pachinko by min jin lee | a bittersweet, rich layer cake
a preface:
how reading a book is like eating a cake
i started reading again, after a very, very long time. by reading i mean: reading properly, deeply. cherishing the experience of holding a paper book, and making my way through it. reading as a tactile, sensuous experience. and in doing so, i found a feeling that i haven’t felt since childhood: that of taking pleasure in reading, the way I’d take pleasure in eating an indulgent slice of cake: slowly, bite by bite; not wanting it to end.
there is an addiction to reading that feels different than watching an addictive TV series. the mind does the work. it creates a world as i go — a world that is always fluid, nebulous, changing. in doing so, i felt the power of a book as a magic portal, or a book as nutritious, delicious food. i felt the comfort of having it to turn to, when i wanted (or needed) an escape from the outside world. and i felt the freedom of being able to travel in my head without touching a single screen, and consuming something which only adds to the depth and complexity of my inner universe.
pachinko: overall impression
this book was the most absorbing book i’ve read in a long time — in that it pulled me in and i couldn’t stop reading. to put it simply, it’s about family love over four generations; against vast historical shifts; it’s about wealth and poverty; the immigrant experience; the experience of being existentially nation-less, country-less. a desire to provide.
reference
google books description: Pachinko is the second novel by Harlem-based author and journalist Min Jin Lee. Published in 2017, Pachinko is an epic historical fiction novel following a Korean family who immigrates to Japan. Wikipedia
pages: 490
genre: historical fiction
flavors of the book
rich — a sensuous world, full of tactile details
bittersweet — in that it made me cry, several times, in a particularly asian flavor of hardship
slightly sour — as in, showing how fate is at times cruel
indulgent — purely pleasure, enjoyable, full of suspense
complex — multiple perspectives, intertwining narrativeas
layers
an addictive love saga (+ several love stories) intertwining over time
a complex meditation on the immigrant experience
a wealth of omniscent perspectives across generations
a wheel of fortune of fate & destiny - full of death, marriage, birth
new portals opened
this book made me think differently about
time — measured in decades, not in days.
family — as the most enduring bond there is.
love — as acts of devotion and sacrifice
how i ate this book
where i got it | borrowed from viv, my brother albert’s girlfriend.
started reading | standing on the pier in wilmington, NC. sunday ~12pm
finished reading | in my parent’s house. tuesday 11pm
total time | less than 3 days
other notes
I saw that they just made an Apple TV series on this book, but I watched the trailer and felt so happy that I read it first — my characters that I created via the engine of my imagination feel way more “real” to me than the casting for this TV series (though perhaps, every fanatic reader feels this way… )
overall recommendation
highly recommend — if you want an engrossing, gripping work of fiction, with some appetite for the suffering of family love & the workings of fate.