The Orphan Master's Son question

I was thinking of this today - the interrogator is an interesting choice for an everyman. Adam Johnson has a real talent for getting one to side with characters whose actions are less than stellar.

Michelle wrote: "I found The Interrogator to be an extremely fascinating and complex character. What did you think of him?"

It was quite amazing how Johnson was able to make the interrogator a sympathetic character. Even though he wields such tremendous power in a society where most are powerless, his life is a complete nightmare. His parents are in complete fear of him, and he has to keep telling himself that he's a "biographer." The part near the end where his (we think) blind mother refers to her son as a "torturer," even though it's a simple statement of fact, is quite heartbreaking.

This is interesting. The interrogator didn't start off as feeling like a person with any sympathy or any humanity at all. as the story of the impersonator continued, so this facade appeared to crumble and we started to see the interrogator as much more human and really, as just a person, living in a system that was bigger than everyone. The parallel to this character might be the german soldier (captain) in the pianist. a person whose being is overcome by their role unless something or someone gives the opportunity for them to break free from this.

Still mulling this book over in my head weeks after finishing it. It was a fascinating and depressing read. I found the glimpse into life in North Korea, however correct or incorrect it was, just alarming.

I absolutely loved this book. The ending gave a whole new spin to the word 'sacrifice'. It took me a bit to get my sea legs with it, what with all the temporal shifting about, but what a masterpiece! I was useless for awhile when I finished it, and still think about it a lot. I wondered also how factual it was.

I was having trouble wading through this book in parts. I understood at the end but the whole book seemed disjointed somehow. It would be a very horrible way to live, I can only hope nothing like that happens there.

Michelle wrote: "I found The Interriogator to be an extremely fascinating and complex character. What did you think of him?"

I found the entire book unbelievable. How can you live by lying all the time. To live in such fear.

*SPOILER ALERT* I had a little bit of trouble getting through the first half of the book, I kept with it because it was intriguing, and a trusted friend recommended it to me. It was a challenge for me because of 2 things: I have a hard time understanding twisted political plots (I am not so quick with subtle story lines) and the violence was hard to take sometimes. Gave me nightmares! But like some others have commented, I can't get the book out of my head. I have picked it up over and over to re-read parts, just to confirm that what I read the first time was indeed what I thought, and not some cerebral twist. I keep re-reading the part when the Interrogator and "Ga" are in the baby blue chairs. Does anyone else feel that Ga could possibly escape that? He wasn't strapped down, and on my first read when he turned up the dial to a lethal dose, I thought it was suicidal, but now I am thinking he was turning up the Interrogator's dial. The Interrogator left Ga's phone and his own badge in a bucket. My friend who read the book thinks Ga is dead, suicide. But couldn't Ga now take the badge, his phone and assume a new identity? Am I reading too much into it? At any rate, LOVED IT!

I'd say the interpreter works fairly well as an everyman for the second half of the book. Clearly he's entrenched in the system and commits horrendous acts in his role, but he also firmly believes himself to be a progressive. He's not a revolutionary figure, but he does represent a less barbaric new order. He represents a progressive baby step, I guess.

Our bookclub chose this book a few months ago and most of us had a difficult time reading it, mostly due to the subject matter, but also somewhat with they style of writing, some couldn't even finish it. It is worth the effort though. What an eye opener! And now it's won the Pulitzer so we feel vindicated for choosing it. You will never look at Kim Jong Un the same way again...