I'll get straight to the point: I loved this book. This is the first book I finished in 2015, and if every book I read this year is even half as good, I will be one happy reader. The Orphan Master's Son follows the story of one man. The story isn't about one man, though; it is about survival, identity, memory, and love. It is about interconnectedness and truth (or assessing what truth is). It is about the son of an orphan master, who unlike the orphans at the orphanage knows his parents and lives with his father, but who like the orphans ends up spending a life wondering where his parents are and of being identified by others as an orphan.
The book is divided into two parts, clearly identified as Part I and Part II, and also signaled by a significant narrative shift. I have no doubts as to why this book has been so acclaimed. The story is intriguing, the writing is excellent, and the plot is so impressive--everything happens for a reason, either because it is important to the plot as it unfolds or because it is lousy with meaning later in the book. Sometimes a plot point functions as both and makes for the most pleasurable reading.
When we first meet our protagonist, we see him caring for the orphans who come through the Long Tomorrow's orphan house in rural North Korea. He even names the orphans, and he symbolically names them after the 100 Korean martyrs; it is significant that he knows the names and stories of each of the martyrs, significant that he has the power of naming the orphans, and significant that he names the orphans based on characteristics that remind him of the martyrs. These opening scenes lay the groundwork for the themes of identity, heroism, and sacrifice as well as give us a glimpse into the communist political climate and the squashing of individuality (the names of the orphans are not even their own; they are someone else's). From here, we move forward into a story that is very much set in the present, and yet the pages are filled with vignettes of humanity that are familiar and timeless. With descriptive prose, inventive narrative turns, and clever conceptions of plot and storytelling, Adam Johnson achieved a book that is moving and entertaining, is melancholy while inviting, and tells a story while also making a reader think about larger implications for politics and propaganda. By now, I am sure it is clear that I recommend this exceptional book, and along with it Johnson's 2003 work Parasites Like Us, which I read years ago and explores some of the same themes of existence and memory.
Johnson, Adam. The Orphan Master's Son. New York: Random House, 2012.
Johnson, Adam. The Orphan Master's Son. New York: Random House, 2012.
