A New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year and National Book Award finalist, Pachinko is an “extraordinary epic” of four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family as they fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan (San Francisco Chronicle). NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017 * A USA TODAY TOP TEN OF 2017 * JULY PICK FOR THE PBS NEWSHOUR-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB NOW READ THIS * … NEWSHOUR-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB NOW READ THIS * FINALIST FOR THE 2018 DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE* WINNER OF THE MEDICI BOOK CLUB PRIZE
Roxane Gay’s Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
“There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones.”
In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant–and that her lover is married–she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son’s powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.
Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. 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.
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I loved it. I picked this book for bookclub and just about every one liked it too. I like books that go between generations. I will probably read this book again I liked it so much.
Wonderful! Lives up to all the hype. Great characters, including strong female protagonists. An epic novel spanning decades of history of the Korean people living under Japanese occupation, and then as second-class citizens in Japan. Fascinating – I learned so much about all this, while being absorbed in a wonderful family saga.
I enjoyed reading this book. I learned a lot about that time period.
This is one of those epics with multiple characters, places and situations. Lee takes us through several generations of the same family as they leave South Korea, settle in Japan, and a few find a path to America. Each character’s story is so different and delineated from another that I had no problem following it. The saga reminds us that it is the human condition to want the best for our progeny, even if it means we sacrifice our happiness to do so.
** spoiler alert **
A sad well-written saga of four generations of Koreans living in Japan. The inhuman treatment of Koreans ( even fourth-generation Japanese born still having to register as aliens) oily s an interesting read which was a pAge Turner and eye-opener for me. No happy stories here. No one is all bad of the major cHaracters in the book
Loved, loved, loved this book, and will read anything else by this author.
Historical fiction from a different perspective
A beautiful but sad story.
Loved this book!!!
This is the story of Koreans who immigrate to Japan where they are tolerated, but not accepted. I like to learn about other cultures so this interested me very much. I was telling the story to a Japanese-American friend and she said the Japanese are prejudiced toward everyone who is not Japanese. That surprised me. Good book!
Loved this book & highly recommend it!!
such a well written book
Really liked it and learned a lot.
Learned about the cultures
Really good insight into the world of Asian gambling and the difference between Japanese and Koreans.
I came to this book from my book club. I learned so much about Korea and the Japanese occupation. This book takes place from 1910 to the early 1960s, and is a terrific historical read. The characters will lift you up and break your heart.
The writing stirs the senses and emotions as the history of this Korean family is used to showcase the scurrilous behavior of the Japanese. Amazing how people are able to rise above discrimination and hope for better for their families.
Great writing, historical, I loved this book.
This book is incredible. I learned so many things about the world, about how so many of the negative themes throughout history manifest in the same ways around the world. This is a very powerful book.
I loooove this book and the story told over generations. I definitely recommend!