A review by lachateau
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Patriotism is just an idea, so is capitalism or communism. But ideas can make men forget their own interests. And the guys in charge will exploit men who believe in ideas too much." 

Historical-fiction can easily convince me just like that! I found this book available on my libby and it was my first time reading about Korea and Japan's history... found this so endearing <3 Oh, I also figured out that they already adapted this book to a drama and casted Lee Minho as a cast??? What a loss for me since I just knew it when I had this book last week. 

So the story revolves around Sunja, a Korean daughter of a crippled fisherman on early of 1900, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home. Instead, she chose her way to go to Japan and the story begun there. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters—strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis—survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history. I also learned about how Japanese military treated people underground recklessly... The sexual harassment, patriarchy, and so on. That was so awful to see. 

A little minus for this book that unfortunately I found, with the story like this, the author could write many poetic phrases or different diction to show the grudges or tragic distance in every event. Maybe they can make it more melancholic? As a literary historical fiction... Maybe it will make readers dig deeper to the story and characters, and make it remarkable for some people too. I probably will give solid 5 if that was so, but overall, it's worthy to read if you are looking for a beginner page to get to know about Korea-Japan history that makes their people are against each other even until this very day.