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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
DNF at 20%
I wanted to love it, but the teenage girl/mid 30s-40s man relationship really creeped me out. I just can't read those age gap relationships and not feel really gross. The lack of adults stepping in, or even recognizing the dangers in this is big yikes. The girl is being manipulated.
I'm sure it's a great book, but it's really dark, emotional, and I'm just not in the right headspace/right audience for it.
I wanted to love it, but the teenage girl/mid 30s-40s man relationship really creeped me out. I just can't read those age gap relationships and not feel really gross. The lack of adults stepping in, or even recognizing the dangers in this is big yikes. The girl is being manipulated.
I'm sure it's a great book, but it's really dark, emotional, and I'm just not in the right headspace/right audience for it.
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Alright I know this is highly reviewed by most people but shame I am not most people. Pachinko is a historical epic about living in the region of Northeast Asia during a time period that spans almost a century, mainly across the Japanese occupation and WW2. As a historical retelling of how it was like to live as a Korean in those times this was incredibly interesting, but otherwise the disjointed prose and massive cast of characters meant it was hard to really connect to any of them.
What I did enjoy was the educational part of this book - learning about the dynamic of Korean-Japanese relations during those days, the gender and cultural limitations that have persisted till current day, as well as the horrors of war and its impact on a more grounded everyday-man level. These were fascinating insights and the author's note at the back clearly highlighted Lee's research and attention to detail. The prose was incredibly straightforward and detached, which fit well with the narrative but also lent itself to part of my problems with the book.
Multiple times in the book the detached narrative just ends chapters with people dying. These are mentioned incredibly matter-of-factly and then there's usually a random time skip to later in the other characters' lives. Sure, it fits the theme and helps in a multi-generational story, but it's still very jarring. This also feeds into it being hard to connect to the characters, because once you start feeling for a character and their troubles, we jump cut to a random death (sometimes of the character themselves) or a major family issue that shifts the narrative POV to another character with no indication if we will ever switch back to the previous one.
All in all, this was an impressive epic that teaches much about life during that period in history, while also weaving in generational family drama. I thought it was a fun interesting read about family and belonging but otherwise the prose was a little weird. Also way too much mention of Christianity at the start almost threw me off the book entirely.
What I did enjoy was the educational part of this book - learning about the dynamic of Korean-Japanese relations during those days, the gender and cultural limitations that have persisted till current day, as well as the horrors of war and its impact on a more grounded everyday-man level. These were fascinating insights and the author's note at the back clearly highlighted Lee's research and attention to detail. The prose was incredibly straightforward and detached, which fit well with the narrative but also lent itself to part of my problems with the book.
Multiple times in the book the detached narrative just ends chapters with people dying. These are mentioned incredibly matter-of-factly and then there's usually a random time skip to later in the other characters' lives. Sure, it fits the theme and helps in a multi-generational story, but it's still very jarring. This also feeds into it being hard to connect to the characters, because once you start feeling for a character and their troubles, we jump cut to a random death (sometimes of the character themselves) or a major family issue that shifts the narrative POV to another character with no indication if we will ever switch back to the previous one.
All in all, this was an impressive epic that teaches much about life during that period in history, while also weaving in generational family drama. I thought it was a fun interesting read about family and belonging but otherwise the prose was a little weird. Also way too much mention of Christianity at the start almost threw me off the book entirely.
The game Pachinko plays a very convenient, sympathetic background to this tragic saga. Pachinko is a game of chance, with twists and risk, and the story of the three generations of Korean/Japanese mimics the same fate - sometimes you win and sometimes you lose and sometimes when you win, you win big and sometimes when you lose, you can lose fast and hard. Pachinko is also a fast moving, fast paced game and the story is very much attuned to the same tempo.
I feel like I have had a real education on the history of the two countries - I had no idea about the Korean migration to Japan. It’s heartbreaking and it’s heartbreaking that it still continues today (Syria), I can’t even begin to fathom the heartbreak, loss and trauma the refugees of this world are going through. I finished the book and I cried. I put myself into the shoes of Sunja (one of the main characters of the book and also, its staring point) and I had an overwhelming sense of loss and grief.
It took the author, Min Jin Lee, nearly 30 years to publish this story. She had the idea in 1989 and it took years of research to perfect the story. A real labour of love, and I absolutely admire her for it. It’s a masterpiece! This is my first book review on Good Reads and felt compelled to write one for this book. Stunning novel!
I feel like I have had a real education on the history of the two countries - I had no idea about the Korean migration to Japan. It’s heartbreaking and it’s heartbreaking that it still continues today (Syria), I can’t even begin to fathom the heartbreak, loss and trauma the refugees of this world are going through. I finished the book and I cried. I put myself into the shoes of Sunja (one of the main characters of the book and also, its staring point) and I had an overwhelming sense of loss and grief.
It took the author, Min Jin Lee, nearly 30 years to publish this story. She had the idea in 1989 and it took years of research to perfect the story. A real labour of love, and I absolutely admire her for it. It’s a masterpiece! This is my first book review on Good Reads and felt compelled to write one for this book. Stunning novel!
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
At once elegant and earthy, this story held me captivated. This would pair perfectly with The Orphan Master’s Son (another of my favorites) for a rich and in-depth look at Korean identity.
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes