"Life is like a pinball machine. You never know which direction it will take.

Well, what a terrific surprise this book was for me. It’s been sitting on my shelves since its release but I’m so glad that I have finally decided to read it.
I was so enthralled by this book that I could have read it in one sitting, regardless of its size (496 pages).
I confess that I was a bit discouraged, not just because of some bad reviews, but because the previous four books that I tried to read were completely abandoned, left unfinished. I thought that I was facing one of those reading slumps.
Now I know for sure that that was not the problem. All I needed was to find something like this book, to hooked me from the very beginning.
Now, what I really find interesting here is that for the first time ever, I can’t complain about the lack of depth of the characters.
The story is told by an omniscient narrator.
The way the author told the mundane day to day life was clever enough to make me feel connected with each one. I was quite mesmerized. And not once I felt bored or lost interest.
The writing is very simple but delightful.
The storyline and its development was very engaging and clever and not melodramatic.
This epic saga of a Korean family facing poverty, racism, immigration and the horrors of war, cover the years between 1910 and 1989. The story was heartbreaking and believable.
It’s a story of family, love and resilience, hopes and dreams. The constant search for something better.

But although I loved every single page, this is not a flawless book. There are huge gaps between the years and you know nothing about what happened between.

Some readers may be offended by its sexual content and language, but I was not disturbed by it (and there isn’t a lot of it - believe me, compared to Harold Robins or even Irving Wallace this book is far from shocking).

Also some readers may see it as sexist, but the new generation have no idea how sexist the world was back then (well, it still is).

Some readers warned me of a disappointing ending, but I was not disappointed at all, perhaps because I had no expectations.

But flawless or not, this book worked for me and it just took the crown as my favourite book of this year (out of 36), beating “The House in the Cerulean Sea�, by T J Kline.

I’m so looking forward to watching the TV series (8 episodes), which starts on Match 25, 2022, on Apple TV."

"

History has failed us, but no matter.

Look, I get it. A lot of people won't be interested in this book because they have no idea what pachinko means and what exactly is going on with that cover, anyway? We are highly susceptible to marketing techniques and the cover and title give us pretty much nothing. But hear me out for a minute because this book is really good.

This is a historical family saga set in Korea and Japan throughout the 20th century. It follows four generations of a Korean family through the political turmoil of Japanese colonization, the hardship of wartimes, seeking a new and better life in Japan, and witnessing the home they left become divided into two countries they hardly recognize.

As someone who knows very little about Korean history, this book was absolutely fascinating. Rich, detailed characterization draws us into the lives of these people and, at least for me, teaches us a chapter of modern history we might not have been aware of.

Many Koreans found themselves forced to move to Japan to find jobs for their families, but they faced discrimination and disgusting living conditions when they arrived. Pachinko, we soon find out, is a kind of Japanese arcade game, and working in a pachinko parlor was considered a typical job for a Korean looking to get ahead. Many Japanese looked down upon pachinko parlor workers, viewing them as shady and dishonest - or just, you know, Korean.

And this is something Solomon must understand. We can be deported. We have no motherland. Life is full of things he cannot control so he must adapt. My boy has to survive.

It was both interesting and deeply saddening to hear about what these people went through, how easy it was for Koreans to be imprisoned indefinitely without trial. And after years of hardship and discrimination, after pushing through and finally earning enough money to have stability, many could never go back. Korean-Japanese (third, fourth, fifth generation even) were refused citizenship in Japan but most came from North Korea, a place they could no longer safely return to.

This is both a fictional and a true story. The fictional characters the author creates come sparking off the page - from the resilient Sunja who once foolishly believed in the love of an older man, to Noa who will never quite recover from the dishonor of his lineage, to Solomon who is still trying to escape the negative stereotypes associated with Koreans many years after his grandmother arrived in Japan. And it is a true story because much of this book was the reality for many Koreans.

A deeply affecting read and a look at an area of history oft-forgotten outside of East Asia.

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