Orphan Masters Son Final Review

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. This book is mediocre. I thought the idea and basis of the book was fantastic and it was really well written, but I couldn't really get into it. The book starts of with a little bit of background about the protagonist, Pak Jun Do, and then immediately into events where Jun Do and some other charterers are kid napping random citizens from Japan. So right from the start I thought the book was kind of weird. As I continued to progress through the novel it continued to be weird. I truly realized how different the DPRK is from the United States. Especially when the Korean characters in the book go to Texas. The book jumped around a lot and it was hard to follow what the author was trying to say.
I would recommend this book to someone trying to find a fictional book that portrays North Korea well, but only if they have good reading comprehension. Also I'm sure there are other books that someone could read if they wanted a story about North Korea.
Another reason I think this book was not super engaging to me was Jun Do's lack of identity. Something Adam Johnson probably did on purpose is the similar sound of Jun Do to John Doe which is the name given to people who have no identity.
I'm very partial to this books. I don't love it and I don't hate it.

Orphan Master's Son Summary and Thoughts

    The book, The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson, is a very interesting novel that tells a tale about a man named Jun Do.  The novel ties in a lot of different elements into the book.  Not only is there focus on the government of North Korea, but the spotlight is also shined on the power of identity and gives the reader a bit of action through events like life at sea.  A large part of the book is that Jun Do's father is the owner of an orphanage, and that Jun Do lives at the orphanage for awhile.  Many people assume and accuse Jun Do of being an orphan, but this is not actually the case.  This is the first focus on identity that comes up in the book.  Throughout the rest of the book, there are many other events where identity comes back into play.  The main event is how Jun Do ends up killing a Commander named Commander Ga, and he takes his identity.  He lives as this character named Commander Ga for the rest of the book, and ends up dying in the end, still holding the identity of Commander Ga.  Jun Do even develops a very strange relationship with the lover of Commander Ga.  It is interesting how the book illustrates the power of the North Korean Government.  It portrays the government to have control over everything.  The government can set a certain reality for the people of North Korea, and that's how it will be from there on out.
    I felt as if the book was good, and that it was very well written.  There were parts of the book that I enjoyed like the thrills of Jun Do and his kidnapping group, and also Jun Do's life at sea.  The main issue for me with the book was that I felt it was hard to get into the book.  The first area of the book where I felt a little lost was the transition between Jun Do's kidnapping group, to his life at sea.  I was interested in the shenanigans that his group was getting into and I was ready to read more about those events, and then it felt like he was all of a sudden on a boat.  The unhealthy transitions between time and location made it hard for me to follow the book, and also hard to really get into it.  In the book, there were not only quick transitions between the location and time period, but also between characters.  Throughout a large period of the book, the main character Jun Do lived as himself, but then ended up killing another man named Commander Ga and in the end took his identity.  I felt that the idea of Jun Do taking Commander Ga's identity was a good one, but the switching of characters ultimately made it harder for me to enjoy the book.
    Overall, I felt as if it was a well written book with many good aspects to it.  I enjoyed many parts of the book, but mainly the chucks where there was action like life at sea or kidnapping.  I most definitely enjoyed the insights on North Korean Politics, and how much power their government holds in it's hands.  The awkward transitions between location, time, and characters wasn't a huge issue for me, but if you get easily lost while reading a book like myself, you might have a hard time with it.

Whats it like in korea?

While interviewing the Korean population at my school I realized there aren't as many Koreans as I had thought. I found a couple of kids from Korea and listened to what they had to say about living/visiting there. They had some interesting things to say but I wanted to also know what people who had never been to Korea thought it's like there. Here is some of the topics they talked about. I asked one kid about the culture in South Korea, and his response was: "There are lots of Asians. The subways are very cramped. The food is dank; SOOOO DANK." He never actually lived there but his grandma lives in South Korea. He told me about a memory from Korea on the subway. "There was one black guy on the subway and everyone was staring at him. Most racist thing I have ever experienced” I thought that was a crazy story, but it opened my eyes to how different the culture there is to the culture here. I also asked about the food. Another Korean friend of mine said there was a lot of rice and bulgogi, which is marinated beef or pork. 

