Pachinko - Book Review

(11 of 2021)

📚

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

📚

At the cost of repetition, nonfiction is macros for me, fiction is micros. Community vs individual. Statistics vs emotions. Call me partial, but latter is what I enjoy.

Pachinko is a story of four such generations of Koreans who migrate to Japan during the Second World War.

📚

Starting from Yangjin and Hoonie giving birth to Sunja in Yeongdo, Korea and her journey to Osaka, Japan, the story transcends through the life of her children Noa and Mozasu and ends at the fourth generation represented by Solomon.

📚

It was a long winded novel spanning over 79 years. It had to. Because it represents how the feelings towards motherland change with the passage of time and change in political and economic status.

Where Yangjin never accepts Japan as her own, Solomon can never dream of embracing Korea. This book is a must read for expatriates struggling with the dilemma of their next Gen being engulfed by the 'foreign' country.

📚

Painful but true, I'd call this book well researched and insightful.

📚

They may find it bad luck, but 4/5 it is.

📚

#anamslibrary #anamsreview #nerdfest #pachinko #korean #japanese #minjinlee #latepost

Comments

Delhi Through the Seasons

Good books I just dive into. But better books I save for good occasions. Like this one, that I saved for my trip to the mountains. 🌸 'Delhi through the seasons' by Khushwant Singh 🌸 Having aptly been called the modern Barahmaaha, with a theme of nature, DTTS talks about the rotating wheel of seasons in Delhi and North India, in general. Having been written by the maestro Khushwant, based on his diary entries and his observations as a bird watcher (it was a surprise for me too to find another feather in his hat), it addresses one aspect that all other Barahmaaha treatises of the past chose to ignore - nature - flowers and birds and animals. I'm not an outdoorsy person per se, and my meagre knowledge of flowers and trees is something I've given up my hope on. But thanks to the divine illustrations by Suddhasattwa Basu, I felt as if I was sitting in Lodi Gardens while reading this one, surrounded by fragrance and chitterings. 🌸 So read this one to get to k...

Pyromania : Revenge Idea # 1

To take your revenge against an irritating chatterbox friend, start with a message dripping with the hint of some juicy gossip. As soon as you are blessed with double ticks on your mobile screen (sent and delivered), go offline, switch off your phone, throw it in the bin, run away and hide in your bed. Best sleep of revenge ever! ^_^ Am I high? Oh, I don't think so ;-)

"अतिथि" शिवानी द्वारा ft. शरद की शर्मीली शाम

"अतिथि" शिवानी द्वारा ft. शरद की शर्मीली शाम 🍁 अक्टूबर का पतझड़ी मास आधे से ज़्यादा गुज़र चुका है और मेरी एलेक्सा पर एंडी विलियम्स निरंतर बज रहा है। शायद पतझड़ के मौसम की लाल उदासी ही उसे खूबसूरत बनाती है। भारतीय त्योहारों के मौसम का पाश्चात्य हैलोवीन और फॉल से मिलन अटपटा लग सकता है, पर बेमेल कभी नहीं। मैं हर मौसम, हर अनुभूति मनाने का लोभ संवरण नहीं कर पाती। जैसे शिवानी के इस उपन्यास के किरदार - भिन्न पर बेमेल नहीं लगते, जिगसॉ के टुकड़ों जैसे अन्तः साथ आकर कहानी संपूर्ण कर ही जाते हैं। 🍁 अतिथि एक नारी-केंद्रित कहानी है। कहानी की नायिका जया अंडरडॉग थीम की लीक पर एक अत्यंत अमीर और राजनीतिक खानदान के बिगड़े सुदर्शन पुत्र कार्तिक का रिश्ता पा जाती है। महत्वकांक्षी जया के साथ ऐसा क्या घटता है की ऐसी स्थिति के बाद भी उसका संघर्ष जारी रहता है, यही कहानी है। 🍁 कहानी कहीं आपको सास-बहू धारावाहिक की कमी पूरी करती नज़र आएगी और कभी नारी-प्रधान पुट पर चलती। कहानी के कुछ प्रसंग मुझे मेरे प्रिय पाकिस्तानी धारावाहिक जिसे मैंने काफी वर्ष पहले देखा था की याद दिला गए - नाम नहीं लूंगी और अंदाज़ लगा...

The Moony Girl

Search This Blog