Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

161 reviews

kieralyn_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

another good long read tracing a family across multiple generations. the author really loves throwing in hard-hitting-story-changing-why-the-hell-would-you-do-that-sad moments at the very last page of a chapter. i learned a lot about japan's colonization of korea and the effect on families too

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Colonisation, Death, Incest, Sexual content, Hate crime, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: War

Minor: Terminal illness

kinda reminds me of "the love songs of w.e.b. dubois" and "homegoing" in the way it traces a family over generations also warning for sex b/t minors/incest

a_lf05's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I don't have much to say about this book but it was definitely really good !! going into this I was worried it would be a bit slow going through four (?) generations but it was very engaging and generally the characters were very well written and felt like real people !!

Some of the storylines that didn't revolve around sunja's immediate family felt a little forgotten at times but I can forgive that 🙏🙏

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, and War

Minor: Abortion and Bullying

matcha_cat's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Bullying, Colonisation, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Death, War, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Miscarriage, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Alcohol, Child death, and Violence

mmccombs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

A multigenerational story that definitely belongs in the pantheon of great classics! I loved these characters and the natural flow of the story, where each turn and tragedy of these characters’ lives felt very lived in. The examination of culture and how it changed over time, of the racism towards Koreans and longstanding impact of colonialism, and of intergenerational conflicts and expectations for women were all wonderfully nuanced. 
I didn’t leave this book feeling as wowed as I anticipated, I think i found this either too short or too long. So many characters came and went, to the point where I never quite felt enough depth from most of them except for Sunja. In the end though, I’m glad I finally got around to this one, it was a great sweeping story that will stay with me for a long time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Racism, Death, Misogyny, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation

Moderate: Car accident and Miscarriage

adoto's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I don't think I got hooked into this book until shit hit the fan. It's medium-paced but dense. 

I think it does a really good job of what the author wanted to do, which is honestly reflect the varied experiences of being a Korean in Japan. It's also a beautiful ode to migrant grit and resolve. It just didn't grab me the way I expected it to. I would recommend it to a friend but never reread it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Classism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Classism, Child death, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Sexual content, Homophobia, Colonisation, and Alcohol

Minor: Police brutality, Suicide, Sexual assault, Abortion, Mental illness, Trafficking, Miscarriage, and Cancer

serendipitous_mess's review against another edition

informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

moonmemoirs's review

emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have many many many thoughts about this book. There were parts of it I absolutely adored, and parts of it I found tedious.

 I think the main objective of the book as a historical fiction novel gets across well - you learn deeply about the discrimination the Korean diaspora in Japan faces regardless of their choices, actions, faith, loyalties, and bloodline. It was introspective and informative in this sense, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning this. It was done with a level of skill as well that makes the reader sympathise out of incredulity at the treatment of Koreans in Japan, even five generations in, being treated as lesser just because of their bloodline. Even lesser than the lowest caste of Japan. It’s heartbreaking that whether you decide to pass as Korean or Japanese, you must suffer the consequences of betrayal and poverty and oppression in the aftermath of the occupation.

 In terms of characters, the main characters of the earlier generations are really well developed, and I found myself really connected to those characters. I didn’t find that same connection with Solomon’s storyline, including his stepmother, Hana, Pheobe and Kazu. I also found some characters strange, such as Haruki’s wife’s narrative - it felt empty and unfinished. I felt some ennui because I think the characters in the new generations become less dimensional? Like you don’t empathise with them as much and the author is trying to force two dimensions on them like “oh a woman can only be a whore out of desperation but it’s justified because she has trauma from this superficial thing” and it’s a stark contrast from the earlier generations where they build that character development in many many many layers. One layer characters too were done better in the earlier chapters - I loved Isak deeply, and I found it interesting how a book that convinces you of perceptions around every character being troubled, desperate, war-torn, mistake-making, etc stood in stark contrast to this brief character who is perfect in every way, self sacrificing to a lengthy degree, morally benevolent and wise beyond his years. 

Writing wise, I actually really enjoyed how the “Pachinko” element of the book which characterises the struggle of the Korean diaspora in Japan, in the third chapter really comes into focus. I enjoyed the storytelling of Yangjin and Sunja and Kyunghee better than Noa, Haruki, Solomon etc but I like how the objective of the book related to the title with the shadow of being in the Pachinko business looming over them. No matter how clean Mozasu’s money is, the Pachinko business, people are regarded as Yakuza and dirty anyways, adding another dimension to the discrimination the characters already face by being Korean. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Hate crime

Minor: Death, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Suicide, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Genocide, and Racism

All of my favourite characters die. First Hoonie, then Isak, then Noa. Noa’s death really wrecked me, and I both found it strange yet enjoyable how the author kills characters with the last line in a chapter and then shifts the narrative immediately in the next chapter. Also, I understand the need for complexity in desperate times but was the borderline pedophilic incest necessary for this book?

kyrajade's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I think this is an important story to tell, but I think that it wasn't written very well. The first 250 pages I was wedded to the original cast of characters, but then for the sake of making the narrative multi-generational, the author began introducing characters very shallowly who you were for some reason supposed to care about, and then the stories of these characters and the widening time skips between chapters meant that characters from the first half who you liked and felt an attachment too were picked off in the background. The author made horrible and traumatic things happen in this book and yet you didn't get to experience any of the grief of the characters because she skimmed over it with a time skip. The whole thing felt very emotionally unsastisfying, but the actual context and history of the story is an interesting read. For a character driven story, the characters introduced in the second half are flat and semi-transparent. I really enjoy multi-generational stories (100 Years of Solitude or Do Not Say We Have Nothing) and one thing the authors in both books do is carefully manage the number of characters in the book to give the reader the experience of spending time on the page with each one. This book just became too ambitious and lost so much in the process.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Xenophobia, War, Sexism, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Death, and Colonisation

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Trafficking

thenoboshow's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, War, and Xenophobia

hannahyorkey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Pachinko is beautiful tale that spans 4 generations of a Korean family facing the burdens of war, poverty and discrimination when they move to Japan and are unable to return home. The omniscient pov allows you to connect with all of the characters and unobjectively understand and view their individual plights. The story was compelling and realistic and the characters were lovable in their own ways. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Miscarriage