Pachinko cover art

Pachinko

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Pachinko

By: Min Jin Lee
Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
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About this listen

Yeongdo, Korea - 1911. In a small fishing village on the banks of the East Sea, a club-footed, cleft-lipped man marries a 15-year-old girl. The couple have one child: their beloved daughter, Sunja.

When Sunja falls pregnant by a married yakuza, the family face ruin. But then, Isak, a Christian minister, offers her a chance of salvation: a new life in Japan as his wife. Following a man she barely knows to a hostile country in which she has no friends and no home, and whose language she cannot speak, Sunja's salvation is just the beginning of her story.

©2017 Min Jin Lee (P)2017 Hachette Audio Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking

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All stars
Most relevant  
I cared for the characters and learned a lot listening to this book. Well narrated.

Long but Compelling

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I enjoyed listening to this narration very much. The narrator bought the characters to life very well.

Great Narration

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I so loved this book although at times it was very sad. the reading was very good . To see in your mind's eye cruelty caused by war and the haves and have not.How you will always find goodness everywhere. The sadness of one woman's gratitude for a small life and her love of her children. sometimes the one you love the most does not always understand. Fantastic read

5star

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I was invested in the book from the very first page, Min Jin Lee managed to capture the essence of Korean life in Japanese beautifully. I would have loved to learned more about Korean and Japanese traditions, nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed reading Pachinko

Captivating

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This universal family saga of love and loss unfolds aross the backdrop of racial tensions, hardship, prejudice, imperialism, inequality. The trauma of war and gradual social change.

Well worth a listen! With good narration.

A captivating family saga

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Much slower paced than my usual but it allowed me to become really invested in the characters. Really interesting and moving insight into an unfamiliar culture.

Slow but worth it

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Pachinko is the sweeping tale of a Korean family as they find their way through an ever changing society through the expanse of the 20th century.

A solid piece of historical fiction we are transported to Korea and then quickly on to Japan, where societal events and issues (notably racism) are explored. However, while Pachinko is reasonably lengthy, it is spread too thinly. The events of WWII are over in the blink of an eye and we regularly jump through the years with little idea as to what has happened in the intervening period.

The characters who we meet at the start of the book are well rounded and it’s a joy to stick with them. As the cast expands over the years, the number becomes a little ambitious with the purpose of some of the protagonists apparently shoe-horned in to highlight an issue, rather than to add to the overall essence of the drama.

Overall, a reasonable read and one I’m surprised has been so widely praised (which includes Barack Obama, so I’m pretty sure it’s me who isn’t quite getting it). I listened to the audiobook and the narration is flawless if a little unengaging.

Solid Historical Fiction But Thinly Spread

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I’ve just finished the series on Appletv and couldn’t wait to get started in this audiobook. Beautifully written and narrated, it was a joy to listen to.

Absolutely wonderful

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I loved the pace of this novel. It didn’t drag at all and the plot moved along steadily. The characters were well described in depth and their individual stories were interesting. Each captured the periods of time in which they lived. It was a long listen but I was so invested in the story I was keen to find out what happened. Very enjoyable and I’ll watch TV series now

Wonderful family saga over 4 generations

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I immensely enjoyed this book! I loved the prose and the characters as well as the setting. The themes and topics explored.

Great book!

An amazing read/listen! Highly recommend

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