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A review by noellerose
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
emotional
sad
slow-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
Pachinko has been on my TBR for a few years now. I was always too scared to pick it up because it's historical fiction, a genre I often find boring, and because it was quite lengthy. The upcoming tv series prompted me to finally pick it up, and I certainly don't regret it!
There's something so great about reading a family's transition from being poor and humble Korean boardinghouse owners to rich businesspeople in Japan. I wouldn't want to live in their shoes, though. The family has to suffer a lot of terrible things, from sickness and death, to discrimination, poverty, and injustice. I just felt bad for them for the entire book.
I felt like the timing and pacing of the book was a bit off sometimes, though only at the ending. I have no idea when Yoseb died, for example. He said to Kim Changho that the man should wait until he died, and that it would be soon, but apparently, it took at least a decade before Yoseb died. I also thought the story started dragging at the ending. I just couldn't really care about Solomon's work and business anymore, and I wished that part had been cut shorter.
There's something so great about reading a family's transition from being poor and humble Korean boardinghouse owners to rich businesspeople in Japan. I wouldn't want to live in their shoes, though. The family has to suffer a lot of terrible things, from sickness and death, to discrimination, poverty, and injustice. I just felt bad for them for the entire book.
I felt like the timing and pacing of the book was a bit off sometimes, though only at the ending. I have no idea when Yoseb died, for example. He said to Kim Changho that the man should wait until he died, and that it would be soon, but apparently, it took at least a decade before Yoseb died. I also thought the story started dragging at the ending. I just couldn't really care about Solomon's work and business anymore, and I wished that part had been cut shorter.