Pachinko
Author: Min Jin Lee
Rating: ā 3/5
Date Read: 2018/06/19
Pages: 490
This is a hard book to rate, because there were things I truly enjoyed about it. The Japanese colonized Korea back in the day, if you didnāt know, and the history is pretty fascinating. Plus, Min Jin Lee is a capable writer, the kind that leads book-clubbers to proudly proclaim (while guzzling Pinot Grigio, no doubt) that they actually finished the book.
Actually, I thought this was a solid four-star read ā until I was almost finished with it. But I have to knock off 1/2 star for not sticking the landing, and another 1/2 star for Jesus. Because, my fucking god, there are a lot of heavy-handed references to Christianity in this book. As a point of reference, the majority of Koreans have no religious affiliation (just over 25% are Christian), and Japan is remarkably secular (Christians make up only 2.3% of the population). But parts of this book felt like theyād be better suited to a megachurch in Texas.
Not that thereās anything wrong with Christianity in books. One of my favorite books is an epic novel about the building of a cathedral. I once gifted a copy of Danteās Inferno to a high school crush, in an awkward flirtation only the bookish could understand (I thought it was romantic). John Donneās later poems definitely have a āhot for Jesusā thing going on, and I can dig it.
My issue is that Min Jin Lee seems convinced that a personās moral character is determined by whether they pray to the right imaginary friend. Characters are able to endure hardships because of god: okay, but a better writer would have written about the struggle. Half the major plot points in this book seem to involve the characters dealing with another terrible thing happening ā but all the good characters get through it even stronger, because they believe in god.
Maybe that sort of things resonates with Christians, I donāt really know because nothing about Christianity makes any sense. But I thought the writing was lazy when it could least afford to be, and that just doesnāt work for me. I thought this was a good poolside read, but nothing more.