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A review by jasmiinezhu
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
5.0
Absolutely devoured this book. Beautifully woven stories across four generations of Korean and Japanese families. Brilliant character development, and ways that it showed how one character shaped other characters personalities, values, behaviors. Hard to pick favorites since each character was so diff, but I’d probably say Mozasu, Kyunghee, and Sunja for their resilience and values.
I really appreciated how the author highlighted the class hierarchy and gendered roles/double standards in society. It revealed how Koreans were treated under Japanese ruling, outcasted and blocked from economic mobility, and how Koreans often felt like they didn’t belong in Korea or Japan due to lack of citizenship & lack of ancestors/history in either country. I loved how it described the resilience of aunties,finding creative ways to make money and support the family, when gendered expectations prevented them from formal jobs.
This boo time jumps a lot, and I definitely felt more attached to the first two generations. The third generation skipped years faster and focused more on relationship drama rather than historical societal drama so I lost interest near the end.
I really appreciated how the author highlighted the class hierarchy and gendered roles/double standards in society. It revealed how Koreans were treated under Japanese ruling, outcasted and blocked from economic mobility, and how Koreans often felt like they didn’t belong in Korea or Japan due to lack of citizenship & lack of ancestors/history in either country. I loved how it described the resilience of aunties,finding creative ways to make money and support the family, when gendered expectations prevented them from formal jobs.
This boo time jumps a lot, and I definitely felt more attached to the first two generations. The third generation skipped years faster and focused more on relationship drama rather than historical societal drama so I lost interest near the end.