{"id":7249,"date":"2017-02-06T12:52:33","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T12:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/?p=7249"},"modified":"2017-02-17T12:55:49","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T12:55:49","slug":"pachinko-by-min-jin-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/?p=7249","title":{"rendered":"Pachinko by Min Jin Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Published by Grand Central Books US\/ Apollo Books UK<\/strong><\/p>\n

7 February\/23 February 2017, 496pp<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reviewed by Elsbeth Lindner<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The taint of racism survives across generations and through history\u2019s seismic shifts, in Min Jin Lee\u2019s compelling saga of Korean immigrants in twentieth-century Japan. This epic tale of colonial domination and discrimination opens a window on suffering, both past and ongoing, that will perhaps come as a revelation to Western readers.<\/p>\n

Lee has done an impressive job of exposing the terrible consequences of Japan\u2019s invasion of Korea in 1910 and the ensuing fall out. Her long, \"\"<\/a>careful and tender narrative, simple in form, rests on a persuasive foundation of research while funneling information through four generations of a single family, starting with the fortunes of Hoonie, a Korean child born with a cleft palate and a twisted foot.<\/p>\n

Hoonie is 27 when Japan annexes Korea, beginning the systematic, implacable oppression of its people, forcing many into penury and others to move to Japan for survival, unaware of the ghettoization they will experience there. Such is the fate of Hoonie\u2019s beloved daughter Sunja whose youthful mistake \u2013 to fall under the spell of a charismatic older man, Hansu \u2013 will mould the future of his descendants down through the decades.<\/p>\n

Sunja becomes pregnant but Hansu cannot marry her \u2013 he already has a wife and three daughters. Disgraced herself and about to bring shame and ruin to her hardworking, widowed mother, an indefatigable innkeeper, Sunja is in despair until thrown a lifeline by a Korean pastor, Isak, whose frail health encourages him to save her through marriage, thereby giving his own, perhaps brief existence meaning. And so Sunja weds Isak and the couple moves to Japan, to start a new life in the home of Isak\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n

Such fairytale events occur on and off through this long story, but are easily overshadowed by the darker developments in the lives of Sunja, Isak, their family, children and acquaintances. In a culture that sees them as dirty, untrustworthy second-class citizens, and confines their opportunities accordingly, the family works for its survival, both religious and economic. War and tragedies closer to home overtake them. Yet Sunja\u2019s first child, Noa, and a second \u2013 fathered by Isak \u2013 named Mozasu grow up into thoughtful men with strong work ethics and moral dispositions. For complicated reason, both end up working in the less than honourable pachinko (gambling) business.<\/p>\n

Most memorable in its remoter and innocent first chapters, the novel can seem soapy at times, with drama and rescue \u2013 and loss \u2013 arriving at surprising speed. But Lee writes with a transparency that lends honesty to her characters, notably the women at the novel\u2019s heart. \u2018A woman\u2019s life is suffering\u2019 is the oft-quoted refrain of Sunja, her mother and her sister-in-law whose powers of endurance and generosity are tested to their limits. The female characters\u2019 sexuality are also explored with some frankness.<\/p>\n

This is a saga with an ambitious reach, and an element of literary depth that pushes the boundaries of its category. Lee\u2019s rural panoramas and teaming townscapes, her plotting, characters, energy and empathy all lift the book beyond the conventional. Its life lessons may be painful, but the reading experience is far from it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Elsbeth Lindner<\/p>\n

Lee has done an impressive job of exposing the terrible consequences of Japan\u2019s invasion of Korea in 1910 and the ensuing fall out. Her long, careful and tender narrative, simple in form, rests on a persuasive foundation of research while funneling information through four generations of a single family, starting with the fortunes of Hoonie, a Korean child born with a cleft palate and a twisted foot […] in Reviews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-fiction-and-non-fiction","category-notable-books","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7249"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7321,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7249\/revisions\/7321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}