Growing up as an orphan in North Korea, and even living through the great famine, Pak Jun Do surprisingly makes it to adulthood. Trained as a "tunnel soldier," specialized as "kidnapper" of foreigners, and finally as radio message listener on a fishing ship, he becomes a national hero. But in North Korea it is very easy to fall down from heaven into hell; it can be just a matter of a slip of the tongue or being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The only person Pak Jun Do loves is a movie star, married (given as a present) to a general. Although he carries her picture literally on his heart, she is unaware of his love, until .... Captivating and confusing story; if only one half of what is told in this novel about North Korea is true, then this is the most dystopian country I've ever heard of.