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I finished this book months ago, and I'm still thinking about it. The smallest things reminds me of its characters and their separate tragedies; small pieces of history that I never knew anything about.

Pachinko is a family saga, telling the story of a Korean family's hardships in Japan during � and after � the Second World War. The Korean families become trapped in a small space between Japan and Korea; never properly accepted as Japanese, and still too foreign to be considered Korean when visiting their old country. Always longing for a place to fit in, while realising that such a place will never exists.

Ultimately, Pachinko is a story of identity. Of traditions and history. And of man's cruelty towards anything or anyone that seems different.

�Living everyday in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage�

Lee writes beautifully, creating sympathetic characters and spinning heartless fates. The book maneuvers expertly through four generations and paints a vivid picture of their hardships, relationships and constant battle to fit into a society that doesn't even acknowledge their existence.

It's one of the best historical novels I've ever read.