A review by onceandfuturereads
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

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

3.0

This book dealt with a lot of racism/xenophobia issues and I learned a lot about Koreans in Japan in the 20th century. The historical perspective was a good one, and I'm glad I chose to read this well-loved story for the SG Genre Challenge prompt "Historical fiction that takes place somewhere other than the US or UK." That said, Pachinko didn't touch me like some other multi-generational sagas have, and I'm not sure exactly why. I was always interested enough in the characters' own struggles to keep reading, but there were some...choices about what to include and what to ignore that confused me. 

The family's story is rife with poignant moments and hard lessons, but there were some loose ends that I was hoping would be addressed. Namely,
I wanted more about Noa and his children. I understand why Sunja didn't want to go to the funeral and introduce herself but the readers could have been let in a little.


I also HATED Hansu. Which is good. It's good to have a villain, better to have a mobster villain, but I wanted him to
get his just desserts. Or at least die. Or really maybe I just wanted a little chapter about what happened to him.


I don't think anything from this story will stay with me as much as the time that Hansu
beat the shit out of his girlfriend in the car outside Yumi's funeral
I mean - WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? IT was so descriptive and disturbing that it sticks in my mind as I write this. 
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