Title: Pachinko
Author: Min Jin Lee
Year Published: 2017
Format: Kindle eBook, 490 pp
Summary: Profoundly moving and gracefully told, PACHINKO follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them. Betrayed by her wealthy lover, Sunja finds unexpected salvation when a young tubercular minister offers to marry her and bring her to Japan to start a new life.
So begins a sweeping saga of exceptional people in exile from a homeland they never knew and caught in the indifferent arc of history. In Japan, Sunja’s family members endure harsh discrimination, catastrophes, and poverty, yet they also encounter great joy as they pursue their passions and rise to meet the challenges this new home presents. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, they are bound together by deep roots as their family faces enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.
My Summary: 3 stars.
My Thoughts: I absolutely loved the first half of this book. The tone is almost sweet, and I really engaged with the characters introduced. However, about halfway, the tone changes quite abruptly as one of the previous characters is re-introduced. Graphic scenes are included about major and minor characters that seem to add little to the story, other than “excitement” perhaps? These instances did not seem to demonstrate growth, and in some cases didn’t seem relevant at all.
However, I was captivated by Sunja and Kyunghee and was very glad to continue hearing about them through the entire novel. And through the entire book, I learned much about the dynamics of Koreans living in Japan and the great difficulties they faced. I found the politics and various viewpoints of the characters quite interesting.
Caryn Considers 