Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Pachinko

“History has failed us, but no matter.”

“It’s a filthy world, Solomon. No one is clean. Living makes you dirty.”

Spanning 4 generations, 2 countries, multiple wars and almost 79 years, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is the story of a Korean family who moved to Japan during the forced annexation of Korea in 1910. Sunja, the beloved daughter from a poor but well-respected and hardworking family, reluctantly agrees to marry a kind but sickly minister (Isak) to protect her family name from the shame that comes with pre-marital pregnancy. After her wedding, Sunja moves to Japan to live with Isak’s brother and sister-in-law. Pachinko is the story of Sunja’s family and their search for a place they can call their own.

Being Historical Fiction, the attention to detail in Pachinko is astounding. Lee effortlessly weaves politics with personal life and it’s very fascinating to witness how political situations force these characters to take life-changing decisions. Lee also very subtly uses political developments and major historical events to steer the story forward and develop her characters. I particularly liked how issues like addiction, sexism, racism, homophobia, bullying, body image issues, shame and classism are woven into the experiences of these characters and not treated as token issues dealt with in passing. The language flows seamlessly, painting vivid pictures of the lives these characters live. The book is also very informative, especially when it comes to learning about the relationship between Korea and Japan and how Koreans were discriminated against by the Japanese in the early-mid 20th century.

As much as I loved these aspects of the book, they also made it really heavy to read after the first couple hundred pages. It was also difficult for me to connect deeply with these characters because of the length of the chapters, changing perspectives and the time gaps. I particularly did not like the time gaps because they gave the story a very incomplete feel. The narration was meant to be objective, so as to give the reader a chance to form their own opinions, which I really appreciate in books. But in this case, it felt flat almost to the point of unattached and unfeeling, so much so that at points it felt like the characters themselves did not feel passionately about what was happening in their lives. There are also a LOT of characters and as the story jumps through time, some are discarded while others are added and it becomes really difficult to keep track of who’s who.

All in all, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one but there is much to learn from each character and their individual situation. The resilience and grit showed by Sunja, the shame felt by Noa because of his blood, the discrimination faced by Solomon because of his identity, the loyalty and silent strength of Kyunghee and the countless sacrifices made by parents so that their children have lives better than they did.

It was definitely a good start to the #ReadingAsiaPacific readathon on Instagram. I read Pachinko for the Week 1 (prompt: North Asia).

Content Warnings

lindsloveslit's review against another edition

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dark informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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

5.0

This is the first book I've read IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, that has gotten me interested and excited about history. Reading a book written from a Korean woman's perspective (instead of the white man perspective i grew up with in every classroom, ever) was everything I didn't know I needed. I learned so much about Korea's past and spent a lot of time reflecting on my own faith, family, & identity.

Content Warnings

yavin_iv's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

lorithereadingfairy's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

TW: Japanese Colonialism (xenophobia, anti-Korean sentiment), imperialism, rape, suicide (mentioned), physical and emotional abuse, racism, sex, misogyny, starvation, age gap relationship, death, internalized homophobia, sex work, dubious consent, war (Korea & WW2)

Rep: Korean MC, Japanese-Korean MCs, Japanese side characters

“Living everyday in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage”

You know those books that are sitting on your TBR and you forgot you added it to your TBR when you went and picked up the book? Yeah that really happened to me as it was November 2020’s SABC BOTM pick-and I realized it was on my TBR the moment I placed a hold on it. I’m defiantly really glad this book exists because it made me feel seen in so many ways.

Pachinko follows a young Korean woman named Sunja who gets groomed by a creep Hansu. She ends up pregnant and moves to Japan with her newly wed husband, Issak who is ill. Pachinko follows the four generations starting from Sunja and ending with her grandchildren.

There are three books combined in this almost 500 page book-but book 1 and book 2 is the best in my opinion. book 3 was just a mess all around with an ending that left me very dissatisfied and wondering what the point in book three was. It was messy even though it was in the modern times, and not in the early 1900’s.

Book 3 was set in the modern times with Sunja being older so she doesn’t have that connection to the story anymore. The new generation took the lead with Solomon, Hanna and other characters who have an impact in the world. I had less connection with these characters, and there was a lot of time jumps that prevented me from liking any of these characters and knowing them.

There were several parts of the story where I felt like this was my family. My totally dysfunctional family because no one talks about some parts that happens. These parts made me shed a few tears as it was so familiar to my situation. This was the first time I have seen a dysfunctional family with Sunja having a child from being raped by the creep which is exactly what happened to mine. And a scene at the end of book 2 was so familiar because I grew up, not knowing my family’s history because none of my ancestors wanted to talk about where we came from and finding out my father is a creep and a stalker.

This book takes from history and offer us a new and true perspective from a fictional family. The discrimination that Koreans faced while in Japan from not being ‘true-citizens’ of the country even though they probably have lived there for generations, and the hardships that Koreans face. Many Koreans ware also unable to go back from to what we know as North Korea.

It was so thought provoking as this touched from real events with a fictional world and it was so important. It wasn’t from what we are told with a focus on western history and a white history at that-but something that has happened to thousands of people living in Japan face.

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