Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

10 reviews

ppppaula's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I’m torn with this one - I enjoined the writing style and found the story fascinating. However, given this is a story written about North Korea written by a westerner, is it just our own western form of propaganda about what we think life is like in North Korea? The author did visit North Korea but I’m not sure how much of the ‘real’ Korea he would have experienced. Downgraded from. 4 or 5 star for this reason

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Kidnapping

palaris's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I read this book because it was Pulitzer prize winner, and I'm fascinated by North Korea. I've read a lot of non-fiction accounts of life in North Korea, but I'm surprised I'd never heard of this book before.
It was a great read. Really glad I stuck with it, because it's slow to start, but by the end, especially once you get to the second half, it picks up steam and the pieces start coming together.
It definitely felt like a drama book, I feel like some of the aspects of North Korean culture were dramatized for the book, based on my reading of non-fiction accounts, but I think that's fair.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Death

Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, Murder, and War

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Homophobia

bethw009's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Slavery, and Violence

wifeslife's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Police brutality, Torture, Classism, Blood, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Abortion, Death of parent, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Animal death, Confinement, Grief, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Animal cruelty

jonmayb's review against another edition

challenging sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a truly enjoyable read. The story was compelling and engaging, however it was tedious and dragged on at times, and it wasn't always clear what was going on. Additionally, my main qualm with this book is that Johnson based it off of a tour he took of North Korea. Kim Jong-Il is even a prominent character in the book. It can be nearly certain that Johnson's depiction of North Korea isn't entirely accurate, nor is his depiction of Kim Jong-Il. While for the most part, I enjoyed reading it, I found myself having to pretend I was reading a story about a man living in a fictional country with a fictional dictator to not feel slightly uncomfortable reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

dongchiot's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

nessazee's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Violence, Torture, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

alyssathorn's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

Moderate: Sexism, Trafficking, Sexual content, and Violence

tlaynejones's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Minor: Homophobia

cilie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

En bog der er svær at sætte ord på.

Bogen består af to dele. 

Første del er et realistisk protræt af Nordkorea i starten af det 21'ende århundrede. Her følger vi Jun Do, fra en barndom i et børnehjem under den store hungersnød i 90'erne, gennem forskellige opgaver i militæret. Gennem Jun Do's historie får vi et indblik i hvordan det er at leve i norkorea. Jeg bliver mindet om dystopier som '1984' og 'favre nye verden', men den er god nok. Alle nordkoreanere skal have (eller skulle indtil 2012, idag ved jeg ikke hvad reglerne er) have et billede af Kim Jong Il og Kim Il-Sumg i hvert rum og alle hjem arbejdspladser mm skulle have instaleret en højtaler der kun spillede den statelige radiokanal og ikke kunne slukkes. Disse to ting er gennemgående, men der er mange andre ufattelige detaljer i første del.

Anden del er mere fiktionel. Tilgengæld er den bedre sammensat ud fra et litterært synspunkt. Mange detaljer og episoder der virker meningsløse i del et bliver spundet sammen til at hele. I anden del bliver tidslinjen også brudt op, mens man følger kommisær Ga. Hans sidste dage inden sin anholdelse, hans forhør i en underjordisk bunker i Pyingyang, samt forhørslederens liv i de dage forhøret står på.

Anden del fangede mig mere, men første del vækker mere eftertanke, nu jeg er færdig. Især kan jeg ikke lade være at spekulerer over hvor meget Nordkorea mon har ændret sig siden Kin Jong Ils død i 2012?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, Murder, Medical content, and Confinement

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Suicide, and Sexual assault

in one scene a villain perform homosexual assult

Spoiler