Another question I asked about was average height. That might sound a little racist but I'm genuinely curious not trying to be racist at all. The first answer I got was "Medium to short", and the second was "around 5'2". The last question I had for them was: how was the political situation while you were there? The best answer I got was "animosity between the North and the South". 

However, I said earlier I wanted to know what people who had never been to Korea thought it is like there. To figure this out I asked the same couple of questions to some average white kids. To start off I asked them what they thought the culture was like. One kid that I interviewed said he would assume the culture is "family based with family values. They used traditional medicine". I guess they were partially right, cause the culture is very family and honor based but the don't just have traditional medicine. Something that I found interesting was that one of the average white kids that I interviewed said the exact same average height (5'2") as someone who had been there. However, the actually average height of South Korea is 5'8" for males, and 5'3" for females. For the last question, about the political situation, I got a very peculiar response. "I was only in the North, so life was pretty good there. The political system is great there." My friend obviously has no idea how horrible life in the North is, but if he had lived there I doubt he would have the same to say.

Who Do You Help When Everyone Needs It?

    Throughout the course of learning about Korea, the underlying theme that kept appearing was that there are a lot of issues in North Korea at the moment.  Before I learned about Korea, if famine, dehydration and homelessness was ever brought up I would instantly think of Africa because that is what I associated with those things. After learning about events like the floods of Korea, the Ryongchong train crash, and Camp 14 in North Korea, I not only realized how many issues there are in North Korea alone, but also planet earth in a whole.  There are issues all over the world, in Europe, The Middle East, Asia, South America, Africa and even the United States of America.  There are so many issues in just The United States just alone.  Here are some facts about poverty and hunger in The United States http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx# 

   It is a well known fact that American's have the most power out of any other country in the world, so people expect us to be helping other countries.  When we do not help those other people in need, we use the excuse that, "We have enough problems of our own".  But this is not just the United States.  This is planet earth in a whole.  People rarely help others who are not their own kind.  There is so much hate in this world and it's a, "Dog eat dog world".  What do these phrases even mean?  That people who are different from you will never help you?  That you are supposed to hurt other people before they hurt you?  This historical lifestyle of not helping other people needs to be put to an end, but where do we even start?  It is not only The United States of America that has a large amount of power.  There are many countries in Europe, Asia and South America that are doing very well, and could easily lend a helping hand to those who are in need.  No one country will ever be able to fix even a percentile of the amount of struggles happening across this planet, so we all need to join together to make a change.  There are already groups like the NRA that do similar things to help, but there is not enough support behind these groups of people to actually make a difference.  

    Throughout the course of learning about Korea, I have learned so much about Korea in itself.  I have gained much knowledge about current events and past events, and have learned so much about the cultures of both North and South Korea.  Although the studying of this country helped me gain a lot of knowledge about the country itself, it has given me a deeper understanding of the world in a whole.  You cannot go through life without opening your eyes to other places aside from America, and, "The Boulder Bubble".  Studying about North and South Korea has given me something that I thought was impossible to gain through an LA/History project.  It has given me a deeper understanding of life in a whole, and that is something that we should all search for throughout the course of our lives on planet earth.

Orphan Masters Son Book Review

     The book, The Orphan Masters Son, by Adam Johnson, is extremely interesting. Jun Do, the main character, is faced with many issues where he must think his way out of. He is labeled as an orphan from his child hood so he automatically has a hard time in life due to the lack of opportunity for orphans in North Korea. He has to figure out how to trick the government to believe a story about him saving a friend when he defects from a fishing boat where he was listening to foreign radio transmissions. To make the story he must use one of the many resources that helps him along in life, his pain training. He has learned how to not feel pain. This is a major help because to trick the government, he must have his arm bitten by a shark. 

      Later in the book, he becomes another person. He literally assumes the identity of the North Korean karate master, Commander Ga. He must carry on in life as Commander Ga which means interacting with the dear leader him self, but also taking over the role of husband to the famous actor Sun Moon. 

