Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son
This book has been generating a HUGE amount of buzz (and getting a lot of rave reviews), so I was pretty eager to read it--though normally a novel about a North Korean soldier wouldn't immediately appeal to me. And I will say that I almost gave it up at first--there are some crazy things that happen in the first few chapters, like some kidnappings, that are hard to read. But then I found myself completely wrapped up in the young man's story, as he progresses from being an orphan to being a soldier to being caught up in the ludicrous world of North Korean politics. I've read that Johnson did a lot of research for this book, and if it's even fifty percent accurate, that country is kind of messed up (from my capitalistic American viewpoint, anyway). I mean, this reads like a post-apocalyptic dystopia in some ways. Maybe that's one of the reasons I liked it so much? A/A-.
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An e-galley was provided by the publisher.
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