Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Yesterday, I finished Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, and I can’t help but feel like no words I write could fully do justice to this masterpiece. It’s an intricately woven story of love, sacrifice, tragedy, and resilience, spanning generations and crossing borders. This novel took me seven days to finish, slower than my usual pace, but I’m so glad I took my time with it.
At its core, Pachinko is about survival in the face of adversity, the weight of history, and the sacrifices that shape our lives. The characters’ lives are beautifully interconnected, their stories incomplete without one another. Each of them is flawed, vulnerable, and deeply human, making their personal struggles feel heartbreakingly real. This authenticity allowed me to immerse myself in their journeys, and while I didn’t cry, there were moments when I found myself choked up with emotion.
One of my favorite aspects of the book was the way it highlighted women’s sacrifices in times of war and poverty. In a society where women are often perceived as weak or dependent, characters like Sunja, Kyunghee, and Yangjin defy these stereotypes. Their quiet strength and selflessness were instrumental in shaping the futures of their families, showing how women are often the backbone of survival in the harshest circumstances.
Pachinko is a book that I will often think about for the years to come. The last time I felt this strongly about a book was after reading The Kite Runner, so that’s saying a lot. If you haven’t read Pachinko yet, I highly recommend it.
Teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant--and that her lover is married--she refuses to be bought. Facing ruin, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. Following a man she barely knows to a hostile country where she has no friends, Sunja will be forced to make some difficult choices. Her decisions will echo through the decades.
Spanning nearly 100 years of history, Pachinko is an unforgettable story of love, sacrifice, ambition and loyalty told through four generations of one family.