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A review by tenten
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.75
A woman's lot is to suffer."
this book might've been ... too much for me. and i have read some really sad books (see: Brother, I'm Dying.) but something about Sunja's life just felt like ... throughout the book i kept being like, "damn can she catch a break!?" not just her but her family. it was like her line was cursed or something! i'd say out of all of them, Mozasu's life was the least traumatic but even then,his first love got hit by a car a couple of years into their marriage .
the thing i appreciated most about this book is how much i learned about Japanese colonialism and their treatment of Koreans. i knew Japan did bad things to Koreans, and other nations they colonized during WWII, but i had no idea that they had colonized Korea long before that. as someone raised in the US, i mostly hear about Japan as a victim of the US's brutal bombings, and indeed they were victims, but i feel like a lot of non-Asian americans do not know about the atrocities that Japan committed. it was wild to me that as late as 1989, a Korean who was born and raised in Japan couldn't even rent property in Japan without a guarantor like what the hell!!
i've seen people complain about how detached and straightforward the writing was, almost clinical, but ... i didn't hate it. i think it worked for the narrative, and even though it wasn't particularly emotional, i did cry when That happened to Isak.
all in all, i enjoyed the book. i didn't think it was boring at all and some of the actions that characters made frustrated me, even though i guess i understood them. i may be simple but for me, a judge of a good book is how much it made me feel different things, and i felt a lot with this one. a fine book!
this book might've been ... too much for me. and i have read some really sad books (see: Brother, I'm Dying.) but something about Sunja's life just felt like ... throughout the book i kept being like, "damn can she catch a break!?" not just her but her family. it was like her line was cursed or something! i'd say out of all of them, Mozasu's life was the least traumatic but even then,
the thing i appreciated most about this book is how much i learned about Japanese colonialism and their treatment of Koreans. i knew Japan did bad things to Koreans, and other nations they colonized during WWII, but i had no idea that they had colonized Korea long before that. as someone raised in the US, i mostly hear about Japan as a victim of the US's brutal bombings, and indeed they were victims, but i feel like a lot of non-Asian americans do not know about the atrocities that Japan committed. it was wild to me that as late as 1989, a Korean who was born and raised in Japan couldn't even rent property in Japan without a guarantor like what the hell!!
i've seen people complain about how detached and straightforward the writing was, almost clinical, but ... i didn't hate it. i think it worked for the narrative, and even though it wasn't particularly emotional, i did cry when That happened to Isak.
all in all, i enjoyed the book. i didn't think it was boring at all and some of the actions that characters made frustrated me, even though i guess i understood them. i may be simple but for me, a judge of a good book is how much it made me feel different things, and i felt a lot with this one. a fine book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Suicide, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Bullying
Minor: Abortion, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Child death, Confinement, Miscarriage, and Misogyny