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challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Epic. A beautiful inter-generational drama spanning a century of war and change. Exploring identify politics, racism, impact of war, women’s roles in society, motherhood, concepts of morality, religion, impact of education and so so much more.
Fascinating, moving.
Listened on Audible and devoured all 18 hours of the text in 3 days.
It reminded me in some ways of Wild Swans, not just because they are both Asian, but because they both reveal so much cultural history and are both intergenerational novels exploring times of huge change.
Fascinating, moving.
Listened on Audible and devoured all 18 hours of the text in 3 days.
It reminded me in some ways of Wild Swans, not just because they are both Asian, but because they both reveal so much cultural history and are both intergenerational novels exploring times of huge change.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Classism
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Feels like one of those books I'll be thinking about for a while.
It taught me a lot about the experiences and history of Korean Japanese people, and how they were treated and viewed as time went on, and the characters are diverse and explores lots of different aspects.
It taught me a lot about the experiences and history of Korean Japanese people, and how they were treated and viewed as time went on, and the characters are diverse and explores lots of different aspects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide, War
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Slavery
challenging
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, War
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"i talk to the dead although i don't believe in ghosts. but it makes me feel good to speak with them. maybe that is what god is. a good god wouldn't have let my babies die. i can't believe in that. my babies did nothing wrong."
so many thoughts about this book! i thought the writing style was lovely - it was almost factual in terms of its tone. describing things unbiasedly in order of events as though they were fact and i think it really worked well for the story MJL was setting out to tell and the time period it was based in.
it was really interesting learning about the japanese occupation in korea and how heavily they were involved in displacing a lot of families and then rejecting them, forcing japanisation of korean names... all things i didn't know about before reading this book. feel very grateful to understand a little bit more about the world.
something i am stealing from reddit is that this book feels epic and intimate to which i'd agree, i loved the scale and loved the characters you felt when you closed the book that they were people you were really going to miss.
now onto some things i disliked about pachinko. honestly, i am an atheist and find reading characters who are heavily religious a bit grating sometimes because i just don't understand how they feel at all haha. especially during the lives of our poor characters in pachinko because like the first quote i picked said: "a good god wouldn't let my babies die. i can't believe in that" and like there is nothing quite like delving into ww2 fiction or reading about events that happened at that time (or any time in human history, to be honest) for me to be like yep - this REALLY makes me a non believer because either god is a psychopath or actually hates his own creations.
anyway, goodreads is not the place to chat theology but that is something that detracted from the book for me.
another thing was HONESTLY pachinko was TOO bleak for me. most people read books for escapism (myself included) but sometimes i also read sad books to feel seen. for example i really like books about sad women in a rut because it makes me feel seen (eg, conversations with friends, sorrow and bliss, norwegian wood). but honestly yeah this was too sad, and i file it under a similar feeling to a little life. i wish the poor ladies had some respite from how cruel the world is and i feel that just wasn't really shown.
i think it's expressed that the years where sunja has both mozasu & noa and they're living contentedly in osaka with baek isak could be maybe what i was searching for? but later on in the book when one of the children is lost it feels like an unnecessary plot point to just elevate the suffering of sunja for no reason.
i don't mind reading suffering because everyone grieves and the human experience is learning to grow from what knocks us down but yeah, please give these hardworking korean ladies a break please, it was hard to keep reading sometimes.
as much as the above part seems negative, i really still enjoyed this book and i am excited to watch the apple tv adataption. i think it's always good to reflect on what i liked and didn't like about books otherwise they become hard to discern in my mind if i read a lot in a year.
in conclusion, the tenacity of women and their endurance is a fucking marvel. the female characters in this book were excellent. they were ruthless, complex and multi faceted in their fight against a society that places them into a box of duty and subservience. “a woman's lot is to suffer.” and suffer they did; for better or for worse.
