Book Review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

“She could not see his humanity, and Noa realized that this was what he wanted most of all: to be seen as human.”

Min Jin Lee, Pachinko

Review:

This book hadn’t been on my radar but I have seen it around over the past few years. I picked it up when it was selected as a group read. I’m glad I got to go into it with an open mind. I came away with mixed emotions. 

Beginning in the early 1900s, we meet Sunja and her family living in Korea. She meets Hansu and envisions a future with him, especially once she discovers she’s pregnant. Unbeknownst to her, he has a wife and children in Japan. Refusing to see him again, she accepts the offer of marriage from Isak, an ailing minister. Together they set off for Japan to live with Isak’s brother and his wife with Isak adopting Noa and raising him as his own. Parts two and three follow the lineage of Sunja’s family through to the 1980s. 

As I was reading the book’s first part, I anticipated this being a five-star read. I was completely absorbed in the plot, characters, setting, history, writing… all of it. Part two started to lose me a little bit, especially reaching the second half of it. Part three was an absolute headache. I no longer had a grasp on the characters or the many plot lines the story now involved. 

So many of the monumental moments of the book, particularly in the second half, start, occur, and end in the span of one to three paragraphs — if that. Because of this, there’s no chance to build a bond with a number of the characters or their situations. After a slower build in the beginning, all of a sudden switching to fast pacing and sporadic time jumps was dizzying. I cannot recall most of this second of the book as my reading was interrupted to go back and see if I missed something, only to realize a major plot point was dropped in a singular sentence with little to no explanation around it. 

I’m definitely walking away feeling disappointed after so much enjoyment in the beginning, but I’m glad I went along for the ride. 

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• The generational story.
• Beautiful writing.
• It showed an interesting and complex time in history.

What I didn’t like:

• The second half of the book was incredibly hectic and difficult to follow.
• There were conflicting themes throughout the book.

Afterthoughts:

This is the group read with The Global Book Nook for April.

Where to buy the book: