Pachinko | 
so-soThere are books that tell of a life lived. This is one of those books. You leave it feeling like you‘ve lived alongside the character as the young become old. There is some loss and there is some gain, but not enough to feel either tragic nor triumphant. It doesn‘t even feel like there is a plot as much as time just passing by. Even the backdrop of the war, just drums along in the background, as an unavoidable part of life.
pickA fascinating novel about a piece of history of which I was unaware. This story follows several generations of a family who are Koreans in Japan. The first generation are migrants and the rest are descendants who never fit in or are completely accepted. Excellent writing which made me invested in the characters.
Oh. Oh no .. 😂.
pickRich family saga spanning 1910-1989. I didn‘t know much about Korea and Japan during this time—so interesting!
pick
I take such pleasure in a historical fiction novel as expertly written as this. And I really love a multigenerational drama. So this story of one family during Japan's occupation of Korea and beyond was wonderful perfection. I can't wait to read more of Lee's work.
1. Pachinko. Because it gave me the most to think on and consider about my own pre-conceived notions and biases. It also got into the racism in Japan that is mostly ignored by the West.
2. Not wholly DNFed yet, but I haven‘t torn through Children of Anguish and Anarchy the way I did the first books of the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy. The chapters are so short and all a different POV. I feel thrashed around as a result.
#wonderouswednesday
pickMy mom said Pachinko was a MUST READ and it‘s been on my TBR list for about a year now. Recently I‘d asked Scout (the AI Fable bird) for books based in Japan and this book overlapped as a suggestion. I just finished it and my heart is in my throat. It is beautiful and sad and tells a history that is not well-known. It‘s a lot to process but while I sift through my thoughts, I already know this book will remain as one of my top favorite reads.
pickI know I'm late to the party with this one, but, wow, it really lives up to the hype! I can definitely see myself rereading it someday.
@JacqMac what a lovely #littlechristmasswap to unwrap after my first day back to school. I LOVE shortbread and I will definitely be breaking my sugar fast to consume them! The kitty bookhugger is adorable. The tea sounds divine and the book has been on my tbr list forever. Thanks so much for such a thoughtful swap package.
Thanks for organizing such a fun swap @bookish_wookish !
pickLife is nothing but a game of luck and chance. A moving generational saga weaving Korean and Japanese cultures, touching upon themes of love, loss, colonialism, colonial hangovers, change, identity, war, and so much else. Beautifully written with memorable characters. Leaves much to think about at the end. Great narration on Audible.
so-soLikely an #unpopularopinion but while I liked & appreciated much about this story of a Korean family‘s life in Japan, I didn‘t love it. I suspect that has something to do with the scope & breadth of the story which follows four generations—the sheer number of characters means that many often get surface treatment, motivations sometimes remain elusive, & it‘s easy to feel disconnected from them. Not bad, but I was hoping for more emotional depth.
This has been on my TBR list FOREVER (apologies to my mother who recommended it years ago) and tonight‘s the night. We‘re finishing up our fantastic Norwegian adventure and tonight we have some down time so it‘s me, Oslo, and the tagged book.
Oof. Do you think they‘ll rescind my MLIS?
pickI didn't know that Japan controlled Korea for 35 years and the ramifications for the Koreans living inside and outside of Japan of which still exist.
I knew very little about the history and relationship between these two countries and I learnt so much reading this and it's tie in with Germany and WW2 really expanded what knowledge I did have.
Within these pages we travel from Korea to Japan through four generations of the same family.
pickI stayed up past my bedtime to finish and I have to teach today #ineverlearn but it‘s just so good and I had to see it end. Sometimes it felt like it did weird jumps in time, and sometimes I thought bad things would happen and they didn‘t and sometimes awful things happened and I‘d think “what the hell was that for?” But overall I really liked it
This is the second time Iv picked this one up and tried and failed 😣 to engage , it‘s not for me I‘m afraid, I thought the island of sea women was a far superior story and far more informative about Korean history and far more engaging , I made it to chapter 7 this time but now know it‘s off to the charity shop !
I am loving this book. These are my special reading snacks
so-soI love the author‘s focus on her minor characters most, which gives this Korean family‘s saga (from the early 1900s Japanese colonial period of a once undivided Korea to modern day Osaka/Tokyo/Yokohama) a broad, sweeping quality, but the side-stories dead-end, which is frustrating. I appreciate this peek into the Korean-Japanese experience and how the tides of one woman‘s shame, her survival, discrimination, and globalization mold a family.
