Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

95 reviews

nila's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

An incredible journey through most of the 20th century following one family and their journey trying to survive all aspects of war and its aftermath. The story had twist and turns, and there were many times I had to put the book down because I was so surprised by what I had just read 

from the reading journal: There's an abundance of the "innocent young good man/boy being corrupted by the sexual whore who only wants their money material things. Yes the" bad men"-characters are also present, but I feel they are more fleshed out and for some reason, their "flaws" are justified and explained away.

One the other end, the "good" woman is also never good enough. She's too boring or even, not "good enough".Every single woman is described and more or less ranked by their sexual availability and desirability. And almost all the women who are described as promiscuous are punished, either with not being allowed to marry again for love, or being beaten half to death in a car or actually dying. While the men who illicit the same kind of behavior get to grow old, and be surrounded by wealth and loved ones. I understand that this is/was the reality of the society that is described in the book, but then what should one think is the "message" behind the story? Or am I overthinking this? I want to read more Asian literature, but find that the sexualisation of women is a deterring factor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcohol, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, and Child death

Minor: Abortion, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

marisacarpico's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

4.25

An incredible achievement. I cannot imagine doing the research involved in pulling this off. I read a lot last year, but I guess I didn't realize how starved I was for something meatier after a lot of admittedly fun but fast reads. This took time and I liked spending time with these characters and learning about this world.

There's obviously a specificity to the immigrant experience here, but it also feels like it represents so many stories. All of these characters felt so real and everything they experience feels so momentous even though they're just regular people living normal lives. Quite a choice on Lee's part to have these huge historical moments happening around these characters but to never really focus on them. WWII is mostly just texture here, it's just one of the many elements that add to the characters' overall experience. It's a novel of accumulated experience that also reflects the immigrant experience throughout the 20th century.

I will admit the way the narrative accelerates in the last 100 pages or so maybe dampens the novel's initial power, but most of the book is so compelling. I probably have a lot more to say, but I don't know, I think the book speaks for itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Pedophilia, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Dementia, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Torture

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

“History as failed us, but no matter.”
Pachinko was one of the best books I read this month, and I think everyone should read it once in their life. Although parts are slow, Jin Lee crafted a thought provoking historical piece revolving around family and identity. 
Pachinko follows four generations of a Korean family, beginning in the 1930’s and spanning up until the 1980’s. In a time when Japan occupies Korea, and after the effects of occupation linger, the family experiences discrimination, eventually questions the idea of home. In the end, I believe that home may be a place, but it’s overall, with those you love.
The character depth of these characters was done phenomenally well, each offering a unique perspective on being a Korean Japanese citizen. The line between nationality and ethnicity sparked an interesting conversation, once which has parallels to todays day and age.
Please read it if you have not done so already, you will not regret it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Abandonment, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, War, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Cancer, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Alcoholism, Stalking, Infidelity, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse

niamhreadgood's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicide, Sexual assault, Grief, Colonisation, Abortion, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Infidelity, and War

thetheatricallinguist's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Colonisation, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual content

There is also slut shaming present throughout the book

ntvenessa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

A gem. This is a tale about poverty, suffering, colonialism, identity, salvation, endurance, family. Min Jin Lee's background as a historian shines through and Pachinko is exemplary of great historical fiction. It is factually consistent and you will learn much of Japan's colonisation of Korea, a topic not so in regular discourse. It is also emotional, generous, and sensitive to these historical facts. The characters are distinct and each have personalities which make sense for their context. It is intergenerational. The story is just so well crafted. This makes sense given how much time and dedication Lee spent workshopping drafts. I am normally averse to thick novels, but Pachinko has me unafraid -- it is exactly as long as the story needs to be, and moreover, it is easy to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Suicide, and Car accident

Minor: Child death and Homophobia

thebookishbedouin's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, Violence, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Classism, Chronic illness, and Bullying

Moderate: War, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Cancer

Minor: Abortion, Torture, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Alcoholism

nataliebootlah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

pa•chin•ko /pəˈCHiNGkō/ (noun):

1. a Japanese form of pinball.

The Pachinko saga follows four generations of a Korean family, their move to Japan, the discrimination they face, and the hardships they work to overcome. 

After getting pregnant with a married man, Sunja does what she thinks is best for the child and agrees to marry a kind minister staying at her mother’s boarding house. The marriage provides her child with a father, giving it a chance at a future, and she moves to Osaka, Japan. As the story unfolds, we learn what it’s like to be Korean in Japan. The family faces the challenges of finding stability, dealing with a powerful father seeking out his child, and the relationships that build throughout the generations. 

This book did an incredible job of portraying the mid-20th century history and dynamic between the Koreans and Japanese; I learned an incredible amount from it. It was full of rich history and a plethora of characters. That being said, I had a hard time connecting with many of the characters and didn’t love the frequent, and sometimes abrupt, context switching.

Overall, Pachinko is a very well written book that just wasn’t my cup of tea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death

Minor: Suicide and Infidelity

mxpringle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Grief, Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: War

jopriestley's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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

5.0

This book! I adored it. It was so interesting, as I know very little about this section of history and I felt like I was learning a lot whilst following this family. The characters felt so real, and the book did an amazing job in showing how their lives changed over the 60 year period from the 1930s to 1980s.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, and War