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A review by pascalthehoff
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
5.0
Four generations, almost a 100 years, and only around 500 pages? This might sound like Pachinko's narrative is beyond rushed, with no time to breathe. And yes, the pace at which Min Jin Lee moves through the 20th century is rather brisk – at least in comparison to other character-centric decade-leaping epics of this kind.
The troubled relationship between Japan and Korea is something I knew about beforehand. The hows, the whys, I had a somewhat rudimentary grasp on the historical and cultural background. What Pachinko managed to do then was to breathe life into this conflict, to make it more tangible on an emotional level. The everyday racism people of Korean heritage in Japan experience in this book – even in their third or fourth generation after migration – feels very subtle at times, but it still manages to hit hard.
I got really attached to all of the characters in one way or the other; despite their sometimes questionable actions and motives. There's lots of hardship in this story, but also lots of hope. In general, I just loved the entire atmosphere – as oppressive as it might have been at times.
What's really special about Pachinko is the unique pacing of the entire narrative. In creative writing, the golden rule is always 'show don't tell'. Min Jin Lee, however, threw this rule completely out of the window at times and, to my surprise, it worked wonders for the baggage of this novel. One chapter or a few chapters in a row usually tackle a certain year in the life of the main family; only to then make a huge leap of sometimes more than five years and to the next significant event in the family's life. What happened in between these two chapters is then quickly summarized, often in a very organic and natural way. It never really feels like anything is missing. This approach makes Pachinko the first 20th century epic of this particular kind that has been an absolute pageturner for me – something that I don't experience very often anymore, even with traditionally more gripping genres.
The troubled relationship between Japan and Korea is something I knew about beforehand. The hows, the whys, I had a somewhat rudimentary grasp on the historical and cultural background. What Pachinko managed to do then was to breathe life into this conflict, to make it more tangible on an emotional level. The everyday racism people of Korean heritage in Japan experience in this book – even in their third or fourth generation after migration – feels very subtle at times, but it still manages to hit hard.
I got really attached to all of the characters in one way or the other; despite their sometimes questionable actions and motives. There's lots of hardship in this story, but also lots of hope. In general, I just loved the entire atmosphere – as oppressive as it might have been at times.
What's really special about Pachinko is the unique pacing of the entire narrative. In creative writing, the golden rule is always 'show don't tell'. Min Jin Lee, however, threw this rule completely out of the window at times and, to my surprise, it worked wonders for the baggage of this novel. One chapter or a few chapters in a row usually tackle a certain year in the life of the main family; only to then make a huge leap of sometimes more than five years and to the next significant event in the family's life. What happened in between these two chapters is then quickly summarized, often in a very organic and natural way. It never really feels like anything is missing. This approach makes Pachinko the first 20th century epic of this particular kind that has been an absolute pageturner for me – something that I don't experience very often anymore, even with traditionally more gripping genres.