      The major theme of this book which I find very interesting is the idea of a lack of identity. On page 140 Jun Do gets asked what his name is while he is on a diplomatic trip to Texas. He says that his name is Jun Do, but the people from Texas thinks that it is John Doe. The house maid for the diplomat then says "Isn't that what they call a missing person?" Then she corrects herself and says "Actually, I don't think a John Doe is a missing person. I think its when you have the person, just not his identity." This quote may very well be the most important quote of the entire book. The quote shows you that he never actually has his own identity. His name, Jon Do is the name of a dead Korean diplomat that is given to many orphans. Then the jobs are jobs that he and millions of other people do. at the end of the book, he dies with the identity of Commander Ga. He never actually has his very own Identity. 

      The book is somewhat of a long read, but I highly recommend reading it. It will educate you on North Korea, and also provide a good time of entertainment. This is truly a good, educational, and entertaining book. 

China's making moves to sanction North Korea's nuclear program

      The North Korean nuclear program is one of the most unknown programs in the world. This past week the United States leaked information that the north Korean nuclear program is actually very strong, and have almost created a missile that can reach U.S. shores. China, being the north's only ally, has also leaked plans to destroy their program and potential over throw Kim Jong-Un.
      The Chinese released a statement that they do not have confidence in the decision making skills of the North Korean government. China sees the North Korean decisions to threaten the United States, South Korea, and continuously send test missiles into border area islands as nothing but liabilities. China is a country that is at peace with the rest of the world. They do not want to be allied with a country that could potentially start a major war right on their boarders.
      China started their preparation buy sending troops to wait at the border and be ready to move to Pyongyang. They also started to make Refugee camps on their side of the boarder for the North Korean people just in case there is civil unrest and the North Koreans starts to fight back in a way that endangers the rest of its citizens.
    China sees no reason for the North to carry out another nuclear test but they are ignoring the warnings. China simply does not want to be allied with a country that completely ignores their advice. China can no longer trust the Norths decisions. They fear that the country may soon turn against them as well.
      Diplomatic sources say that it is not a good idea to believe that anything will happen due to the past warnings that China has sent to North Korea. China has sent several warnings to the secret state f which none have been enforced or obeyed.
      only time will tell if China decides it has had enough and makes a move to truly end the craziness of the North.

Chinese leader,Xi Jinping, shakes hands with Kim Jung-Un

     
     
   

Korean's in Desperate Need of Food After Floods

    In August of 2012, mass amounts of rain poured down on the people of North Korea.  Not only did this rainfall sweep away their homes, but it also swept away all of their crops.  The floods left hundreds of thousands homeless, and killed up to 169 people.  "The United Nations declared the situation in North Korea an emergency Thursday after torrential rain soaked the country between July 18 and 29," said the CNN Wire Staff.  Not only did these floods take away thousands of people's homes, but also destroyed many wells and water pumping stations, leaving 50,000 families without clean water.  During the peak of the flooding, the highest number of deaths were recorded in Phyongan.  Throughout the flooding in North Korea, people of the United Nations tried their best to help the people get access to food and water, but had a hard time helping everyone.  When there are that many people in need, it is hard to support all the people with their struggles.  Even today in 2014, many families are still homeless and struggling to find access to water and food.
    It is very hard to place a reasonable opinion on the subject.  There are hundreds of thousands of people in North Korea alone with no homes, and that isn't even a percentile of the amount of homelessness and famine in the world.  It is important to help people, but who are you supposed to help when everyone in need.  Although the United States has a large amount of power, there are also other countries who have a large amount of power too.  In order to try to aid to all of the homelessness, dehydration, and famine around the world, we all need to join together and help those who are in need.  It is impossible for one country alone to take care of all of those who are hurting.  Although there is something like this already called the NRA, they didn't make that large of an impact on the floods in North Korea.  The NRA is something that could greatly benefit planet earth in the future, but it definitely needs more numbers and contribution in order to make a change.