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Always Pouting's Reviews > Pachinko
Pachinko
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While reading the book I was quite immersed and didn't want to put it down. I think the writing was pretty good and I was able to lose myself in the plot. I do think it felt quite long at times, as do other historical fiction novels when they follow multiple generations, but it was understandable here since it was following Korean colonization by the Japanese into the present. I did find the book less strong towards the end. I didn't love how things played out with Noa or Solomon to be honest but especially Solomon. I don't know how to explain it but the ending didn't feel like it fit in with the rest of the book. I think its because pachinko didnt come across to me as some unifying idea or theme in the book so it felt weird and clunky that Noa ends up working in the pachinko business as well and that Solomon is implied to end up doing it also at the end of the novel. Maybe I'm missing some context or deeper meaning but I think the feeling that is awkward stems from the fact that pachinko isn't even part of the narrative until what feels like much later on in the book and it doesn't itself feel important to the plot outside being how Mozasu earns money. Anyway happy to hear explanations on what I may have missed since I don't know much about pachinko itself.
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Reading Progress
July 8, 2020
– Shelved
July 8, 2020
– Shelved as:
to-read
February 19, 2021
–
Started Reading
February 25, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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Nilanjana
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Jun 29, 2021 10:58PM
Intriguing review
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The original planned title for this book was Motherland but the author changed it to Pachinko because it was such a recurring theme when she spoke to many Koreans while doing research for the book.For me the link is to do with chance vs luck and an overall theme of determinism. Pachinko is a luck based game but it also involves and element of skill, in theory if one studies a machine enough they can predict where the balls will fall and increase their chances of winning. This is why Mozasu uses a hammer to subtlety alter the pins at the end of each day to ensure that the house always wins.
This can be equated to the ways that the Korean characters believe that with enough practice they can be accepted into Japanese society even though they continue to be discriminated against and manipulated to ensure that they will never be seen as equal.
Pachinko is also a unifying theme as one of the few ways that Koreans in Japan can achieve any degree of success. Many of the characters want to believe that with the right education or training that they can be recognised as equal but as Solomon's story shows this is not the case even for a wealthy American educated Korean.
