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A good story feels both surprising and inevitable, fresh and familiar.

Adam Johnson

Still, I’d thought I’d had a unique look at North Korea, only to discover I was wrong.
ADAM JOHNSON

Country Discover Look Still Unique Wrong
But, in North Korea, it’s just the opposite. There’s one story. It’s written by the Kim regime. And 23 million people are conscripted to be secondary characters.
ADAM JOHNSON

Character Conscripted Country Job Opposite Secondary Story Written
All the lessons you need to learn in life, he said, will be taught to you by your enemy.
ADAM JOHNSON

All Enemy Lesson Life Need Taught
“A name isn’t a person.” Ga said. “Don’t ever remember someone by their name.
ADAM JOHNSON

Alive Heart Name Person Remember Someone
And secretly, he’d be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change.
ADAM JOHNSON

Change Conflict Important Paino Practsing Secretly Story Wise
I know it really sounds cheesy, but I did feel a duty to try to tell the stories of people who couldn’t speak for themselves.
ADAM JOHNSON

Cheesy Duty Fel People Sound Speak Tell Themselves Try Trying
. . . nobody every taught you loyalty . . .
ADAM JOHNSON

Every Loyalty Nobody Taught
Orphans are the only ones who get to choose their fathers, and they love them twice as much.
ADAM JOHNSON

Choose Father Love Much One Orphan Twice
What’s less romantic than staring alone at a blank screen? And edgy? I’ve changed the cat little because I didn’t know what my characters were going to say next.
ADAM JOHNSON

Alone Character Edgy Less Little Next Romantic Staring
Imagine a world in which no writer has written a literary novel in sixty years.
ADAM JOHNSON

Book Character City Imagine Literary Novel World Written Year
The death of dictator Kim Jong-Il has cast all eyes on North Korea, a country without literature or freedom or truth.
ADAM JOHNSON

Cast Country Death Dictator Eye Freedom Literature Truth
The next day, she was silent. For breakfast, she murdered an onion and served it raw.
ADAM JOHNSON

Breakfast Day Murdered Next Onion Raw Served She Silent
There, as a youth, your aptitude towards certain jobs is measured, and the rest of your life is dictated, whether you’ll be a fisherman or a farmer or an opera singer.
ADAM JOHNSON

Dictated Farmer Job Measure Opera Rest Singer Youth
Where we are from… [s]tories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro.
ADAM JOHNSON

Declared Factual Farmer Maestro Man Music Piano State Stories Virtuoso Wise
But people do things to survive, and then after they survive, they can’t live with what they’ve done.
ADAM JOHNSON

After Done Live People Survive Thing
Once the dust clears you will be standing tall, a champion, a victor. NOTHING will be able to knock you down once you’ve taken the biggest hits this life has to offer, so come on life, BRING IT!
ADAM JOHNSON

Biggest Champion Clear Dust Hit Knock Nothing Offer Standing Victor

A good story feels both surprising and inevitable, fresh and familiar.

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A good story feels both surprising and inevitable, fresh and familiar.

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Popular Authors

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