A review by brettpet
Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
3.0
The Orphan Master's Son is one of the best books I've read all year. After learning that Adam Johnson has a woefully small bibliography, I decided to give one of his few available books Fortune Smiles a try. Despite being a short story collection rather than a watertight novel, I found it to be an introspective yet challenging read. The subject matter throughout Smiles is bleak and displays the worst in characters far more often than the best. I figured the easiest way to get through this review is just to discuss each story on its own, from my favorite to least favorite.
"Fortune Smiles" is the titular story and also my favorite one here. Yes, it is extremely similar to Son, but I think its separate discussion on North Korean defectors trying to find meaning in South Korea touches on worthwhile topics even if you've read Johnson's masterpiece. The main characters, DJ and Sun-ho, feel the most organic out of any other character in this collection--coming from extremely different backgrounds in NK but finding themselves sticking together (no matter how toxic Sun-ho is) in the relative chaos of Seoul. The exchange between Sun-ho and the other defector who is sending paraphernalia balloons across the border is brilliant, and the ending is amazingly cartoonish and surreal.
"George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine" was a lot of people's favorite story and I liked it quite a bit as well. It feels very Kurt Vonnegut: a retired Stasi prison higher-up lives a block from his old prison for decades, reflecting on his time there after the disappearance of his wife and quickly falling into pitfalls with historical experts and other former prisoners. Overall a beautiful story discussing the idea of "history is written by the victors" and the way one's actions can inadvertently haunt them.
"Interesting Facts" is a powerful story dealing directly with the issues in Johnson's marriage after his wife's breast cancer diagnosis. It paints the author as a hypocrite and ethically ambiguous person, which I'm sure is a very difficult way to write about one's self. This story feels very 50/50 split between fact and fiction, and it was one of the most interesting ones for me in that regard.
As much as I disliked the subject matter in "Dark Meadow", its extremely impressive that Johnson was able to write about a topic that most writers would never want to touch. I'm sure this was the most challenging story to get right here, but presumably one I would skip if I was rereading the collection.
"Hurricanes Anonymous" had a great setting and intriguing mystery concerning Nonc's father and the fate of Marine, but the ending fell flat for me. Nonc and Relle's relationship felt too briefly established and I think there wasn't enough discussion on the role the service industry plays in the time of crisis (relatable nowadays with COVID or the Texas power issues this year). You could center a discussion around Nonc being kept afloat by his job, which provides employment during a devastation period and a literal home for Geronimo, but I think the ending could have been more conclusive.
"Nirvana" gets the short end of the stick by being one of the shortest stories and the first, which is unfortunate because it doesn't really set the tone of the collection (aside from "bleak"). Its the most Black Mirror story here, dealing with advanced technology in a time of tragedy, but I didn't like the main character at all. His relationship with his wife is purposefully frustrating and neglectful, and I just felt like this needed to be longer to salvage the ideas here.
I'm glad I checked out Fortune Smiles but I don't see myself rereading it, opting instead for a collection like Land of Big Numbers or just diving into The Orphan Master's Son again. Hoping we get another full-length work from him sooner rather later!
"Fortune Smiles" is the titular story and also my favorite one here. Yes, it is extremely similar to Son, but I think its separate discussion on North Korean defectors trying to find meaning in South Korea touches on worthwhile topics even if you've read Johnson's masterpiece. The main characters, DJ and Sun-ho, feel the most organic out of any other character in this collection--coming from extremely different backgrounds in NK but finding themselves sticking together (no matter how toxic Sun-ho is) in the relative chaos of Seoul. The exchange between Sun-ho and the other defector who is sending paraphernalia balloons across the border is brilliant, and the ending is amazingly cartoonish and surreal.
"George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine" was a lot of people's favorite story and I liked it quite a bit as well. It feels very Kurt Vonnegut: a retired Stasi prison higher-up lives a block from his old prison for decades, reflecting on his time there after the disappearance of his wife and quickly falling into pitfalls with historical experts and other former prisoners. Overall a beautiful story discussing the idea of "history is written by the victors" and the way one's actions can inadvertently haunt them.
"Interesting Facts" is a powerful story dealing directly with the issues in Johnson's marriage after his wife's breast cancer diagnosis. It paints the author as a hypocrite and ethically ambiguous person, which I'm sure is a very difficult way to write about one's self. This story feels very 50/50 split between fact and fiction, and it was one of the most interesting ones for me in that regard.
As much as I disliked the subject matter in "Dark Meadow", its extremely impressive that Johnson was able to write about a topic that most writers would never want to touch. I'm sure this was the most challenging story to get right here, but presumably one I would skip if I was rereading the collection.
"Hurricanes Anonymous" had a great setting and intriguing mystery concerning Nonc's father and the fate of Marine, but the ending fell flat for me. Nonc and Relle's relationship felt too briefly established and I think there wasn't enough discussion on the role the service industry plays in the time of crisis (relatable nowadays with COVID or the Texas power issues this year). You could center a discussion around Nonc being kept afloat by his job, which provides employment during a devastation period and a literal home for Geronimo, but I think the ending could have been more conclusive.
"Nirvana" gets the short end of the stick by being one of the shortest stories and the first, which is unfortunate because it doesn't really set the tone of the collection (aside from "bleak"). Its the most Black Mirror story here, dealing with advanced technology in a time of tragedy, but I didn't like the main character at all. His relationship with his wife is purposefully frustrating and neglectful, and I just felt like this needed to be longer to salvage the ideas here.
I'm glad I checked out Fortune Smiles but I don't see myself rereading it, opting instead for a collection like Land of Big Numbers or just diving into The Orphan Master's Son again. Hoping we get another full-length work from him sooner rather later!