacks' ' a veiled euphemism for full on rear entry intercourse. If you fail well then you must have wanted it ' makes perfect sense.

This book was researched by Adam Johnson for over six years and he visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to ensure authenticity. He has crammed so much in that it is as educational as it is both entertaining and moving. He brings all the characters to life and brilliantly highlights the failings of the West when viewed through the eyes of the North Koreans. Whilst at the heart of this there is a central theme of love and sacrifice, there is hope, there is humour, though comi-tragic would probably best describe it; but moreover there is a page turner of a story that had me hooked from the start and kept me right to the end. I actually had a dream about the characters at one point, I was that caught up in the book. I can not say enough good things about this brilliant, original, fascinating and thoroughly captivating read. I am longing for his next one and even if it takes another six years it will be worth the wait.

This novel is about the adventures and misadventures of Pak Jun Do, a North Korean, who is raised in the `Long Tomorrows' orphanage his father is director of. Jun Do never knew his mother - we are told that she is a singer of great beauty who was shipped to Pyongyang. His name, like those of the other orphans, is given to him from the list of the 114 Grand Martyrs of the Revolution. He is, simultaneously, everyone and no-one. Jun Do even sounds like John Doe.

After the orphanage is devastated, Jun Do is sent to the military where first he undertakes training in zero-light combat in the tunnels under the demilitarized zone, and then on an undercover mission which involves kidnapping Japanese from the beaches. And then, Jun Do is sent to language school to learn English, which gets him assigned to a boat to transcribe radio intercepts. Once back on land, he is assigned to an intelligence team travelling to Texas where he meets a Senator and his wife.

`There's no way around it: to get a new life, you've got to trade in your old one.'

After returning from Texas, Jun Do ends up in a labour camp where he takes over the life and identity of a North Korean military hero, Commander Ga. In this half of the novel, the depiction of North Korea may exceed a reader's wildest imaginings. `The Dear Leader' Kim Jong-il, who died shortly before this book was published, is Commander Ga's rival for the affections of Commander Ga's wife, an actress named Sun Moon.

It's complicated, and convoluted and doesn't always make sense. It's jarring at times to switch from the omniscient narrator who tells the `real' story, to the ever-present loudspeakers that tell the version of the story the government wants its citizens to hear and then, in the second half of the novel, to include the interrogator whose responsibility is to make sure that every citizen's story is told. In the end, after most of the pieces fall into place, Pak Jun Do does really become a hero - but not an official North Korean one. I'm ambivalent about setting a dystopian novel in a country where fiction can easily be read as fact but, in the end, it's that blurring of possibility that makes this novel such a powerful read. It's satirical and sad, as well as amusing and unsettling.

`What are you going to believe, citizens? Rumours and lies, or your very own eyes?'

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I have just finished this novel and was transfixed by it: the author pulls us in to imagine life in the horror of North Korea. But not without compassion and humour - how each character's life is confused and corrupted by the greater deceptions of the state, but how a sly humour can survive, and love and honour can exist. The main character Jun do is a classic hero: a lost boy who must journey and undergo pain and suffering to win love, but who will give himself up in the end for love, and his story is beautifully told, but it is the other stories as well that will steal into your mind: the Interrogator who has gotten entranced by the story of his subjects not the confession; The ship's Captain who always must make choices and sacrifices for his crew; Dr. Song who can weave his way through the stories and lies of diplomacy. The list is endless, I think these people will haunt me for a long time.