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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I absolutely LOVED this book and I can’t wait for the Apple+ series!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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:
Complicated
Pachinko is divided into 3 sections: Book I is phenomenal, Book II is quite good, and then it doesn’t really hold together for Book III.
I think by the time we get to the grandchildren’s stories in Book III there are just too many characters and the story jumps too much to keep the emotional impact and focus.
The writing style, in an effort to withhold any judgement from each character in the narration, also ends up being fairly matter of fact and made it difficult for me to connect at parts.
I think by the time we get to the grandchildren’s stories in Book III there are just too many characters and the story jumps too much to keep the emotional impact and focus.
The writing style, in an effort to withhold any judgement from each character in the narration, also ends up being fairly matter of fact and made it difficult for me to connect at parts.
I grew attached to Sunja and her story with Hansu and Isak in Japan. Noa’s relationship with his mother, his girlfriend, and his biological father was so complex and his thoughts were written remarkably. The author does a fantastic job of portraying each characters hopes, struggles, strengths and shortcomings. Solomons section of the book was less interesting into his adult years.
This was also my first time understanding the perspective of being Korean in Japan during the 1900s and have greater insight into each culture. Great book overall.
I read this book for several reasons : I heard a lot about it, I read many Japanese novels in my life but none from the Korean point of view, my daughter is learning Korean so we have discussions about Korea and Japan, history, culture, and finally, I have a colleague and friend who bought it, read it and lent it to me graciously (thanks Karine !).
As I was reading this novel, I was heading for a 4 stars rating, quiet but efficient, yet as I was nearing the end it got more emotional and when I closed it, I needed to take some time and reflect back on it, then I raised it to 5 stars. Why ? Let's see the cons and pros.
The cons
4 generations of people : many people, not much time for in depth psychology. Gaps of decades between one part of the book and the next. People that you got used to tend to vanish (oh, he's dead, you read a few pages later, or he's emigrated and you never hear ab out him again - I would have liked to). Characters felt like representations of different types of people most of the time, different situations, not like real people themselves. Koh Hansu was described as bad, a Korean yakuza, yet he takes such care of Sumja and her family that he had to do *that* thing to really be suddenly seen as really dangerous.
The pros
The novel weaves a tapestry of history and characters quite well, after all. There are so many types that exist : different people in Korea, different generations of Koreans born in and out of Japan, those who speak only Korean and very little Japanese, the Koreans born in Japan who speak practically no Korean but feel Japanese, those who want to emigrate out of Japan to be able to live without the social pressure, poor Koreans on the brink of starving, rich Koreans looked down upon as if they were burakumins.
There were (are ? it's still the case for burakumins) Korean ghettos in Japan, no possibility of marrying Japanese respectable people, no possibility of having a good job, Japanese born Koreans having to register regularly because they can't have Japanese papers, they still have a Korean passport, are being looked down upon, thought the worst of : Koreans are lazy, drunks, murderers, just no good, whatever their level of education is, whatever they're trying to do to escape it, even leaving their family and pretending they're Japanese to be able to lead a normal life. It's like hell, decade after decade, even if they finally escape starvation. Yet when you can't change your life, what other choice do you have but to turn to crime to escape starvation ? And this persisting idea that women, whatever they do, will have to suffer throughout their whole life. This novel is important for this, it brings the Korean people recognition.
The social pressure also is on the Japanese side, we all heard about those who "evaporate", the children killing themselves under the pressure of studies and making a life for themselves at any cost, just like this girl in the story who ends up badly simply because her mother got a divorce.
Japanese society can be harsh, in spite of the beauty of its creations, literary, graphic, esthetic, it hates foreigners (like many islanders => Brexit ?), it's harsh on the foreigners, but also harsh on the Japanese themselves. Reading this novel made me think about this for many days, I know I will think of it still afterwards, it's a novel I know I simply won't forget. That's why I gave it 5 stars and why you should read it.
As I was reading this novel, I was heading for a 4 stars rating, quiet but efficient, yet as I was nearing the end it got more emotional and when I closed it, I needed to take some time and reflect back on it, then I raised it to 5 stars. Why ? Let's see the cons and pros.
The cons
4 generations of people : many people, not much time for in depth psychology. Gaps of decades between one part of the book and the next. People that you got used to tend to vanish (oh, he's dead, you read a few pages later, or he's emigrated and you never hear ab out him again - I would have liked to). Characters felt like representations of different types of people most of the time, different situations, not like real people themselves. Koh Hansu was described as bad, a Korean yakuza, yet he takes such care of Sumja and her family that he had to do *that* thing to really be suddenly seen as really dangerous.
The pros
The novel weaves a tapestry of history and characters quite well, after all. There are so many types that exist : different people in Korea, different generations of Koreans born in and out of Japan, those who speak only Korean and very little Japanese, the Koreans born in Japan who speak practically no Korean but feel Japanese, those who want to emigrate out of Japan to be able to live without the social pressure, poor Koreans on the brink of starving, rich Koreans looked down upon as if they were burakumins.
There were (are ? it's still the case for burakumins) Korean ghettos in Japan, no possibility of marrying Japanese respectable people, no possibility of having a good job, Japanese born Koreans having to register regularly because they can't have Japanese papers, they still have a Korean passport, are being looked down upon, thought the worst of : Koreans are lazy, drunks, murderers, just no good, whatever their level of education is, whatever they're trying to do to escape it, even leaving their family and pretending they're Japanese to be able to lead a normal life. It's like hell, decade after decade, even if they finally escape starvation. Yet when you can't change your life, what other choice do you have but to turn to crime to escape starvation ? And this persisting idea that women, whatever they do, will have to suffer throughout their whole life. This novel is important for this, it brings the Korean people recognition.
The social pressure also is on the Japanese side, we all heard about those who "evaporate", the children killing themselves under the pressure of studies and making a life for themselves at any cost, just like this girl in the story who ends up badly simply because her mother got a divorce.
Japanese society can be harsh, in spite of the beauty of its creations, literary, graphic, esthetic, it hates foreigners (like many islanders => Brexit ?), it's harsh on the foreigners, but also harsh on the Japanese themselves. Reading this novel made me think about this for many days, I know I will think of it still afterwards, it's a novel I know I simply won't forget. That's why I gave it 5 stars and why you should read it.
Really enjoyed the depth of the characters, i felt as if the first half of the novel was strongest and that it began to feel a bit “forest gump-y” with how it developed later but really wonderful. Made me feel a lot
emotional
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:
Complicated
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
emotional
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