"every morning mozasu and his men tinkered with the machines to fix the outcomes - there could only be a few winners and a lot of losers. and yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones. how could you get angry at the ones who wanted to be in the game? etsuko had failed in this important way - she had not taught her children to hope... pachinko was a foolish game, but life was not."
so many thoughts about this book! i thought the writing style was lovely - it was almost factual in terms of its tone. describing things unbiasedly in order of events as though they were fact and i think it really worked well for the story MJL was setting out to tell and the time period it was based in.
it was really interesting learning about the japanese occupation in korea and how heavily they were involved in displacing a lot of families and then rejecting them, forcing japanisation of korean names... all things i didn't know about before reading this book. feel very grateful to understand a little bit more about the world.
something i am stealing from reddit is that this book feels epic and intimate to which i'd agree, i loved the scale and loved the characters you felt when you closed the book that they were people you were really going to miss.
now onto some things i disliked about pachinko. honestly, i am an atheist and find reading characters who are heavily religious a bit grating sometimes because i just don't understand how they feel at all haha. especially during the lives of our poor characters in pachinko because like the first quote i picked said: "a good god wouldn't let my babies die. i can't believe in that" and like there is nothing quite like delving into ww2 fiction or reading about events that happened at that time (or any time in human history, to be honest) for me to be like yep - this REALLY makes me a non believer because either god is a psychopath or actually hates his own creations.
anyway, goodreads is not the place to chat theology but that is something that detracted from the book for me.
another thing was HONESTLY pachinko was TOO bleak for me. most people read books for escapism (myself included) but sometimes i also read sad books to feel seen. for example i really like books about sad women in a rut because it makes me feel seen (eg, conversations with friends, sorrow and bliss, norwegian wood). but honestly yeah this was too sad, and i file it under a similar feeling to a little life. i wish the poor ladies had some respite from how cruel the world is and i feel that just wasn't really shown.
i think it's expressed that the years where sunja has both mozasu & noa and they're living contentedly in osaka with baek isak could be maybe what i was searching for? but later on in the book when one of the children is lost it feels like an unnecessary plot point to just elevate the suffering of sunja for no reason.
i don't mind reading suffering because everyone grieves and the human experience is learning to grow from what knocks us down but yeah, please give these hardworking korean ladies a break please, it was hard to keep reading sometimes.
as much as the above part seems negative, i really still enjoyed this book and i am excited to watch the apple tv adataption. i think it's always good to reflect on what i liked and didn't like about books otherwise they become hard to discern in my mind if i read a lot in a year.
in conclusion, the tenacity of women and their endurance is a fucking marvel. the female characters in this book were excellent. they were ruthless, complex and multi faceted in their fight against a society that places them into a box of duty and subservience. “a woman's lot is to suffer.” and suffer they did; for better or for worse.
"every morning mozasu and his men tinkered with the machines to fix the outcomes - there could only be a few winners and a lot of losers. and yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones. how could you get angry at the ones who wanted to be in the game? etsuko had failed in this important way - she had not taught her children to hope... pachinko was a foolish game, but life was not."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Death of parent, War
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Abortion, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Xenophobia, Colonisation, War, Classism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Sexual harassment
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicide
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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: Death, Racism, Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, War
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Abortion
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Murder
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
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
This is going to be the book of my year. The book to end all books. Min Jin Lee did it, we don’t need to toil any longer. OK OK, let me be so for real for a second: the story follows a Korean family from the outset of the Japanese occupation of Korea in the early 1900s through the next three generations of this family’s life in Japan and later the US. As I inched closer and closer to the end of this 400+ page novel, I was in awe of how precious each of the characters felt to me. The book pulls you back to its orbit again and again. And Lee has this masterful way of moving in and out of many character’s heads, sometimes within a single page or even a single sentence! And it feels seamless. You’re deeply embodied in the thoughts, yearnings, failures, and pleasures of these characters. They become a part of you. This book was literally years and years in the making, and began as a research inquiry into the lives of Japanese-born Koreans whose ancestors had lived through the occupation and made lives in Japan both during and decades after the occupation was over. Lee explores state-sanctioned violence and discrimination against Koreans in Japan, and creates a world that’s both historically rich and deeply lived in. There are stories of love, queerness, spirituality, sacrifice, and the list could go on. The novel is ambitious in its vision and it doesn’t miss.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Suicide