Welcome to Litsy!

This is a brilliant, Pulitzer prize winning novel about North Korea based on Johnson's research of defectors' accounts and his own visit to the country. It's difficult to read, but well worth it to have a better understanding of how people survive under a ruthless, totalitarian, evil regime that echoes Orwell's 1984. It explores the psychology of a man who does every awful deed he is told to but somehow clings to his humanity.

This definition of the blues is not entirely wrong. 🤣

I put off starting this book because I knew that a Pulitzer prize winning book about North Korea would be awful. And it is deeply disturbing, but the psychology of how people survive in that nightmare society is fascinating. So well written. Here is one of my favorite passages so far--an American is asking a North Korean if he feels free. The Americans have been asking questions that illustrate their utter lack of understanding, like👇

Having JUST finished the tagged book, I'm going into the weekend with a major book hangover, so for relief I will be starting the next volume of Berserk as I need to return it to the library. After that, who knows? I might read Vasko Popa's Poems, which I received in my NYRB package. I am also planning on swinging by B&N & picking up Chain Gang All Stars & Henry Hoke's Open Throat (cont)

Brilliant book, but quite possibly the most disturbing I've read this year. I had to literally set it aside while eating lunch this afternoon because of the scene that I was reading.

Started earlier this evening. Engrossing & chilling. Looking forward to finishing work tomorrow so I can return to it.

I read this book for a friends book club that I am a part of and despite its bleak description of North Korea, I found the book to be quite amazing. #lettero #alphabetgame

This was the intriguing story of Jun Do, aka Commander Ga, the son of the orphan master and the husband of opera singer Sun Moon. Oh, and a close ally of The Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il too.
It‘s a good story with lots of twists. Yet I do prefer non fiction in a book about a country as isolated and unknown as #NorthKorea.

#ReadingAsia2021 🇰🇵

For UK littens researching #readingasia2021 this book for #northkorea is on sale during November. #Kindledeal #ukkindledeal @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Though this has been languishing in my TBR for quite a while, I am thankful that this month‘s #ReadAroundTheWorld challenge prompted me to pick it up since it‘s set in #NorthKorea. Absolutely riveting, this book chronicles the phases of the titular character‘s life and all that it reveals about his homeland. Tragic but deeply fascinating, this one feels authentic and genuine. I can see why this was an award winner! #AudioColoring

Oooooffff. This book is bleak. Seriously. But it is so good. I‘m not sure I‘d have gotten through it as a traditional read, but as an audiobook the split-focus helped suppress immersion into the grim world of despotic North Korea. Tim Kang‘s performance is wonderful, as well. Excellent book to gain a perspective of life in North Korea. No wonder it won the Pulitzer.

Kinda funny way to describe The Blues 😂🤣

4.5.
Interesting book. But have hard time distinguishing what is real and what is invented probably because we know too little about the North Korea.

I am so freaked out by the COVID-19 pandemic that even reading a novel about North Korea seems like light reading now! At least it‘s fiction. 😕

Ambitious? Yes. Unlikely? Possibly. But I have TWO WEEKS OFF and time with my cat where I feel safe and loved. So there it is. My #staycation #TBR pile. #stayhome #bookworm #introvert ❤️📚🙏🏻

A gripping tale of violence, treachery, fear and perseverance in N Korea that follows the life of an orphan who is conscripted for military service and more. An incredible book I likely wouldn‘t have read based on mainstream reviews and plot summaries but for the Great American Read nudging me out of my comfort zone and literary prejudices.

Starting to get my books together for a 2-week holiday in Holland. What do you think? Is this plus the new Sarah J. Maas going to be enough for 14 days? 🙈

There are still families in Japan who have no idea of the fate of their son/ daughter who have been kidnapped by North Korean agents. The mystery and cruelty of life in a country under despotic rule and the effects on an indoctrinated perfect citizen who awakens to protect doomed fragile love bowled me over.

This book took a little bit to get into but definitely accelerated in the second half of the novel. As it‘s set in North Korea and the author conducted many interviews of defectors, I had to wonder, “How realistic is this work of fiction?” Disturbing in many places, humorous at times, it was a interesting way to expose a variety of lives in North Korea.

#7days7covers - Day 4

This one took me a while to read and was somewhat confusing with the mixed-up chronology but I really liked how everything came together in the end. It‘s impressive how the author was able to make me start questioning whose “stories” were true, which is what the characters were also dealing with themselves. It‘s a terrifying look at life in North Korea and makes you think about propaganda, media and truth.

Just started this one tonight and cannot put it down! A good 2nd and Charles find from today!

Thanks for posting this @thegirlwiththelibrarybag since I would have never seen it otherwise. I‘m surprised I‘ve actually read 10 of these. Most I‘ve never heard of so I guess I could always add those to my ever-expanding TBR. 🤷🏻‍♀️ The tagged book is one I LOVED SO MUCH and can‘t get anyone else I know to read including my own family 😆 https://www.listchallenges.com/pulitzer-prize-novels/list/3

This is the one thing that I find disappointing about Litsy is the limited space for comments. There is so much to be said about this book. Bleak! A look into North Korean Society thru the eyes of a common North Korean turned national hero. If George Orwell predicted anything in “1984” it was North Korea. I have a much lengthier review on Good Reads.

