Min Jin Lee is a Korean author and journalist. The novel begins in the twentieth century and ends eighty years later. The plot mainly takes place between Korea and Japan, two countries that bind Sunja's family. Sunja, of course, but also her husband, her lover and their descendants. In 1920, Sunja, a young Korean, was seduced by a foreigner and became pregnant.įinding out that this man is already married, she chooses to marry a Christian pastor and follow him to Japan.įrom then on, she and her family will have to face many trials over several generations. I admit that these are the countries that make me dream and the author presents a culture and values dear to her heart.Ī topic still relevant and this novel sheds light on how the protagonists have to face this, how they acclimatize to a new country. It is a pleasure to follow a whole family, with its joys and sorrows, but also how it evolves with time and the innovations that are revealed and how it adapts to them.īecause this novel allows us to discover Korea but also Japan. Today, “Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee, published Januby Charleston Publishing.īy Min Jin Lee, published Januby Charleston Publishing.įill your brain with knowledge - it's the one form of power that no one can ever take away from you.īecause this book of almost 620 pages is a real nugget.īecause the story spans eight decades and four generations.

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And at the end of the month, she will answer your questions on air. In the coming days, we’ll post discussion questions for the book, an annotated page, and writing advice from Min Jin Lee. “Lee’s stunning novel,” Lee adds, “suggests that behind the facades of wildly different people lie countless private desires, hopes and miseries, if we have the patience and compassion to look and listen.” In a review of the book in The New York Times, novelist Krys Lee explains that the book’s title comes from the slot-machine-like game called Pachinko that is everywhere in Japan, and which “unifies the central concerns of identity, homeland and belonging.” It was a National Book Award finalist for fiction, and The New York Times named it one of the 10 best books of the year. “Pachinko” is an epic family saga and historical novel about ethnic Koreans who migrate to Japan.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee