Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
challenging
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-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
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Pachinko is a story that will escort you from 1910 to 1989, beginning in Japanese occupied Korean and ending in Tokyo. A saga told through a multigenerational perspective, author Min Jin Lee paints one family’s legacy of love, struggle, and perseverance on a backdrop of imperialism, war, famine, and reconstruction.
I am Japanese American with little knowledge about the experiences in Korea during this time period beyond the broad brushstrokes I’ve gleaned through my own research. It was with the intention to learn more about the human stories from Japanese occupied Korea and its aftermath that I picked up Pachinko. I could not have imagined a better novel to for this purpose. The multigenerational framework was an illuminating means to convey the deep and perpetual impacts of the racial discrimination that Koreans faced under Japanese imperialism and through its racist legacy. I adore historical fiction because it can be a poignant tool to build understanding and empathy, which Min Jin Lee absolutely achieved.
What I loved: The depth of character astounded me. The beauty and flaws of each family member were so vivid that I believe Min Jin Lee loved each of them as members of her own family.
What I liked: Some chapters were events occurring side by side; some chapters had decade plus gaps in between. I never felt lost nor did I feel significant portions of the family’s tale were overlooked. Also, Min Jin Lee was skilled in her use and placement of Korean and Japanese for inferable translations.
What I would’ve liked to see: I feel a family tree would provide a beautiful visual to the story, adding context to reference of the main as well as secondary and peripheral family members.
I am Japanese American with little knowledge about the experiences in Korea during this time period beyond the broad brushstrokes I’ve gleaned through my own research. It was with the intention to learn more about the human stories from Japanese occupied Korea and its aftermath that I picked up Pachinko. I could not have imagined a better novel to for this purpose. The multigenerational framework was an illuminating means to convey the deep and perpetual impacts of the racial discrimination that Koreans faced under Japanese imperialism and through its racist legacy. I adore historical fiction because it can be a poignant tool to build understanding and empathy, which Min Jin Lee absolutely achieved.
What I loved: The depth of character astounded me. The beauty and flaws of each family member were so vivid that I believe Min Jin Lee loved each of them as members of her own family.
What I liked: Some chapters were events occurring side by side; some chapters had decade plus gaps in between. I never felt lost nor did I feel significant portions of the family’s tale were overlooked. Also, Min Jin Lee was skilled in her use and placement of Korean and Japanese for inferable translations.
What I would’ve liked to see: I feel a family tree would provide a beautiful visual to the story, adding context to reference of the main as well as secondary and peripheral family members.
Very well written. I learned a lot about Korean/Japanese history but it was still a very character centered story. It kept me interested the whole time despite the length and number of years it covered.
emotional
informative
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
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!