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What Members Thought
This is by far the best book I've read in years.
Jun Do is the only son of the Orphan Master, the man in charge of a house full of boys. Jun Do allocates who eats first, who sleeps in the freezing corners of the room. He goes with the boys into the mines deep beneath North and South Korea, he learns to fight in the dark when even your opponent is blind.
As he falls into adulthood, he starts wearing different identities. He is a spy, he is a fisherman, he is a diplomat. He is able to slip in and ...more
Jun Do is the only son of the Orphan Master, the man in charge of a house full of boys. Jun Do allocates who eats first, who sleeps in the freezing corners of the room. He goes with the boys into the mines deep beneath North and South Korea, he learns to fight in the dark when even your opponent is blind.
As he falls into adulthood, he starts wearing different identities. He is a spy, he is a fisherman, he is a diplomat. He is able to slip in and ...more
I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll go out of my way to recommend this to others. The story is so dark but there are parts that are warm and funny and sweet, which helped me get through it. It's also really, really long - I like a good, long engrossing book but it takes a really long time for this story to get going and I didn't feel caught up in it until I got to Part 2, which is at the 40% mark on the Kindle.
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Reading this book reminded me why I love book clubs. If I had picked this up on my own, I'm sure I would've abandoned it before finishing it. I had a hard time getting into it, and it felt disjointed. But I stuck with it because it's for a book discussion group, and I'm so glad I did.
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This book is really, really good. I just couldn't connect with it. Great writing, though.
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I found so much of this book disturbing; (view spoiler). I was immersed in the world of this book and it was not a good feeling, unsettling and haunting. Yet for all of the graphic details about repressive North Korean culture, the book felt half finished, like Johnson was writing his way to a plot. The characters felt like caricatures. Despite the interesting point of view shifts in the second ha
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This was a hard book to read due to the violent nature of sections of it, and I couldn't figure out why it has won so many awards until the second half when I could NOT PUT IT DOWN. This will definitely stick with me.
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I liked this book, especially the first 100 pages or so. But the more of it I read, the more it seemed to be a YA distopian with adult characters. And yet it won a Pulitzer. There were portions of the book where I couldn't put it down, but since it's a work of fiction, I really can't say I have an understanding of life in North Korea, other than I can say it does give a good illustration of "cult of personality." Off to read the non-fiction North Korea book that is mentioned in the pan reviews.
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Wow! It is mind boggling to imagine a world even remotely like this exists in the current world. But apparently it does. Obviously this is fiction and it was a little 1984-esque at times but it definitely got me interested in the world of North Korea. I would like to read some first hand accounts from defectors to see how accurate Johnson's depiction really was.
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I get why this won the Pulitzer, but for me, it didn't quite do it. It was long and I felt the writing style to be a little disengaging. However, the story beneath the propaganda and style was dark and compelling. I wouldn't mind having someone to discuss this with...it's that kind of book.
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Just couldn't finish it all the way. It's so slow and the "hero" keeps getting in these ridiculous situations. I might try to finish it some other time but not now.
Suggested by Gabby Lindsey ...more
Suggested by Gabby Lindsey ...more
I became somewhat infatuated with this book. Eye opening, and I fell so hard for our hero. Awful... but lovely.
Jul 18, 2012
Kate
marked it as to-read
Nov 13, 2012
Julia
marked it as to-read
Mar 16, 2013
Martha
marked it as to-read
Mar 20, 2013
Maggie
marked it as to-read
May 23, 2013
Loretta
marked it as to-read
Aug 17, 2013
Sara
marked it as abandoned
Aug 18, 2013
Andrea Thatcher
marked it as to-read
Oct 26, 2014
Rachel
added it
Jul 20, 2015
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Jul 04, 2016
Christina MOVED TO STORYGRAPH Perucci
marked it as to-read
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review of another edition
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Aug 28, 2017
Aimee
marked it as to-read
Feb 26, 2019
Cathy
marked it as to-read
