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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It’s not the most literary novel, and the last section tries to cram too much in, but it’s a page-turner that taught me so much about the history and culture of Korea and Japan that I feel I should have already known. It offered a great discussion at our book group.
This was the book selected for my book club, and if I hadn’t been reading it for that, I don’t know that I would have finished. While this is normally the type of book that is right up my alley, I did not like the style in which this was written. The text was straight-forward, utilitarian and lacked poetry. It read more like a non-fiction book than an epic fictional story. The history and the interplay between the Japanese and Korean cultures was fascinating and heartbreaking. I enjoyed that aspect of the book a lot, especially since I knew very little about it before this book, and at some point I will likely pick up some non-fiction on the topic.
However, because so much time was devoted to the historical timeline and the big picture of the two cultures, I found the characters themselves secondary, and in many places simply a vehicle to introduce the next bit of history. Scant amounts of time were spent revealing the inner turmoil or thoughts of the characters. Instead the reader was given lines like, “she cried,” “he died,” or the oft repeated (please forgive the paraphrase), “a woman’s life if to suffer.” Then the story would move on, sometimes jumping years into the future, with no more attention given to life-altering events.
Min Jin Lee also jumps around to so many different characters as the book progresses – some of them with story arcs that don’t seem to contribute anything to the overall family story (I’m looking at you Haruki’s wife, who was so insignificant that I don’t remember your name, nor can I find it via Google) – that the characters I was able to form feeble bonds with at the beginning were shuffled aside completely. Then with this whole new cast of characters in place, Lee reveals the big finish – more ‘Pachinko is like life’ metaphors than you can shake a stick at. I enjoy a book with a message, but I prefer that message to be a bit subtler.
I know that I’m in the minority here, but this book failed to engage me.
Learned about Korean and Japanese history not known before. Sympathetic characters.
This story of Korean nationals living in Japan could take place anywhere, with any group of people forced to relocate. The characters are vivid and alive. I was moved by the oldest matriarch of the family and her fortitude. we meet her at yhe beginning of the book as a young girl and follow her story.
Absorbing, but I wasn’t crazy about the ending.
The lush prose elevates the telling of this family saga to something almost mythical. The reader learns a lot about life in Korea and Japan, including its ongoing prejudices and persecutions. Characters endure, and through their endurance, we learn much about the strength and power of the human spirit.
This is my favorite book of 2018.
This book is a saga.Real life heartbreak wonderful story line.
I had never even heard of pachinko, but found this was book fascinating. To know something about a culture I know nothing about. I really learned so much about Korea. The families were wonderful and you just wanted to keep on reading about them. Such a wonderful book. If you want to read about another culture, this is the book for you!
Pachinko opened a world to me – a world of women’s place, saving face, shame, prejudice, and as the title says: pachinko. The book spans generations of hard-working people, wealthy people, people making the best of any situation, and people for whom shame, not intelligence is the primary mover. The book is well-written, but still easy to read. Good, good book.
The characters were fully developed, and the storyline was engrossing. It was a story about a family of Koreans who immigrated to Japan before, during, and after the Korean War.
This was a wonderful book,and yet tragic. It is a story of survival of a family who experience political upheaval and loss . I loved the this story!Amazing
Holds in lovely tension both epic world events and their effects on particular individuals. A very good read!
Love the writing- great story-historical fiction!
I loved this book, and I am not the type who reads a lot of fiction. I really enjoyed the author’s strength with writing a family saga, and especially the characters of Noa and Sunja. (The former of whom I think could have been a bit more developed.) I also enjoyed the book’s take on ethnicity, and how it brought to life the world of Koreans in Japan and the things they go through. I enjoyed how the author explored issues of belonging and diversity in a world that not many Westerners have a lot of knowledge about.
I usually rush through my books if they’re good, but I took my time to savor this, because I didn’t want it to end. I learned so much about Korean history and culture. A wonderful read!
A great read with interesting characters!
This is a story of a family Korean immigrants in Japan and their struggle to survive and their attempt to be accepted by the hermetic Japanese culture. It is a story of endurance, success and loss.
Enjoyed learning about the Korean/Japanese conflict.
The female characters were well drawn and dense but the male characters were one dimensional.