Pachinko is an epic that tells the story of Korean people in Japan through the lens of one family, struggling to make ends meet against the backdrop of World War 2 and its aftermath.

I found it to be a very illuminating story, particularly because I don’t know all that much about the plight of Korean refugees to Japan, or their modern-day descendants. The first half of the book is very engaging, and although there’s no shortage of struggle and strife, it is all written with a sort of ethereal grace that I found very captivating. Sunjaa in particular strikes me as a tough and fascinating character, someone who is capable of surviving even in the face of very thin odds. And her son Noa, though a good deal more annoying, also emerges as a fascinating case study of what it means to be a stranger in one’s own land, and indeed in one’s own life.

However, as the book winds its way through the late twentieth century, everything seems to fall apart. The plot becomes more melodramatic. The characters are a lot more inscrutable. The larger meaning of the book and its title come into focus - but that meaning itself seems to be rather slapdash; it all seems to amount to “sometimes life sucks, huh?” On the whole it winds up being unsatisfying.

I’m nevertheless glad I read this book, I just wish that it could have been a good deal more focused.