From the Shadows of North Korea

Hitting shelves through sheer coincidence just weeks after the death of Kim Jong-il, Adam Johnson's new novel offers an accessible, intimate view into North Korea. The book may be labeled fiction, but that seems to matter little when life itself in North Korea remains shrouded in secrecy and mystique.<em><br /><br />The Orphan Master's Son</em> (Random House) is told in two parts so distinctive that starting the second half of the story is like opening a new bookand yet, the two halves fold shut to contain an epic, terrific whole.<br /><br />In the first part, Pak Jun Do helps his father run an orphanage. His mother is absent from their lives; his father will tell him only that she was a singer. When widespread famine forces the orphanage to disband, Jun Do is separated from the orphan master and relegated to a life of service for the national military, where his loyal conduct and strong work ethic are channeled into more severe endeavors. He is forced to perform despicable acts of violence for his nation, and becomes adept at running in pitch-black underground tunnels, fighting and kidnapping in the dark, and spying on boats. Finally given the chance, he pursues a simpler existence, but Jun Do's world is upended when he becomes an uncertain hero and <span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">must participate in a top-secret visit to the United States, where dissidence quietly takes root in his mind. </span>When his actions begin to deviate from the dictates of the regime, Jun Do soon finds himself in the worst circumstances imaginable.<br /><br />In the second part, government officials interrogate an inmate from Prison 33 who has abandoned his former identity and deftly assumed that of Commander Ga, a high-ranking official and husband of the legendary actress Sun Moon. How he ascends to one of the highest positions in the nation only to end up in the interrogation chamber is the plot for the second part of the novel, which is populated by striking characters: Sun Moon and her children, the interrogator and his family, and Kim Jong-il himself, whose larger-than-life presence in the story would be almost comical if the suffering perpetuated by his tyranny were not so blatant. In the end, Commander Ga (the imposter) and the Dear Leader vie for the attention of Sun Moon, who is on her own mission of self-preservation.<br /><br />Those who are unseen or left unaccounted for in North Korea are felt deeply throughout the book. Jun Do's bereavement for his mother is palpable, and the story is rife with references to those who have been separated from their families, and whose lives are all but hopeless in a country long-rumored to send its undesirable (or uncooperative) citizens to forced labor camps or worse.<br /><br />Interjected throughout the novel are propaganda messages from the state telling the principal characters' stories from its carefully designed perspective. At turns entertaining and chilling, Johnson's novel helps us imagine life in a place we cannot access, and gives a voice to people we cannot hear. Perhaps even more answers will come to light as the story's true subjects step out of the shadow of the Dear Leader's totalitarian rule; however, whether that is a possibility remains to be seen.