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pascalthehoff's reviews
404 reviews
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.
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
2.0
Hadn't the original Great Gatsby entered the public domain recently, this would've been filed as fan fiction – albeit pretty good fan fiction, to say the least. In that way, The Chosen and the Beautiful shows that fan fiction can have legitimate literary value as it has been praised by critics for what they saw in it.
Maybe, after that praise, I expected too much of this, but the novel left me mostly unimpressed. The few unique selling points it has going for itself are either not played out to their full potential (queer/Asian-American main character) or seem completely out of place (demons and magic). Funnily enough, those exact three things smell the most like typical tropes for fan fiction modifications.
The female perspective to the Great Gatsby narrative definitely has its value to it. I can also imagine that this 2020s portrayal of the 1920s might be closer to the actual roaring 20s since Fitzgerald might not have been able to show the hottest aspects of NYC night-life in the conservative early 19th century. Other than that, I found The Chosen and Beautiful to be rather derivative and also clunky to read in its awkward attempt to capture a figment of 1920s American English.
Maybe, after that praise, I expected too much of this, but the novel left me mostly unimpressed. The few unique selling points it has going for itself are either not played out to their full potential (queer/Asian-American main character) or seem completely out of place (demons and magic). Funnily enough, those exact three things smell the most like typical tropes for fan fiction modifications.
The female perspective to the Great Gatsby narrative definitely has its value to it. I can also imagine that this 2020s portrayal of the 1920s might be closer to the actual roaring 20s since Fitzgerald might not have been able to show the hottest aspects of NYC night-life in the conservative early 19th century. Other than that, I found The Chosen and Beautiful to be rather derivative and also clunky to read in its awkward attempt to capture a figment of 1920s American English.
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
5.0
One of the most fascinating novels I've ever read. It may appear like your typical run-of-the-mill coming of age story on the surface. But the multifacet approach of the four parallel stories grants each character, and especially protagonist Archie Ferguson, an incomparible level of depth that could not have been possible without an examination from multiple perspectives.
I can't really explain to myself, why this book was such a pageturner for me. 300,000+ words about the life of some random dude don't sound that appealing, after all - even with the addition of multiple timelines it's still just the life of a pretty average guy times four. The novel had surprisingly few dips over its 800+ crammed pages (mostly the stuff about baseball and basketball, which I couldn't have cared less about). I'm a sucker for 1950's and 1960's-settings and the microcosm the author has built with this novel is a feast for my appropriated nostalgia for that time.
I can't really explain to myself, why this book was such a pageturner for me. 300,000+ words about the life of some random dude don't sound that appealing, after all - even with the addition of multiple timelines it's still just the life of a pretty average guy times four. The novel had surprisingly few dips over its 800+ crammed pages (mostly the stuff about baseball and basketball, which I couldn't have cared less about). I'm a sucker for 1950's and 1960's-settings and the microcosm the author has built with this novel is a feast for my appropriated nostalgia for that time.