Pachinko

A few years ago, I was tutoring a Korean student in English.  From her, I learned that the Koreans don't have any love for the Japanese.  This is understandable since Korea was occupied by the Japanese during WWII.  But I was surprised to learn from reading Min Jin Lee's book, Pachinko, that the Japanese didn't think much of the Koreans.  The Japanese thought they were less intelligent, dirty, lazy and a burden to society.  Needless to say, the Koreans living in Japan were discriminated against.  Why didn't they leave and come back to Korea?  Korea, in this setting, the early twentieth century, was very poor and had little opportunities to offer.

Pachinko is a novel about the life of a family of immigrants. It is an excellent story.  I couldn't get over how hard the women worked.  The women held the family together, financially, with shrewd planning, moral upbringing, and education.  And the women in the family had no education! 

Pachinko takes the reader through a couple of generations.  It is a page-turner.  And the family goes through ups and downs, happiness and sorrow. I loved the characterization.  Each character was well drawn and fit right into the movement of the plot. Min Jin Lee is such a smooth, effortless writer.  You will find this an easy story to get into and get into is what you will want to do.