city at night

city at night

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Pachinko

Even when I am in Mexico I read a bit each night before turning out the light.  I recently finished a book that I had started on the flight down here.  "Pachinko" is a historical novel by Korean-American writer Min Jin Lee.


The story is a multi-generational family saga that take takes place between the years 1910 and 1989.  In 1910 Korea was annexed as a part of the Japanese Empire.  Young Sunja, who is unmarried and pregnant, marries Isak, a Presbyterian minister who wishes to give the child a name.  The two of them move to Osaka, Japan, where they encounter discrimination from the Japanese.  Life is a struggle and filled with tragedy through the war years, and after the war Sunja's children and grandchildren seek to make a better life for the family.

It is an excellent novel, and portrays a page of history, the plight of the Koreans in Japan, of which I was unaware.  I guess prejudice and discrimination exist in every culture.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with you. It was a fascinating and interesting book about a subject that I knew nothing about! Learn something new everyday.

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