a book

Pachinko

Name: Pachinko
Rating: 5 (15 reviews)
Author: Min Jin Lee
ISBN: 9781455563920

Min Jin Lee · 2017 · 512 pages

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP TEN OF THE YEAR * NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017 *A USA TODAY TOP TEN OF 2017 Roxane Gay's Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER In this gorgeous, page-turning saga, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan, exiled from a home they never knew. "There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones." In the early 1900s, 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. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations. Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters--strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis--survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history. *Includes reading group guide*

recommended by 15 people

sourced from public statements

Roxane Gay
“Pachinko is the novel I tell anyone who will listen about. It is a multigenerational, sweeping saga of Koreans in Japan. The prose is as edifying as it is absorbing. There are no easy, convenient endings for any of these characters but my goodness, how richly Min Jin Lee renders their lives.”↗
Jia Tolentino
“I’m in awe of this book and the way it combines a 19th-century novel’s powers of submersion with a blazingly contemporary sense of ethics. I was basically gasping as I read this saga of an ethnically Korean family in Japan — desperate to know what happened next, overwhelmed with love and sorrow.”↗
Dua Lipa
“It’s a sweeping saga set in Korea and Japan that follows the fortunes of a Korean family across four generations and eight decades. It’s a story of the search for identity in a hostile country, of what immigrant parents sacrifice for their children, and of the choices women must make in a man’s world. Along the way, I learned so much about the annexation of Korea and early 20th-century Japanese colonialism. If that makes it sound like a heavy lift – don’t worry, it’s not. I was totally absorbed by the characters and, in fact, it’s so readable it will leave you wanting more.”↗
Sarah Parcak
“So... a confession. I finally, finally had time to read Pachinko this weekend, I know I know years after. I had a hard time letting go of the book, and the characters. What a delight. I think it felt more meaningful to me having visited S Korea. Time for Korean food 🤤”↗
Diedrich Bader
“@HartHanson I really enjoyed the book and was a little nervous about seeing an adaptation But now I’ll check it out!”↗
Anne-Laure Le Cunff
“@khemaridh That's one of my very favourite books! @minjinlee11 what would you recommend as one of your books to read after Pachinko? 🙏”↗
Brooke Hammerling
“THIS is one hell of a book. 💕💕💕”↗
Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
“The trailer for PACHINKO looks amazing. Nervous about this. I absolutely loved the book! @minjinlee11”↗
Jonny Geller
“You are never late to a book, but this is one that has been recommended to me for years and I was so glad I got to it. Great storytelling, huge sweep of characters, moving, a neglected history. Do read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (thanks ⁦@gabylee__⁩ for urging me to read).”↗
Barack Obama
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