Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Pachinko

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Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

91 reviews

pgmoon's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

My first book of the year! I recently revisited Pachinko by Min Jin Lee after having to set it aside previously, and I’m so glad I gave it another chance.

This sprawling generational drama hooked me from start to finish, with a pace that, in my opinion, never slows down. It’s fascinating to watch the environment evolve as the decades pass, offering a vivid window into the history and struggles of Korean immigrants in Japan.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its complex characters. They’re deeply flawed, selfish, petty, and morally questionable at times, yet they feel incredibly real. Each character’s choices and circumstances often reflect the harsh realities of the world around them, and even the ones I didn’t particularly like or agree with were compelling to read about. For me, Sunja is the heart of the story. Her journey is full of unexpected twists, and I found myself rooting for her resilience and determination throughout.

Thematically, Pachinko delves deeply into issues of parental expectations, neglect, and the ever-present weight of systemic racism. The discrimination faced by Korean characters is portrayed so palpably that it was eye-opening for me, especially as someone unfamiliar with that history. The story can be incredibly heavy and, at times, heartbreaking. Just when you think a character might find happiness or escape their struggles, the narrative often pulls them back into sorrow, underscoring the challenges of their lives.

If I had any qualms, it would be that some character perspectives and events were uncomfortable to read about, but this rawness is also part of what makes the book so powerful. Another minor gripe is that the third-person narrative could occasionally be confusing to follow, especially when jumping between characters and timelines. However, these issues are small compared to the richness of the story overall.

Pachinko is a remarkable book that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys generational sagas. It’s already beloved by many, and for good reason.

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glorifiedloveletters's review against another edition

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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

This was absolutely as amazing as everyone said. Loved it. Glad I finally read it.

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summerkim's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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? No

4.75

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andrewlocetus's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

5.0

you guys ever read a book so good that you forget one of the most important events of the 20th century happened because the plot was THAT engaging?

reading the author interview at the end was so interesting because she said she wanted to give everyone a well rounded perspective and by god did she do that. all of the characters were given space to be their own person and conflicting viewpoints were handled incredibly well, especially with the shift across generations. the transitions as time passed were handled seamlessly. i love the amount of care that went into this book. i cannot stress enough that it made me pace around my workplace because the plot was so so good. this instantly replaced my old favourite book it's that good.

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cami_chai's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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emk5's review against another edition

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emotional

4.5

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pipercurda's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

sweeping and urbane and devastating. upsettingly authentic and faithful to the time period and its culture. the story of a family throughout the generations, having no choice but to shoulder the burdens life thrust on them by way of war, sickness, nationalism, and love. not an easy read, but hard to put down.

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astrofeldy's review

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Pachinko follows an epic family saga across four generations, introducing the reader to an oft-forgotten side of Japanese racism against displaced and migrated Korean families (especially challenging in a modern day boom of Japanese pop culture among western readers), and grapples with what it truly means to answer “where are you from?”. While an impactful premise and arc, the story is unrelentingly grim, and builds up certain story lines to simply have them ripped away and never interrogated or looked at with nuance, thereafter. The author has an odd obsession with introducing characters via their breast and butt size that is representative of the shallow engagement with female characters (granted, possibly as a device to reflect how women were seen at the time), and this irked me throughout, too. Overall, I felt as though Pachinko was simply trying to do too much (and was ~1/3 too long, as others have noted), and in biting off such large themes and stories, doesn’t wholly chew any of them in a completely satisfying way. While I seem to be in a very clear minority of folks who didn’t enjoy this book, I simply didn’t find the strong start redeeming enough to carry me through.

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liesthemoontells's review against another edition

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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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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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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).
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