Welcome to impromptu Korea Appreciation Week! I didn't intend to feature Korean media back-to-back like this, but it is a happy surprise nonetheless. It also enlightened me to my ignorance of Korean history and culture, even though it's one of only three foreign countries I've visited. If you too are interested in Korean history and family bonds, this is a great novel to pick up. Let's discuss Pachinko!
The Gist
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee follows a family for four generations, spanning 20th century Korea and Japan. The novel primarily focuses on Sunja, a poor daughter who becomes pregnant and must marry a young minister in order to protect her family from shame. They move to his home in Japan and attempt to carve out a future for their family, all while facing poverty and racial discrimination from their Japanese neighbors.
The Take
I want you to take a moment to reflect on some of the less-than-stellar decisions you made as a teenager. We all have them, and we may look back at those moments with pity for our naïve former selves. Now I want you to imagine one of those decisions haunting you and your family for sixty-five years. That is a theme that runs through Pachinko: Sunja's teenage indiscretion with Hansu (a wealthy, married Korean man) results in her immigration to another country, where she and her family live in poverty and face hardship borne of anti-Korean discrimination for multiple generations. Her connection with Hansu through their son Noa continues to affect her family relationships and their prospects in life, due to his yakuza affiliation. Even in his more generous moments, Hansu continues to be a poison to Sunja's family. I was wishing through many parts of the story for him to exit their lives for good, but that is the consequence of Sunja's mistake; she can never truly be rid of the idea of Hansu, even when he is absent.
This is a character-focused story, so while there are events taking place, plot is not the most important aspect. Each scene richly depicts the expressions and appearances of these characters, as well as the inner workings of their minds. I felt like I truly knew the people in Sunja's family, which helped each of their motivations make sense as the years passed. It even detours into the perspectives of side characters in order to fully flesh out this world, which is helpful when trying to immerse yourself in their lives while attempting to grasp the real historical events occurring.
Lee is highly adept at walking you through the Korean and Japanese historical events that took place during the 20th century, which includes WWII and the Korean War, while avoiding the pitfall of sounding like a news report. The characters in Pachinko are affected by these major events, and Lee manages to make these moments feel personal to Sunja's family. I wasn't even aware that Japan colonized Korea in the 1900s, and Lee's writing walked me through these impacts for the Korean characters I grew to love. It is a story about the Korean diaspora and the strong influence that history and culture has on one's identity.
It was also refreshing to read an immigration story that did not center on a family moving to America, as I have been exposed to those particular narratives at the expense of a more global education. The novel is incredibly informative in its introduction of this particular diaspora to a widespread audience. I was well informed without feeling condescended to; the story takes a gentle hand and guides you through this unfamiliar lifestyle in order to educate the masses on experiences they have not yet been exposed to. This approach, paired with the personal focus of the characters' lives, helps bring this immigrant narrative to life.
On a macro level, this novel has a major burden of educating readers and garnering empathy for the characters, which it accomplishes with subtlety. However, at the scene level I feel like Pachinko has a similar drawback as A Little Life: too much of the plot focuses on the tragedies and setbacks of these characters while failing to balance with scenes of joy and triumph. There were some small moments of happiness throughout the story, but they would be overshadowed by larger events of sadness and an abundance of character death. Most of the sad moments were justified in the context of the historical and cultural atmosphere, but a few moments seemed excessive beyond what was sensical.
One smaller nitpick for me is the prevalence of language and vulgarity, which occurred primarily in Book III. It makes sense that the more contemporary years of the story would include increased use of profanity to reflect the modern age, but it read more as a clunky inclusion utilized for shock value, rather than a natural progression for the characters. In particular I had to fast-forward through some of Ayame and Hana's scenes in the late section of the novel because they were taking me out of the reading experience.
If you are interested in learning about Korean and Japanese culture through the lens of individuals living during that time, Pachinko is a great introduction. I came away from this read with a better understanding of the turbulent political climate of the region, as well as the identity challenges that many Korean immigrants faced with the separation of North and South Korea. I also never felt lectured to; Pachinko is an immersive story that lets you live in these moments and sink into the emotional impact of these hardships. While I wished for more moments of levity, overall I would highly recommend it as a read.
Rating: 8/10
Memorable Moments
The reunion between Sunja and Yangjin was the emotional high point of the story.
Kudos to Kyunghee for never failing to put family first. She is so devoted to Sunja and the children she helps raise.
Goro's generosity to Mozasu and the other Koreans in his city gives me such warm feelings.
Try It If…
You like in-depth stories about family history.
You prefer a book that focuses on characters.
You are interested in Korean history.
Avoid It If…
You prefer books that are more plot-focused.
Stories that involve war, particularly WWII, do not appeal to you.
You do not want to read about many characters' deaths.
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