Why read on Fable?
Publisher Description
A New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year and National Book Award finalist, Pachinko is an "extraordinary epic" of four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family as they fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan (San Francisco Chronicle).
NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017 * A USA TODAY TOP TEN OF 2017 * JULY PICK FOR THE PBS NEWSHOUR-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB NOW READ THIS * FINALIST FOR THE 2018DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE* WINNER OF THE MEDICI BOOK CLUB PRIZE
Roxane Gay's Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
"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.
NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017 * A USA TODAY TOP TEN OF 2017 * JULY PICK FOR THE PBS NEWSHOUR-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB NOW READ THIS * FINALIST FOR THE 2018DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE* WINNER OF THE MEDICI BOOK CLUB PRIZE
Roxane Gay's Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
"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*
592 Reviews
4.0
ايدا
Created 5 days agoShare
Report
“One thing that I like about this book is about how well the characters was written. How they have things that they're not good at but they have another things that they really good at. For example, Mozasu was not a good student but he's really good in his job as a Pachinko manager. And this book show the struggles of Korean even after they have become an independence country for example Noa who feel the need to become a Japanese just to feel the freedom.”Characters change and growBeautifully writtenDescriptive writingRealistic settingHeartbreakingRomanticMisogynySexual assaultViolence
Kait
Created 4 months agoShare
Report
“I loved this book. I was completely hooked from the beginning. I learned so much about Korean and Japanese history, as well as gained perspective on intergenerational trauma for immigrant families. This book is definitely complex and I found it moving a little too quickly towards the end that didn’t feel as complete as prior parts - but it kept me hooked and wanting more. I didn’t want it to end.”Reviewed in:Cutie club 🥰
Believable charactersCharacters change and growDiverse charactersLikable charactersAddictiveHeartbreaking
Tasha
Created 4 months agoShare
Report
“Overall I did enjoy reading this. With that being said, it was very slow paced at times. It did teach me a lot in regards to Japan/Korea, etc. Since it is more of a historical fiction, I did find it a bit depressing to read the hardships everyone had to go through.”Reviewed in:Cutie club 🥰
Believable charactersCharacters change and growLikable charactersRelatable charactersComplexTragicHistorically-accurateRealistic settingInformativeInsightful
Alicia
Created 4 months agoShare
Report
“Min Jin Lee’s writing style and the overall theme of the book has taught me a lot about Korean immigrants in Japan during the WWII era — a setting and time period that is not taught in our education systems. I found myself unknowing relating to some of the characters, in our struggles of assimilation and various traumas as immigrants. Although this book was beautifully written, I personally had issues with the pacing at some parts and found that this book is not an easy read for beginners.”Reviewed in:Cutie club 🥰
Believable charactersMorally ambiguousRelatable charactersOriginal writingComplexTragicUnpredictable
Melissa
Created 4 months agoShare
Report
“I have to admit that while this book wasn’t my first choice, I am very grateful to have read it. I never realized the issues between Korea and Japan, it’s like our history classes only discussed the US involvement in Korea and never the other issues at play. I found this book to be addictive to read and almost too fast for a large book. I kept wanting to know more about every character and everything they faced; I’m actually sad it ended. I guess that’s a testament to the exceptional author.”Reviewed in:Cutie club 🥰
Believable charactersLikable charactersBeautifully writtenComplexHeartbreakingHeartbreakingInformativeThought-provoking
About Min Jin Lee
Min Jin Lee is a recipient of fellowships in Fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation (2018) and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard (2018-2019). Her novel Pachinko (2017) was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, a runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, winner of the Medici Book Club Prize, and one of the New York Times' "Ten Best Books of 2017." A New York Times bestseller, Pachinko was also one of the "Ten Best Books" of the year for BBC and the New York Public Library, and a "best international fiction" pick for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In total, it was on over seventy-five best books of the year lists, including NPR, PBS, and CNN, and it was a selection for Now Read This, the joint book club of PBS NewsHour and the New York Times. Pachinko will be translated into twenty-seven languages. Lee's debut novel Free Food for Millionaires (2007) was one of the best books of the year for the Times of London, NPR's Fresh Air, and USA Today, and it was a national bestseller. Her writings have appeared in the New Yorker, NPR's Selected Shorts, One Story, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, the Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian, Condé Nast Traveler, the Times of London, andthe Wall Street Journal. Lee served three consecutive seasons as a Morning Forum columnist of the Chosun Ilbo of South Korea. In 2018, she was named as one of Adweek's Creative 100 for being one of the "ten writers and editors who are changing the national conversation," and one of the Guardian's Frederick Douglass 200. She received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Monmouth College. She will be a Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College from 2019-2022.
Start a Book Club
Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!FAQ
Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?
Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?
How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?
Do you sell physical books too?
Are book clubs free to join on Fable?
How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?
Similar Books
Save to a list
0
/30
0
/100
Private List
