Reviews tagging 'Death'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

278 reviews

liesthemoontells's review

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The best works of fiction are the ones that transcend your own reality. This multi-generational saga shines a light on a specific and untold slice of human experience during one of the most often recounted periods of recent history. 

While the beats of civilian suffering during WWII are a well-trodden artistic theme, the specific marginalisation that ethnic Koreans experienced living in colonial Japan during this period are less well explored in western literature. Min Jin Lee's story takes familiar beats from war fiction and gives them a new and distinctive perspective.

While there are moments of gorgeous prose in this book, I was impressed by what a light touch the omniscient narrator's voice has throughout the book. The writing is clear and unadorned, leaving space for the characters' specific voices to shine through.

My biggest complaint about this book is that it wasn't long enough! It covers a huge swath of time in less than 500 pages, which means that each chapter is like glimpsing a vignette from the life journeys of its characters through the flash of a moving train window. I would have liked it if we had been allowed to get off and stretch our legs at each station. Instead I felt propelled through the narrative and away from the characters at each stage of their lives before I was ready.

Having said that, this book covers a huge swathe of characters, time periods and perspectives. It does not let its ambition detract from being an engrossing and entertaining read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Deportation

Minor: Rape and Trafficking

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

One part I can see the praise another part I can see the criticism (especially calling it trauma porn).
If you dont know about the Japanese occupation in various countries, this could be eye opening/informative while including characters that you either love or hate.
Personally as someone who has family affected by the Japanese occupation, I already knew a lot of the negatives of Japan during that time and thought some parts/descriptions were gratuitious. 
There were also a lot of characters to keep track of and some parts of many of their stories felt too rushed because there were so many. I felt that we didn't get enough time with one tragedy before immediately moving on to another (which I understand that in life, especially during war and immediately after, tragedies can come right after another without giving the sufferers enough time to even process it but as a reader, it would've been nice to sit with certain things longer than a brief 2 sentences and a brief few sentences afterwards at the end. So I would've preferred cutting down on characters and expanding on certain tragedies and how the characters cope/lived with it).
Read content warnings because there is a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thecityofstarlight's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was such an awesome book. It was so cool to read about the experiences of the generations that endured Japanese control. I found the storyline to be really interesting and loved the mentions of issues outside of the plot; commentary regarding topics like socioeconomic status, survival, family dynamics, education, mental health, immigration, etc.. This book is packed with so many things to offer. I cannot recommend it enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Grief

Minor: Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Trafficking, and Abortion

torturedreadersdept's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Dementia, Abortion, and Deportation

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Police brutality, and Abortion

maryehavens's review

emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

If you get the chance to get the audio, do it. The narrator was fantastic and I found myself pretty sad after I had to turn it back into the library. 
This book is so dense, I forgot that the beginning was indeed this book and not another one. That being said, it's not too dense to follow. I do recommend keeping a list of characters - it spans about 50ish years and there's a lot of people. Plus, in that time, World War II and the Korean War happen so there is a lot of history as well. Lee makes it easier by providing a year and location as each chapter heading. Still, it would have helped me to keep a list of characters. 
I had no idea about the treatment of Koreans in Japan nor the lack of country that Koreans had/have. What a weird loophole. I don't think it's specific to Japan and I don't think it would be hard to find people in America in the same situation. 
The writing is fantastic and Lee did such a wonderful job showing the cultural changes in language, attitude, opportunities, etc. as the years went by. There were so many times I was trying to tell the characters "don't go to Nagasaki!! A bomb will fall there" or the like. You definitely fall in love with the characters and my heart broke over every misfortune. 
Highly recommended. It's one of the New York Times best 100 of the 21st Century and I wholeheartedly agree.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Death, Suicide, and War

andlovetoowillruinus's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual harassment

greatexpectations77's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I definitely understand why this was a National Book Award finalist; it's a totally sweeping experience of generations and history. I learned much more about the experience of Korean people in Japan than I had ever learned in school. It's important to know how severe and also where my knowledge gaps are. I did see some criticism online about anachronistic like foods and things and confusion about the style of Japanese bits that are were included in dialogue, and I look forward to reading more about that. This is one of those books where a family tree would be really helpful, but it would also be a spoiler, so I definitely understand not including it. But whew, there were a lot of characters in here. The book felt really long, but it was, and the ending seemed a bit abrupt. But I'm not sure that there's a good way to end such a saga that has moved through decades.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

hilariescudero's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Classism

maureenlessreen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely beautiful, but oh my god, so devastating. Like with Still Life, which I read earlier this year, it’s hard not to believe these characters are flesh and blood, living human beings. A tale spanning 5 generations and I cared for every member of the family and almost every side character. I loved learning about a POV I’ve never considered — colonized Koreans who end up being expatriates in Japan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Police brutality, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Abortion