Almost the end of March but never too late for #koreanmarch🇰🇷 I remember picking this book just after its release but halfway through I got busy with work and stopped reading. I remember the story being absolutely amazing and I was so invested in the plot and the characters especially Sunja. Waiting to finish this book now alternating with the audiobook so that I can start watching the drama starring Lee Min Ho!
pickThe story followed a Korean family, starting in Korea and ending in Japan. Covering a time period of 4 generations, there are a lot of hard topics, but it didn‘t feel like any were focused on too much as it was about the family during those times.
I don‘t really know how to describe it better… but I enjoyed it 😂
#FoodAndLit
pickHoonie is born in the late 1800s with a cleft palate and twisted foot but he‘s very strong, a hard worker, and loyal to his wife Yangjin. Their only surviving child is Sunja, and this book mainly tells her life story, her mother Yangjin‘s story, and Sunja‘s children and grandchildren through the late 1980s. Pachinko, a game of chance, makes this poor family eventually very wealthy. I like family histories but this one didn‘t work well me. ⬇️
I wrapped up this audiobook tonight with my little reading buddy. #SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
I‘ve read five books so far and am on my sixth book for #NewZealand for #foodandlit. So I‘m ready to get a head start for next month, #SouthKorea, starting with the tagged audiobook. @Catsandbooks
pickA multi-generational story of a Korean family trying to locate home in foreign lands. What really is home after all? The writing is easy, honest, authentic. At times I felt I was reading history rather than fiction. The characters felt genuine, their sufferings felt genuine, their dreams were genuine too. Definitely a long read but worth it.
I texted author Lisa See for advice on finding a book to read for #SouthKorea for #foodandlit because I ❤️ her book Island of Sea Women set in Korea. She answered and suggested the tagged book, which has been on my tbr list. So…there you go. I‘ve been following See on instagram for a long time now and she‘s liked my comments before. So I thought, heck, what if she answers? Nice, right?
I think I might like the tv show better than the book, just because I feel we get more time with the characters. The book was good but I felt unsatisfied with the ending, it felt a bit abrupt.
Today I had the pleasure of joining a South Korean book club that my Canadian-Korean friend invited me to attend. They zoomed at 5am to accommodate the time change for myself and my friend (we live in Alberta). I am so grateful to these Korean women who gave me a whole new perspective on this beautiful book.
pickI liked this, but not sure I felt it lived up to the hype. Started out strong, but I felt it got progressively weaker as it progressed and was maybe longer than it needed to be. I‘ve started watching the series adaptation (with subtitles) and have been enjoying it so far.
pickAmazing book from the beginning until the end.
80 years of a Japanese family where the women are strong in a masculine world.
During this 80 years, a lot of things happen , civil war, love, tears, no food.. however, how these women family survive to all of it, with their sons love in their middle
I rolled over last month‘s #doublespin to my September TBR, but I should have put it back on the shelf last month. From the little I‘ve managed to read I believe all the praise, but this is a case of #rightbookwrongtime. For months now I haven‘t been able to concentrate on this type of quiet narrative with lots of characters, but it‘s waiting in my audible library and I plan to come back to it someday when I can keep the cast straight in my mind.
#MayMontage #Generational This has been on my shelf for a while but I‘m really looking forward to finding time for it in the next few months! I keep hearing such great things! @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
“Living everyday in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage.”
pickWell all of you who were saying #finankitten was sitting on this book to spare my feelings were absolutely correct😭 I generally have a hard time with multigenerational stories because I like sticking with one character‘s perspective but this one had such an ease of transferring the main story lines from one generation to the next. Absolutely heart wrenching and a must read. Stunning writing!
In other news Pachinko is loved not only by myself but by #finankitten as well🥰 this is not staged he just likes sitting on books 😆 my kind of cat❤️
Started this book this weekend after finishing The Last Graduate and boy is it a hefty read so far😅 beautifully written though. It‘s been on my TBR for years and I‘m finally getting around to it🤍 Coffee added for extra support☕️
pick😀About 4 generations of stories, starting with a teen daughter in 1900s. It starts from the journey of Korea to Japan in the coloniazation of the japanese emperor. If you like books that are non fiction, this book can be good to read. A theme in this story is sacifice for that the families are sacificing something so their children can live a normal way of life.
bailed