Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Pachinko

this was such a interesting book about the relationship between Korea & Japan. It was about a time of the history I never heard about before (or just some part). The colonization, the war, the poverty… very intriguing.

It’s also interesting to take a look at the women situation. Always the first victims of these kinds of period. « Women have to suffer »

I also like the end of the book, when we have the confrontation of old mind spirit against the one from usa which is more like ours today.

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madeline_schmidt20's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

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cyberhavok's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.5

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_cararichardson's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0

Wow. This book gutted me over and over again. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in to this, given what seemed like a familiar concept, family saga set during the 20th century, but Lee’s writing really helped set it apart. Her characters were great, all complicated in their own ways. The story explores nationalism, prejudice, love, loyalty, family, obligation and so much more. I personally didn’t know much about the Korean immigrant experience in Japan, and that was a major focus of the book. We got to see each characters relationships with these tough realities. I can go on and on but so much went down in this book that I can’t cover it all. Really really harrowing book and the authors obvious love for the characters and their stories really made this book a home run.

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kenzieburns's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

A truly touching story spanning 4 generations of love, loss, and everything in between. I'll start by saying: this book is definitely a slow build kinda read, but I was so entranced with the story and the characters that I hardly noticed the lack of action until reflecting on each part. I think the author did a good job of balancing storytelling/immersion in the characters with small tidbits of revelation of deeper meaning/symbolism behind somethings. There were times in the book where I wanted to throw one (or more!!) of the characters against the wall, or shake them and say "why are you being so stupid???" but I think that's a sign of really well-written characters. I also appreciated learning more about the Korean immigrants' experience and struggle in living in Japan during the 20th century. Noa's story is particularly heartbreaking, and I stared at the page where

he shot himself for a bit too long, thinking "wait, what? no! what? for real? no!!" and the way that it wasn't really talked about anymore after the fact?? Like, he really truly died. Heartbreaking.

The author also balanced transitions really well, as in switching from focus on one generation/characters to the next. I felt like I was growing with the characters, and by the time narrative focus shifted to the next generation, I was ready to move on to their perspective. I also have to take a moment to reflect on the title and how it played into the story:

"Pachinko" didn't really come up until midway through the book, and even then it was just a job for Mozasu at first. And, Mozasu was written to be a bit unlikable, in my opinion, until Noa rejected his heritage and you really only had Mozasu to support. The symbolism of Noa's suicide, even when he was the "good" child, but Mozasu's prosperity thanks to embracing his heritage as Korean is particularly striking. Also, Soloman's eventual rejection of Western life to instead run the pachinko business really speaks to the whole idea that you can't escape your heritage, and maybe you shouldn't try to. And that sometimes, the only choices life gives you are "bad" ones.

One thing I'm left thinking about is how the characters in this novel were constantly delt hard hands, from Sunja's struggles bearing a bastard child to a minister to <spolier> Solomon's termination because of "bad looks" , and it was so, so hard for them to get by, let alone get a leg up. Like, they had to make some of the "bad" decisions they did, because there was no way for them to survive otherwise. It really put some perspective on the immigrants struggle for me, in a light I hadn't really seen it before. Like, the playing field is never level, and everyone's choices need to be taken in context of the rest of their lives, because they truly might not have had any other options.

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jkull_10's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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dee_dreams's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

Pachinko started out with an interesting premise. I felt invested in this family drama. But about halfway in, I felt like I was tricked into reading a cheap, emotionally-manipulative soap opera.

Instead of whining about what I disliked, which is a lot, I wanted to be constructive and offer some lessons I took away instead.

When characters die or disappear, it should matter. The characters who knew the dead person should care on some level (even if it's shallow or self-serving.)

The more characters you kill off, the less empathy the reader will feel for random new characters that are introduced.

Misery is not the same as depth. Trauma is not the end of the story. Focus on the characters' humanity rather than their victimization.

Use writing for good. We already know that evils like misogyny, racism, ableism, and grooming exist. Don't simply portray them for trauma porn. Use your writing to challenge them and provide a different perspective. Nudge the reader towards empathy and a belief that change is possible. Nobody needs more despair.

Stop introducing random, dehumanized sex workers and then portraying graphic violence against them. It's been done to death.

If you've already described a character as "plain, unattractive, never lovely," you don't have to do it three more times. You especially don't have to make the sexist, male-gazey descriptions more disparaging as she ages.

Don't try to take on a huge amount of unrelated themes. Or, do - just decide to make it a collection of short stories, rather than a novel. And follow up on those themes.

Last but not least, think about whether or not a "family saga" spanning 4 generations really needs a chapter about a minor character, unrelated to any members of said family, discovering pansexual orgies in the forest during the Summer of Love. And if you decide, yes, it does, make it hot. Please.

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