WOW.. what a fantastic book! Johnson‘s characters convey tremendous ranges of emotion. His “hero‘s journey” takes us through a fully fleshed out North Korea, giving us a profound understanding of the toll of totalitarianism, and the human will to exist. The book is part thriller, part mystery, a page turner and a book worth discussing. What else do you need? 5/5 Loved it!

I read many reviews of this book as I started it and they were very polarized. My opinion, I loved it but it took a long time getting there. 443 pages may not seem long but there was a lot packed into those pages, a lot to handle and halfway in I wasn't even sure I'd finish. But a few chapters into part two I could barely put it down. I could write an essay on this book but I'm running out of characters. The Pulitzer was well deserved.

Any time is reading time. Especially getting to work 20 minutes early and hiding outside with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, stealing 15 minutes of peace and quiet.

Since my kids are leaving for vacation without me tomorrow I'll have plenty of time for a more serious book next. But do I actually start this undertaking tonight or wait for daylight. Decisions, decisions.
Sleep is for the week, starting it now.

Weekend goals! Author Adam Johnson is appearing at the 2018 Honolulu Book & Music Festival on Sunday. I'm listening to the audiobook in the car and reading a few pages of the library book at night. Both "reading" methods are great for this title, it's hard to recommend one over the other.

This has been on my list for ages! #nextup

Kindle deal 🎉 I loved this one. Set in North Korea (although by an American author, not a Korean one). Get it while it‘s cheap.

Everyone seems to rave about this one, but I confess I found it a bit of a slog. Perhaps it's that the satire on a totalitarian state seemed slightly pointless, or the fact that none of the characters really came to life. Bits of it were quite amusing but I was glad to reach the end.

Excited for my book club tonight to discuss The Orphan Masters Son ,should be a good one!🤓📖

I am listening to this book on audio on the #libbyapp.Such a story of survival in your own country,an everyday challenge. To have no identity of your own or your families, it‘s just appalling to me.But wow,I am listening and the writing is so beautiful,that under all the terrible things you feel something,you see beauty that isn‘t really there,you have to get drawn into the magical realism in order to continue with this resilient man.

Holy loudspeakers! This was intense. The remarkable biography of Jun Do, a young North Korean orphan, and the confessions of the powerful Commander Ga. Dramatic tales from the Workers Paradise that we know so little about...

Based on an amalgamation of North Korean refugees interviewed by the author, protagonist Pak Jun Do leads the reader through an odyssey of diverse and harrowing life experiences. While the book can at times be difficult to due to an ambitious plot and dark subject matter, I thought it was a very interesting (albeit heartbreaking) look into a hidden world. #theorphanmastersson #NorthKorea #PulitzerPrize #epic #thriller

“Finally, a solitary figure stood at the end of the pier. When they saw the red of a cigarette, they knew it was a man.”

New purchase. So excited to dive in! 😁

Day 4 of #Jingleshelves is #Onyourshelfallyear
All of these books have been on my shelf all year. I want to read them all, but I have so many others to read as well.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @bookloo

I really hated this book and found it completely boring, but after slogging through 200+ pages, I felt like I had to see it through. Honestly, half the time I had no idea what was going on. Maybe that was part of the point? I know this is a good book but it really wasn't for me. I'm so glad it's over.

What a mesmerizing book! I am surprised I liked this as much as I did considering the subject matter, but the writing is so good, the chilling yet somehow very human world of North Korea so masterfully created, it gave me lots to think about. Love, family, relationships, self determination, free will, sacrifice: the many things that make life livable versus just bearable. This book just begs to be discussed.

I hate this so much but I'm 260 pages in and feel like I need to see it through I'm a glutton for punishment 😩

First I was bored, then I was confused, then I found myself really enjoying it. It is not easy to get into and it is very traumatic at times. Read it for a glimpse at life in North Korea, including the absurdity, and to reflect on the meaning of freedom. The story itself doesn't pick up for quite a while and is hard to take literally.

So technically I haven't bailed yet but wanted your thoughts!! I started this audio Friday on a road trip and so far it is nothing but snooze fest for me. I can't get into it at all!! I feel like maybe I should come back or slog through, but I also feel like it's not worth my time. I'm about 1/3 of the way through. I just don't care about the characters at all!! And half the time im just confused... 😩😤😱

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The first book finished in October! I'm deeply uncomfortable with the phrase #lookwhatyoumademedo because that's a common refrain of domestic abusers--but a comparison to the intense control North Korea has over its people would not be misplaced, I think. I much preferred the 1st 1/2 of the book to the 2nd, but it was a fascinating and gripping story. Trigger warning for some torture scenes though. #uncannyoctober

I have ~ 3.5 hours left of this book and ~ 3.5 hours left in September (I'm on the west coast of the US), but I have to finish because this would be book #20 of the month!

Within this bleak book there are these great little sparkling nuggets of humor, and you need them so badly.

This book. THIS BOOK