Pachinko in Nerdette Book Club

Feb 07, 2022 Farah rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 3.8 rounded up. Loved and was engrossed in the first half of the book. Felt like we got to experience events but also fears, hopes, and inner experiences of the characters. Learned so much about the discrimination experienced by people of Korean descent even if they grew up in Japan. So much I had no idea about whatsoever. I think the book fell flat after the second half… probably after Noa ran off. Maybe I’m missing something in how the betrayal was so unforgivable to him or maybe it just wasn’ 3.8 rounded up. Loved and was engrossed in the first half of the book. Felt like we got to experience events but also fears, hopes, and inner experiences of the characters. Learned so much about the discrimination experienced by people of Korean descent even if they grew up in Japan. So much I had no idea about whatsoever. I think the book fell flat after the second half… probably after Noa ran off. Maybe I’m missing something in how the betrayal was so unforgivable to him or maybe it just wasn’t written in a way that I felt it. The suicide deeply skipped over and I just stopped caring about characters as much especially as the characters got money and then we just didn’t hear anything too deep except the same themes repeated about how they were surprised they didn’t have to struggle etc. Some parts after this were still solid like experiencing Solomon going to register on his birthday… I didn’t really see Hanna’s story adding much…I wish we had had a richer dialogue between Sunja and her mother over the years that they were together rather than this awful deathbed emotional beatdown without any depth or empathy… character flaw or weaker writing there? I’m not surehebei’s we didn’t get to experience Yangjin’s inner growth or bitterness at what life became since Sunja left home.

Maybe a small point in terms of writing style… I don’t know why the author kept telling us in really specific detail what each person was wearing throughout the book down to hearing someone has a navy skirt and we keep hearing about Sunja’s hands that are spotted from working in the sun and her thickened waist from childbearing. I think the author was trying to make a deeper point about how she experienced herself and others when thinking about traditional beauty versus the strength of her character but overall it felt like it stopped short of accomplishing a bigger statement about this. Overall don’t regret reading it as it was really vivid and I learned a lot about history from what was in the book and what I started looking up afterwards but I think the book would have been more solid if it had been about 200 pages shorter and more focused on just the earlier generations…. ...more

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Apr 06, 2021 Jen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is so powerful and explores so many things. While the main story is the Korean community in Japan that dates back to the colonial period, it explores a lot of broader topics like the importance of family ties, the impact of our decisions, and most clearly a sense and want of belonging. I know this book will stay with me for a long time.

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