Pachinko

by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko follows one Korean family through the generations. Starting in the early 1900s, Sunja, the daughter of a poor family, receives news that will shake her life, and her future family’s forever. 

Do you know those books that just sink into you, never truly leaving once you’ve read them? Pachinko is one of those books. I will never forget Sunja’s love for her father nor the pain of leaving her family. Her life with the husband she chooses and the tenacity and determination she wields to provide for them will never leave me. 

I finished this book on a flight back home. Luckily, I was the only person sitting in the row because I couldn’t stop the emotion welling in my chest. Unluckily, the steward found me sobbing with a snotty mask and blurry vision. 

Pachinko is epic in all capacities. The characters, the culture, and the sheer expansive storyline all encompass this word. I think back to when I read this in April feel this rainbow of emotions.   

Min Jin Lee said:

“I think my narrator’s tone does not shift much. More than anything, I wanted very much for the time to be fair. There are remarkable narrators in great works of fiction that are art (Pride and Prejudice), sarcastic and unreliable (Lolita), opinionated and high-minded (Jane Eyre), humble and curious (David Copperfield), and intellectual and world-weary (Middlemarch). ‘Fair’ seems like such a simple world, but I think because my subject matter is so troubling and controversial, I wanted my narrator to be as objective as possible. Above all, I wanted the narrator to be sympathetic to every character’s plight.”

The phrase “I wanted very much for the time to be fair” was one of the first characteristics I noticed in the novel. At first, I couldn’t name it, but as I continued to read and listen to Sunja’s voice, that principle became clear. Every character is who they are without the condemnation of being a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ person. Their struggles and triumphs are just that, and the readers are given their story without judgment. 

This is something I don’t say lightly but, everyone should read Pachinko.