Pachinko, by MinJin Lee

Published February 2017 by Head of Zeus. 

Cover art by Tom Hallman

This is a call for the YS bookclub, to read the book and share our thoughts by our founder and current Treasurer, Veronique Killian: 

Pachinko is the title of the book that I received from Young Sietar member Clair Aghassipour for my birthday. It was an excellent read on holiday and I am very impressed with the writing skills of the autor Min Jin Lee. She writes about identity, selfworth and personal development in a intercultural context, including stereotyping and discrimination. Min Jin Lee published the book in 2017. It is an epic historical fiction novel following a Korean family who immigrates to Japan. 

With the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of Korea, Pachinko follows the lives of a family living in Korea that re-establishes itself in Japan. The narrative progresses through the years and the events of WWII. Even as the story near modern day, its characters are never quite free of their history and the events of the past. As a reader I was invited to love the characters, invited into their thoughts, behavior as if one was looking deeply inside. 

Pachinko was a 2017 finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction.

In this book one gets a taste of the historic background and intercultural context of the time, and how the book originated to shed light on these intercultural groups. 

Meanwhile, the story has been adapted into a miniseries produced by Apple TV and a documentary about Min Jin Lee was made using both English and Korean languages. 

Who wants to be caught by this book and share together what it brought up?