The Orphan Master's Son (2012) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters edit see section history

• Pak Jun Do: The son of the Orphan Master, a "bona fide hero of the Democratic People's Republic"
• Sun Moon: A world famous Korean actress.
• Officer So: a kidnapper
• The Captain: Captain of the fishing boat Junma
• Second Mate: aboard the Junma
• Second Mate's Wife: Pretty wife of the Junma's Second Mate
• Sun Moon: an actress
• Commander Ga: Husband of Sun Moon, friend and rival to Dear Leader
• Dear Leader: Kim Jong Il
• Lieutenant Harlan Jervis: American officer aboard The Fortitude, in the Fifth Fleet
• Wanda: An American Homeland Security agent
• Comrade Buc: Ga's friend and neighbor. Procures items for the Dear Leader
• Dr. Song: Ambassador for North Korea
• The Senator: from Texas
• The Senator's Wife: Wife of a Texas Senator
• Li Mongnan: an old woman in a prison camp
• Sarge: Member of the Pubyok
• The Interrorgator: works for Division 42
• Q-Kee: Division 42 Intern
• Jujack: Division 42 intern
• Commander Park: Rival of Commander Ga.
• Duc Dan: Add a description of this character.
• Ryoktosan
• Leonardo
• Rick
• Kim Jong Il
• Robert Mugabe
• Bo Song
• Kimsan
• Kimura
• Rumina
• Pilar
• Tommy
• Gil
• Brando
• Kim Il Sung
• Ga Chol Chun

Quotes edit see section history

• “Jun Do's men would vie to be the ones to slip out and wander South Korea for a while. They'd come back with stories of machines that handed out money and people who picked up dog shit and put it in bags. Jun Do never looked. He knew the televisions were huge and there was all the rice you could eat. Yet he wanted no part of it - he was scared if he saw it with his own eyes, his entire life would mean nothing. Stealing turnips from an old man who'd gone blind from hunger? That would have been for nothing. Sending another boy instead of himself to clean vats at the paint factory? For nothing.”

• “"And what if you do make it around the world - how do you wait in line for your dormitory toilet again,knowing that you've been to America? Maybe the millet tasted better in some other country and the loudspeakers weren't so tinny. Suddenly it's your tap water that smells not so good - then what do you do?"”

  the Second Mate

• “"Now take my hand," he told me. I put my small hand in his, and then his mouth became sharp with hate. He shouted, "I denounce this citizen as an imperialist puppet who should be remanded to stand trial for crimes against the state." His face was red, venomous. "I have witnessed him spew capitalist diatribes in an effort to poison our minds with his traitorous filth." The old men turned from their game to observe us.I was terrified, on the verge of crying. My father said, "See, my mouth said that, but my hand, my hand was holding yours. If your mother ever must say something like that to me, in order to protect to the two of you, know that inside, she and I are holding hands. And if someday you must say something like that to me, I will know it's not really you. That's inside. Inside is where the son and the father will always be holding hands."”

  The Interrogator

• “"How could you not keep count?"”

  Pak Jun Do

• “...in communism, you'd threaten a dog into compliance, while in capitalism, obedience is obtained through bribes.”

• “The first day in a tunnel is no problem, but when you wake on the second day from the darkness of a dream into true darkness, that's when your eyes must open. If you keep your eyes closed, your mind will show you all kinds of crazy movies, like a dog attacking you from behind. But with your eyes open, all you had to face was the nothingness of what you were really doing.”

  un Do

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Adam Johnson (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Pulitzer Prize (2013: Fiction)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3610.O3 O76 2011
• Dewey: 813.6

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• New York Times Review of Books: The title of Adam Johnson’s second novel is a bit misleading. Raised in the Long Tomorrows orphanage in Chongjin, North Korea, his protagonist believes himself to be the son of the Orphan Master rather than some kid dropped off by his desperate parents. But the primary evidence for this belief — “the unrelenting way the Orphan Master singled him out for punishment” — invites other interpretations. Like the rest of the boys, he is given a name from the list of the 114 Grand Martyrs of the Revolution that will mark him as an orphan for the rest of his life. Pak Jun Do (the given name Jun Do is a homonym of “John Doe”) is appropriate for a character with such a shifting identity, someone who will become both the perpetrator and the victim of countless crimes.
• In One Eye, Out the Other: Recorded session of book reading by the author in San Francisco

More Books Like This edit see section history