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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
Pachinko is a beautiful, multi-generational tale of a family living in Japan as Korean immigrants from 1910-1989. The story is full of the trials and tribulations of life, war, and love. I throughly enjoyed this book, but it did take me a long time to read because the pacing was very stagnant. At the beginning, I flew the pages. The middle, however, took me a very long time. Reflecting on the book, I believe the pacing was strategic, as it signified the pacing of life: stagnant until unpredictable. Overall, I loved this book!
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Great, relatively light, book to dvelve into a not-so-often told story about the japanese role in korean history
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, War
Minor: Miscarriage
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I was sucked in
I seem to really like stories of historical rural life, in a variety of cultures and time periods. Pachinko starts out this way, and I really liked reading about this small, Korean fishing village in the early 1900s. But of course, the story spins away from that world all too soon.
The book follows a family through three or four generations and touches on a lot of themes related to family, identity, racism/discrimination, immigrant life, etc. I really liked the writing, it was pretty well-paced and the flow was pleasant to follow.
I think the use of profanity jolted me out of the story sometimes. It was difficult for me to imagine the characters using the swear words, and at the same time it would make sense for them to do so since by the end of the book we're close to the 1990s. Just a personal preference I suppose.
The book follows a family through three or four generations and touches on a lot of themes related to family, identity, racism/discrimination, immigrant life, etc. I really liked the writing, it was pretty well-paced and the flow was pleasant to follow.
I think the use of profanity jolted me out of the story sometimes. It was difficult for me to imagine the characters using the swear words, and at the same time it would make sense for them to do so since by the end of the book we're close to the 1990s. Just a personal preference I suppose.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
If I’m being honest, I’d give this book a 3.5 rating. I really enjoyed the setting of this sweeping saga of a Korean family living in Japan. The tone of this story was sad, but had a hopeful ring to it. I loved that all the main players in this family drama were good. They were kind, honest, hard-working, and always tried to do the right thing. To see them keep their integrity throughout all their trials (and they had a lot) was inspiring. I loved all the characters, and though the story jumped through time quickly, I still knew the characters and cared about them. This is definitely a slow read and more of a snapshot of a place and time, not so much a plot twisting page-turner. I learned a lot about Japanese history and their attitude towards Korean immigrants which was very eye-opening. In all, an important read, but not a quick one.
I expected to love this the way I did The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, but it let me down. I understand that the point of the novel is how hard life was for Koreans in Japan throughout the war; the author definitely expressed that.
However, at times the story felt meandering and lost. I suppose I'm used to a story with a little more structure, as opposed to just the everyday life of several generations of a family. I wouldn't say there was any plot, persay: we just follow these people for a minute and see how their lives are. Kind of like: "Here's a man, he's a good man, let's see what he does in life, oops, he's dead, let's follow his wife. Now his daughter is old enough, let's follow her a little bit. Now let's peek in on that daughter's grown son a few years later. That son left the city, let's look at her other son." And so on.
I thought the perspective was very interesting, and learning about how difficult it was for Koreans in this time period was enlightening. I just wish that had been the backdrop for an interesting plot or an entertaining story.
For me, this wasn't worth the 500 pages (or the ridiculously long library wait time). If you like this kind of sociology book despite the lack of plot, then go for it.
However, at times the story felt meandering and lost. I suppose I'm used to a story with a little more structure, as opposed to just the everyday life of several generations of a family. I wouldn't say there was any plot, persay: we just follow these people for a minute and see how their lives are. Kind of like: "Here's a man, he's a good man, let's see what he does in life, oops, he's dead, let's follow his wife. Now his daughter is old enough, let's follow her a little bit. Now let's peek in on that daughter's grown son a few years later. That son left the city, let's look at her other son." And so on.
I thought the perspective was very interesting, and learning about how difficult it was for Koreans in this time period was enlightening. I just wish that had been the backdrop for an interesting plot or an entertaining story.
For me, this wasn't worth the 500 pages (or the ridiculously long library wait time). If you like this kind of sociology book despite the lack of plot, then go for it.