Pachinko

Pachinko is a really good generational historical fiction story set in an era I knew virtually nothing about. Starting in Korea in the 1930's and spanning to the late 1980's it follows a Korean family who immigrated to Japan and their struggle to survive and find a place and home in a country that constantly reminded them of their foreign status despite multiple generations having grown up in and even born in Japan. It's eye opening, heartbreaking and yet somehow quietly inspirational too. I learned a lot and yet there is a very human side to the story that prevents it from just being historically factual. The characters are mostly well formed and will make you both want to throw the book in frustration at them and hope and cheer for them. It's an emotional roller coaster. The only things that prevented it from being a full five stars was the fact that it was a bit slow and draggy in parts and went off on a few unnecessary tangents here and there that prolonged the story further out than it needed to be. Also just a personal preference for books that have a more poetic language, I found this very plain writing and that could certainly be due to the translation and nature of the story so not really a nock against it, but a personal preference on my part. Definitely recommend reading Pachinko though, it is a very worthwhile read on many levels.