I agree that the first half of the book was strongest. For some reason, I had the feeling early on that the book was not going to follow a tradition story arc, so perhaps it didn’t irritate me as much.
As I mentioned upthread, I listened to the audiobook and had the thought it was like short fairy tales or vignettes. The theme, or moralizing tale in (all? most?) the vignettes seems to be about inheriting your destiny, or having bad blood, or shame on the family lowering your self-worth or prospects. Apologies if I’m repeating myself.
@VeryHappy I thought Hana’s life was thrown off-course by the actions of her mother, Etzuko (sp). Hana’s mom was sleeping around and got caught. The marriage broke up and subsequently, the children were “damaged goods” by having a “bad mother”. Hana acted out in self-destructive ways.
Also @VeryHappy I might not be remembering this correctly, but I thought Noa got a one-two punch from that saucy girlfriend of his? Your benefactor is a Yak, and boy, you two sure look alike, that’s your dad isn’t it? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I didn’t think Noa really knew Hansu was Yakusa.
I don’t understand why Noa left university or why he wanted to disappear and pass for Japanese, unless that is what he thought would “cleanse” him. I don’t understand why he invited Sunja to his office. I don’t understand the suicide at all.
@Midwest67: I noticed when you first mentioned the idea of short fairy tales or vignettes. I’ve thought about it off and on since seeing your post: I like the idea. I may have liked the book better if I had read it with that in mind. I almost wish I had gone the audiobook route.
@doschicos: “I agree that the Pachinko book title, connection to and opportunity for wealth creation by Koreans in Japan made for a good title and underlying theme for the book. Pretty genius actually.”
@Mary13 There are a couple forest preserves in the Chicago area that have a reputation as anonymous hook-up spots, mostly male homosexual, but probably not exclusively. I assumed the park by the cemetery was something similar. A place to hook up for anonymous sex, maybe or maybe not money being exchanged. I didn’t think it was an orgy.
@VeryHappy@Mary13 Was Hansu being loving or controlling? How about practical? He knew Sunja did not want to accept his help, but Hansu wanted her family and his son to be safe. He moved levers and made arrangements so he could help them in ways they would not be aware of, or would find difficult to refuse.
I’m not convinced Hansu loved Sunja. But he definitely felt a certain special way when he was around her or thought about her. Was it because she was a simple rural Korean girl from back home? Did she remind him of his childhood?
Hansu’s beating of the female escort in the car was jarring. She was everything Sunja was not.
I thought the book had a number of good quotes. Here is one having to do with a major theme: “The penalties incurred for the mistakes you made had to be paid out in full to the members of your family”.
^ Yes. Although the writing could be a little dry at times (this was less noticeable with the audio book), there were certain descriptions I enjoyed, such as Phoebe’s “enormous extended family felt like cheerfully mismatched Lego bricks in a large bucket” (p. 449).
@Mary13, you might just be sheltered! Back in the 1980s The Rambles in Central Park was well known as a gay hangout. (And apparently had been for ages and still is to some extent.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ramble_and_Lake
I liked so much of about 60% of this book and then I just did not like it at all.
I was so happy when it ended.
I did not really like any of the characters in the end.
I just finished Exit West–I liked it better but also was happy to have it end.
I felt the same about Education --but the boring part was in the middle.
Loved THE DRY–and I do not usually enjoy mysteries at all.
I have found too many times that authors just runs out of steam.
In Pachinko there were too many names and relationships and too many years covers–so
that in the end those last years were basically skimmed.
I admire all of you who have hung in with this book. When I finished I realized there was
not a single character I really cared about which made me sad.
“But please…tell me: What was with the park behind the cemetery? Is the outdoor orgy a cultural thing or have I just led a sheltered existence?”
Agree with others that I’ve heard this is a thing in American cities.
I do think Japanese historically have had a reputation for a much less prudish view towards sex mores as well for more “deviant” types. The sex trade is still very prevalent and accepted more than in US culture. Maybe because the Christian views towards sex aren’t really a factor there?
I did find that whole sex in the park foray pretty gratuitous though and actually thought the same for some other parts of the book involving sex. I’m not sure what it added to the storyline or why it was necessary as it didn’t seem to move the story forward in any important way. Same with Haruki’s homosexuality. It never became an integral part of the plot IMO. All this just feeds into my feelings about the lack of character development and the lack of emotional connectedness for the reader that I thought were flaws with the novel.
