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A review by perednia
Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
3.0
Adam Johnson won the Pulitzer with his novel, The Orphan Master's Son. It was an odd yet exuberant tale about a North Korean orphan who ended up in the highest circle of his country. At times, it was like a caper. Others, like a cautionary tale.
Johnson's latest collection of short stories, Fortune Smiles, won the National Book Award.
The first story in it is a keeper -- Nirvana is about a computer programmer who invents a program in which a recently assassinated (and unnamed) president talks to whoever calls up the program, and his paralyzed wife, who adores the music of Kurt Cobain. It was a fascinating story of resilience and compassion.
Next up is another story of resilience, or is it? Hurricanes Anonymous is about a UPS driver in post-storm New Orleans. He's got his ex-girlfriend's toddler in tow after she dumped the boy on him. And he's got deliveries. And he's got a new girlfriend who is convinced she's found a way for them to get out of town and set up a business. The ending was all too human.
For the entire collection, so far, great.
But then things take a turn for the definitely odd. Interesting Facts is from the POV of a woman who has had cancer and whose husband is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The bare facts are those of Johnson and his wife. But what is he doing? Trying to see how she copes with her illness by trying to see through her eyes? Possibly. Taking on meta-fiction by throwing the curveball of this concept to confront a reader’s preconceptions? Possibly. The premise certainly opens the possibility of a discussion of taking over other people’s stories, especially if it’s a taking over by a person with more inherent power in society than the original person with the story.
Next up is George Orwell is a Friend of Mine. The story is about an old retired East German prison warden who still lives in the neighborhood and who starts talking with the tour guides and young people touring the facility. It’s unsettling in its look at evil and how people live with themselves.
But then comes the penultimate story. I wasn’t sure I could handle it. Dark Meadow is from the POV of a child molester. I am not a social scientist so I don't need to try to understand. I can feel my anger at such a person growing just thinking that they are still allowed to live. But I crossed my fingers, held my breath and kept going. It was a good decision. This is a story not about monsters, but about staying human.
The final story, from which the collection takes its title, returns to Korea. The two main characters now live in South Korea, but escaped from the north. Adapting isn’t a walk in the park. They live on fast-food coupons from the government.
One, DJ, appears to remain naive, even after being involved in lottery and myriad other scams in North Korea. The innocence with which he views Seoul is a master class in portraiture. He’s not a go-getter but he does miss parts of North Korea. After all, it was home.
The other, Sun-ho, is the epitome of brash scam artist and street boss. Until the reader sees what’s behind some of the crazy schemes he’s got going on. And how far he’s willing to go to see if dreams can come true.
The idea of whose story is one that permeate this collection, from the husband in the opening work creating stories using an assassinated president to talk to him to a man writing as a woman with a family and cancer to defectors who crave parts of home, even if that home is a secretive society with a crazy man holding sway over them. Who can tell stories for other people?
Or, is it at least as viable to remember that, just like reading, writing is a way to explore other personas, to walk that proverbial mile in another’s shoes, to look at the world through another lens and consider another aspect of the human condition? With his ability to blend pathos and humor, with glimpses of grace among the despair, Adam Johnson creates that opportunity for readers.
Johnson's latest collection of short stories, Fortune Smiles, won the National Book Award.
The first story in it is a keeper -- Nirvana is about a computer programmer who invents a program in which a recently assassinated (and unnamed) president talks to whoever calls up the program, and his paralyzed wife, who adores the music of Kurt Cobain. It was a fascinating story of resilience and compassion.
Next up is another story of resilience, or is it? Hurricanes Anonymous is about a UPS driver in post-storm New Orleans. He's got his ex-girlfriend's toddler in tow after she dumped the boy on him. And he's got deliveries. And he's got a new girlfriend who is convinced she's found a way for them to get out of town and set up a business. The ending was all too human.
For the entire collection, so far, great.
But then things take a turn for the definitely odd. Interesting Facts is from the POV of a woman who has had cancer and whose husband is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The bare facts are those of Johnson and his wife. But what is he doing? Trying to see how she copes with her illness by trying to see through her eyes? Possibly. Taking on meta-fiction by throwing the curveball of this concept to confront a reader’s preconceptions? Possibly. The premise certainly opens the possibility of a discussion of taking over other people’s stories, especially if it’s a taking over by a person with more inherent power in society than the original person with the story.
Next up is George Orwell is a Friend of Mine. The story is about an old retired East German prison warden who still lives in the neighborhood and who starts talking with the tour guides and young people touring the facility. It’s unsettling in its look at evil and how people live with themselves.
But then comes the penultimate story. I wasn’t sure I could handle it. Dark Meadow is from the POV of a child molester. I am not a social scientist so I don't need to try to understand. I can feel my anger at such a person growing just thinking that they are still allowed to live. But I crossed my fingers, held my breath and kept going. It was a good decision. This is a story not about monsters, but about staying human.
The final story, from which the collection takes its title, returns to Korea. The two main characters now live in South Korea, but escaped from the north. Adapting isn’t a walk in the park. They live on fast-food coupons from the government.
One, DJ, appears to remain naive, even after being involved in lottery and myriad other scams in North Korea. The innocence with which he views Seoul is a master class in portraiture. He’s not a go-getter but he does miss parts of North Korea. After all, it was home.
The other, Sun-ho, is the epitome of brash scam artist and street boss. Until the reader sees what’s behind some of the crazy schemes he’s got going on. And how far he’s willing to go to see if dreams can come true.
The idea of whose story is one that permeate this collection, from the husband in the opening work creating stories using an assassinated president to talk to him to a man writing as a woman with a family and cancer to defectors who crave parts of home, even if that home is a secretive society with a crazy man holding sway over them. Who can tell stories for other people?
Or, is it at least as viable to remember that, just like reading, writing is a way to explore other personas, to walk that proverbial mile in another’s shoes, to look at the world through another lens and consider another aspect of the human condition? With his ability to blend pathos and humor, with glimpses of grace among the despair, Adam Johnson creates that opportunity for readers.