Adam Johnson has picked an extremely daring topic for his fiction : the North Korean dystopia. It is hard to classify the novel into one category though; as the author himself agrees, he was not working towards a specific genre. Thriller is the best broad classification I have for this work. It was utterly un-put-down-able. The story moves leisurely without any bogging stretches. There are no fillers. It is just a long string of disconnected events taking place in the life of a singular character. The story in itself seems incredible but it is the protagonist who holds your attention. It is he who makes everything incredible about the story seem vaguely possible.
Jun Do is this protagonist who has been brought up in an orphanage. Orphans in the DPRK are considered a separate social strata and are treated as such. The totalitarian regime that looks to oppress by means of threats probably finds nothing to threaten orphans by. Jun Do lives through the Arduous March and grows up to be a tunnel rat, an off shore kidnapper and a radio transmission reader. His life is extremely adventurous and he finds himself aspiring without any real emotions against the regime. He, in his own words, outlives every one of his friends. In a society where the story is more important than the individual, he lives his story, and another's, and another's. He finds the love of his life and makes her fall in love with him. And then he is damned to the dungeons of the North Korean secret police.
Adam Johnson has written a very interesting story. One that thrills all the way, grips you till the very end. However, there is that naked contempt for socialist societies and the glorification of the USA and it's concept of freedom that cakes the pages. Other than this irritating angle, the book is an extremely good read. It is easy in it's pace and it's demands. And the imaginations of the author deserve applause.
