Min Jin Lee was born to be a writer. The words on the page sucks you in with an immediacy, compelling you to keep turning the pages. Pachinko makes you think. It is very layered. I have read family sagas before but not staged like this. It is a continous flow adding generations while allowing you access to the ones that came before.

I had not thought before about the creation of North Korea from a Korean perspective. Seeing how life was for Koreans in Japan during the 20th century was eye opening. I had not given it much thought before. I wonder what xenophobia is like now in Japan, given that Jin Lee goes up to the 1980s (which was not THATTT long ago). The overt and subtle xenophobia is what peaked my interest toward the end of the book. The way a few of the character internalize it, and use it to accept their place in Japanese society made me go "mhmm" often.

The dichotomy between Solomon and Phoebe as it relates to their experiences as Koreans in foregin places was also fasinating. Readers see that while you can be of the same ethnicity, your environment places a large part in your perspection of the world.

My favorite characters were Sunja, Yangjin, (adult) Mozasu and Yumi. All of the characters complex and nuanced. Jin Lee crafts the book so that readers can see the layers of every character. Each one has depth. I thought all the secondary characters were crafted well.

The book dragged towards the end. I wondered where Jin Lee was going with it, especially since it was character driven. I was wondering 'how many more characters can see add??"

Pachinko is complex with many many themes. Worth the read.