The Orphan Master's Son
by Adam Johnson · first published 2012
12mentions
7recommended by
12HN commenters
2013–2022first – last mentioned
58% recommend33% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Fiction set in North Korea, researched in depth and gripping, it gives a vivid sense of daily life there. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The Orphan Master's Son is a 2012 novel by American author Adam Johnson. It deals with intertwined themes of propaganda, identity, and state power in North Korea. The novel was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
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…“How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy,” by Jenny Odell “Lost Children Archive,” by Valeria Luiselli “Lot: Stories,” by Bryan Washington “Normal People,” by Sally Rooney “The Orphan Master’s Son,” by Adam Johnson “The Yellow House,” by Sarah M. Broom (National Book Award winner, nonfiction) “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland,” by Patrick Radden Keefe…
on “Obama lists his favorite books of 2019” ↗…($.99 on Kindle!) Physics - At Home in the Universe by Stuart Kauffman Software - An Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language Current Events - Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom Fiction - The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson Music - Jerry on Jerry (audiobook is a recorded interview of Garcia!) Biography - Benjamin Franklin An American Life by Walter Isaacson Autobiography - A Confederacy of Dunces by John…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson is a staggeringly good novel about North Korea. Fictional, of course, but well-researched.
on “Sophie In North Korea” ↗Awesome article, awesome author. Adam Johnson's 'The Orphan Master's Son' is about North Korea and it's the best book I've read this year: http://www.amazon.com/The-Orphan-Masters-Son-ebook/dp/B004X6...
on “Kim Jong-il's Sushi Chef” ↗If you are interested in North Korea, read The Orphan Master's Son. Fiction, but based on true stories. Won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. (I've heard the audiobook is excellent, but the book is quite graphic, so the audio could be a little "intense." I didn't…
on “Secret State of North Korea [video]” ↗…Lot: Stories, by Bryan Washington https://www.worldcat.org/title/lot-stories/oclc/1128099233 9. Normal People, by Sally Rooney https://www.worldcat.org/title/normal-people/oclc/1119769689 10. The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson https://www.worldcat.org/title/orphan-masters-son-a-novel/oc... 11. The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom (National Book Award winner, nonfiction) https://www.worldcat.org/title/yellow-house/oclc/1122461200…
on “Obama lists his favorite books of 2019” ↗Yup, official military reading lists include a fair bit of fiction. Recent ones that I can think of are Ghost Fleet, Starship Troopers, Enders Game, Red Badge of Courage, The Orphan Master's Son, The Kite Runner. The really nice thing is that since many of those lists are refreshed yearly, they are an ongoing fountain of interesting books. Good stuff!
on “Military Reading List” ↗The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (awarded a Pulitzer prize for fiction) begins with a kidnapping story of this sort.
on “Snatched from a beach to train North Korea's spies” ↗…downvote me for this. I know that some of these books are considered classics and many of you won't like this but remember that this is just my personal opinion; I tend to get border easily *) - The orphan master's son - The man in the high castle - Metro 2033 - Neuromancer - Catch 22 - Digital Fortress (this wasn't so boring but I hated the smart-ass characters)
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗…staff." I was in a Tucson bookstore near the University and I tried an experiment: I asked for a fiction recommendation. She asked me what books I liked, we talked for a long time, and she came up with "The Orphan Master's Son." OK, it's a good book, I'm not going to trash it at all. But I just didn't feel like finishing it. Maybe if I went there all the time and bought a lot of books and they actually got to know me, it…
on “What We Gain from a Good Bookstore” ↗…you've learned that this book/type of book is not for you which is just as good to take into account when looking for recommendations ("I liked X, Y and Z but then didn't feel compelled to finish 'The Orphan Master's Son', do you know of a book that I might like?").
on “What We Gain from a Good Bookstore” ↗…super-robust set of tools for this for fiction; I'm still chewing through the list generated by 'all Pulitzer prizes for fiction written during my lifetime' - and all of them have been quite good. ('the Orphan Master's Son' so far has been my least favorite, though it was still really quite good. And because these were chosen /at the time/ you get a glimpse into what people were thinking at the time. Mailer's "The Executioner's…
on “Fake Books” ↗