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"Pachinko," by Min Jin Lee, is the first great read of 2018, and the first book that truly merits a place on The New York Times Ten Best Books Of 2017 List. If I had read it in 2017, it certainly would have been on mine.
Imagine--in this day and age, girls--a panoramic, Japan-Korea "Gone With The Wind" type epic, with scope, sweep, memorable characters, incidents of high drama--and all beautifully researched and written. I did not think such a thing was possible in this day and age, but "Pachinko" proved me wrong. In fact, now I want to go back--later in the year--and read Lee's first novel, "Free Food For Millionaires," which, at the time, I dismissed as Asian Chick Lit, on the level of Lisa See. Whom I have read, and is not bad, but not as a steady diet, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunja is one of the most memorable heroines in fiction. The novel spans over half a century of time, in the twentieth, and from the memorable opening sentence, "History has failed us, but no matter," the reader is swept away into a story that takes one's breath away. Along with the story, much is learned about both the Korean and Japanese cultures. Mysteriously, Gojira fails to get a mention, but if you thought, as I did, that the novel's title refers to a character's name, you have a lot to learn. And you will.
This is one of those novels that gives pure pleasure on all levels. The kind that holds the reader so breathless and in thrall that one's spouse--and mine did--will have to extract the book from one's hands to get anything else done. I held on tenaciously.
"Pachinko" is not to be missed. Get a copy, settle in, and give yourselves a treat!
Yes, this kind of fiction is still possible! Thank God!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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