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A review by _askthebookbug
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
4.0
| Book Review | Pachinko.
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"For people like us, home doesn't exist."
~
"Men have choices that women don’t." - Min Jin Lee.
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Books that talk about History are my absolute favourite. Not only do they teach us about our ancestors but they also make us experience in a small manner all the things that they had to go through, be it good or bad. My previous historical fiction was Salt Houses in which I learnt about The Six Day War and what it feels like to not have a permanent home. Pachinko is another such story that speaks about Korean immigrants in Japan, clearly explaining the complicated dynamics of Korean-Japanese culture. Although this book was informative and emotional, I found myself being disappointed by the time I finished reading it.
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This work of fiction starts off with Sunja, a fifteen year old girl from Yeongdo a small district in Busan, becoming pregnant. Coming from a simple family, Sunja and her mother manage a boarding house making money barely enough to meet their needs. When Sunja realises that the father of her child is already married, she decides to wed a Christian minister named Isak who was at that time living with them. The book then branches out widely, accomodating the next two generations and their lives in Japan and Korea. The first section of the novel focuses on Sunja and her life with Isak, about how Koreans lived in dirty shacks with their children and pigs, not receiving proper jobs or even three meals a day. With the Second World War faring in the background, the living conditions of many Koreans were almost beggarly.
•
The next sections of the novel talks about Sunja's sons who grow up to be kind hearted men but life takes them through severe hardships after the death of Isak. The men couldn't have been more different, while Noa reflects the calmness and ideals of Isak, Mozasu is hot blooded but ironically both of them build their lives through Pachinko. For those who don't know, Pachinko is a famous pinball arcade game which falls under gambling. Later part of the story then revolves around Mozasu's son and his complicated love life.
•
It was clear that Sunja served as the focal point of the story while the people around her grew in their own way, some leading to tragedy and the others flourishing. But what I didn't enjoy was the manner in which she was later pushed to the sidelines, not getting enough credit that she deserved. Her story dwindled suddenly and remained that way till the last few chapters. The animosity between Koreans and Japanese has been highlighted significantly on many occasions. The plight of many Koreans of not having a home of their own, having to move because of the war only to come back to their houses being reduced to ashes was a difficult thing to read.
•
There's no doubt that Min has done a thorough research before birthing this novel and the preciseness of it is fairly evident throughout. Having said that, I strongly felt that the story was rushed at the end. Unnecessary characters were introduced, one such example was Hana and her mother. I couldn't help but wonder how brilliant the story could have evolved if characters as these weren't introduced, giving enough time for the readers to enjoy the already present characters.
•
Pachinko is nevertheless a brilliant novel, but the rushed sense of it has stopped me from giving it five stars. It feels purposeful after learning about new cultures and how it is then passed on for generations to come. I would definitely recommend it to those who take joy and interest in learning about history and everything that comes with it.
•
Rating - 3.9/5.
•
"For people like us, home doesn't exist."
~
"Men have choices that women don’t." - Min Jin Lee.
•
Books that talk about History are my absolute favourite. Not only do they teach us about our ancestors but they also make us experience in a small manner all the things that they had to go through, be it good or bad. My previous historical fiction was Salt Houses in which I learnt about The Six Day War and what it feels like to not have a permanent home. Pachinko is another such story that speaks about Korean immigrants in Japan, clearly explaining the complicated dynamics of Korean-Japanese culture. Although this book was informative and emotional, I found myself being disappointed by the time I finished reading it.
•
This work of fiction starts off with Sunja, a fifteen year old girl from Yeongdo a small district in Busan, becoming pregnant. Coming from a simple family, Sunja and her mother manage a boarding house making money barely enough to meet their needs. When Sunja realises that the father of her child is already married, she decides to wed a Christian minister named Isak who was at that time living with them. The book then branches out widely, accomodating the next two generations and their lives in Japan and Korea. The first section of the novel focuses on Sunja and her life with Isak, about how Koreans lived in dirty shacks with their children and pigs, not receiving proper jobs or even three meals a day. With the Second World War faring in the background, the living conditions of many Koreans were almost beggarly.
•
The next sections of the novel talks about Sunja's sons who grow up to be kind hearted men but life takes them through severe hardships after the death of Isak. The men couldn't have been more different, while Noa reflects the calmness and ideals of Isak, Mozasu is hot blooded but ironically both of them build their lives through Pachinko. For those who don't know, Pachinko is a famous pinball arcade game which falls under gambling. Later part of the story then revolves around Mozasu's son and his complicated love life.
•
It was clear that Sunja served as the focal point of the story while the people around her grew in their own way, some leading to tragedy and the others flourishing. But what I didn't enjoy was the manner in which she was later pushed to the sidelines, not getting enough credit that she deserved. Her story dwindled suddenly and remained that way till the last few chapters. The animosity between Koreans and Japanese has been highlighted significantly on many occasions. The plight of many Koreans of not having a home of their own, having to move because of the war only to come back to their houses being reduced to ashes was a difficult thing to read.
•
There's no doubt that Min has done a thorough research before birthing this novel and the preciseness of it is fairly evident throughout. Having said that, I strongly felt that the story was rushed at the end. Unnecessary characters were introduced, one such example was Hana and her mother. I couldn't help but wonder how brilliant the story could have evolved if characters as these weren't introduced, giving enough time for the readers to enjoy the already present characters.
•
Pachinko is nevertheless a brilliant novel, but the rushed sense of it has stopped me from giving it five stars. It feels purposeful after learning about new cultures and how it is then passed on for generations to come. I would definitely recommend it to those who take joy and interest in learning about history and everything that comes with it.
•
Rating - 3.9/5.