I totally agree. I didn’t understand why part of the plot was her going there, being approached by the beautiful girl, being intrigued, and then being repulsed (or scared?). She was a minor character, and I just didn’t see the point.
Do Japanese seek Park sex because they live in small spaces ? This is one topic I’m not googling to find out. I watched an Anthony Bourdain travel show about Japan and even HE said Japanese were into kinky, sick sex.
It bothered me that the last third of the book seemed so different from the first part? Did Min Lee decide she needed to make the book spicier, drank some wine and wrote the Hana character? the Hansu awful beating of the young girl? ( I agree with @mary13- he was Yakusa then to me! I was done with him )
If you listen to the you tube Martha Vineyard video Caroline Kennedy swoons about Hansu as such a romantic character up there with Rochester ( Jane eyre) Darcy ( Pride and Prejudice) and I thought Caroline did you miss the limosine beating ???
Did Min Lee write these last awful chapters to reflect the changing degradation of society ? Hana, HIV, park sex, Noa abandoning his mother, brother,
Yangjin’s viscious words spoken on her deathbed, was a jarring scene, like Noa’s sudden death.
Perhaps Min Lee made every character “good and bad” ? Multi faceted ?
Side note- in one of you tube clips she explains she rewrote the book over years, actually decades. Her Original idea was to have Solomon as the main character, but when she moved to Japan in 2008- she met the older hard working women and then Sunja became the main character, who is the character I cared about the most.
I think everyone here agrees the book rambles, goes off track, is a sloppy mess, probably because it’s been revamped and rewritten for decades.
"Caroline Kennedy swoons about Hansu as such a romantic character "
Romantic?! What was romantic about him? I wouldn’t consider any part of his relationship with Sunja romantic. Quite the opposite. It was always all about him.
“she explains she rewrote the book over years, actually decades”
I saw mention of that in the notes at the end. It made me wonder how bad the original version was if it took years of rewriting to get to this - or was it better…
So why so much critical acclaim I wonder… I don’t really get it.
^ @VeryHappy, I agree there wasn’t a point to Ayame in terms of the narrative – it’s more like Min Jin Lee wanted to include every single aspect of Japanese and/or Korean culture in the novel, and used peripheral characters more as representations than as fleshed-out characters.
This question really resonated with me because I found the concept of “shame” in the book to be overwhelming. It begins immediately, with Hoonie (the shame of being deformed) to Sunja (the shame of being an unwed mother) to Kyunghee (the shame of being barren) to Noa (the shame of being the son of a yakuza) to Haruki (the shame of being gay) to Totoyama (the shame of having a mentally disabled son) to Risa (the shame of having a parent commit suicide). The list goes on and on. In so many ways, the characters are crippled by shame – they won’t allow themselves to feel joy or pride; they can never simply let go of mistakes made by themselves or their loved ones.
I have recommended the book to several friends! Uh-oh! I’ll have to quickly add a disclaimer!
Although she eventually gave in, I was curious why Sunja refused Hansu’s help. Sure, she wanted to be free of him, and take care of her family on her own, but I don’t recall her being particularly worried that would taint her family or worried that Noa had bad blood.
Oh, upthread someone suggested Phoebe get a job. That was addressed directly in the book. Soloman & Mozazu we talking about Soloman marrying Phoebe and whether she liked Japan. Soloman says finding work in Japan would be next to impossible for Phoebe, because she is Korean American & doesn’t speak Japanese. Another example of someone being an outsider and unable to break through.
@Midwest67, I would still recommend it! I think the book is a great one for discussion despite – or because of – its flaws. Even taking into account our many frustrations, it’s still quite a tale.
I do agree that everyone seemed to be ashamed of something - and also that it’s something that is not a very American trait, so I had trouble relating, but that’s one of the reasons to read something that reflects a different culture.
I never thought Caroline Kennedy was very bright, this just confirms it! I thought Hansu was an interesting character, but not romantic at all, and not just because he mistreated the woman in the cab. I did not find the scenes where he seduces Sunja at all sexy. He really took advantage of her. What I liked about him was that he does feel fond of her and feels guilty enough that he wants to set her up and he continues to help her secretly even after she’s rejected his help, but she and Isak clearly can’t survive on their own. But there are enough asides about how he shakes down businesses to make you realize he’s just a mobster who is really only good to people he considers part of his family.
