Book of the Month just picked PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee as one of their picks for the month of February. They’re not the only ones shouting praise for this extraordinary novel by the author of FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES.
One of Buzzfeed’s “32 Most Exciting Books Coming In 2017”
Included in The Millions’ “Most Anticipated: The Great 2017 Book Preview“
One of Elle‘s “25 Most Anticipated Books by Women for 2017“
BBC: “Ten Books to Read in 2017”
One of BookRiot’s “Most Anticipated Books of 2017“
SUMMARY:
A new tour de force from the bestselling author of Free Food for Millionaires, for readers of A Fine Balance and Cutting for Stone.
Profoundly moving and gracefully told, PACHINKO follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them. Betrayed by her wealthy lover, Sunja finds unexpected salvation when a young tubercular minister offers to marry her and bring her to Japan to start a new life.
So begins a sweeping saga of exceptional people in exile from a homeland they never knew and caught in the indifferent arc of history. In Japan, Sunja’s family members endure harsh discrimination, catastrophes, and poverty, yet they also encounter great joy as they pursue their passions and rise to meet the challenges this new home presents. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, they are bound together by deep roots as their family faces enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.
AUTHOR BIO:
Min Jin Lee’s debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires, was one of the “Top 10 Novels of the Year” for The Times(London), NPR’s Fresh Air, and USA Today. Her short fiction has been featured on NPR’s Selected Shorts. Her writings have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, The Times (London), Vogue, Travel+Leisure, Wall Street Journal, New York Times Magazine, and Food & Wine. Her essays and literary criticism have been anthologized widely. She served as a columnist for the Chosun Ilbo, the leading paper of South Korea. She lives in New York with her family.
PRAISE:
“In 1930s Korea, an earnest young woman, abandoned by the lover who has gotten her pregnant, enters into a marriage of convenience that will take her to a new life in Japan. Thus begins Lee’s luminous new novel PACHINKO–a powerful meditation on what immigrants sacrifice to achieve a home in the world. PACHINKO confirms Lee’s place among our finest novelists.”—Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and This Is How You Lose Her
“A deep, broad, addictive history of a Korean family in Japan enduring and prospering through the 20thcentury.”—David Mitchell, Guardian, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Clocks
“Astounding. The sweep of Dickens and Tolstoy applied to a 20th century Korean family in Japan. Min Jin Lee’s PACHINKO tackles all the stuff most good novels do–family, love, cabbage–but it also asks questions that have never been more timely. What does it mean to be part of a nation? And what can one do to escape its tight, painful, familiar bonds?”—Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Little Failure and Super Sad True Love Story
“Both for those who love Korea, as well as for those who know no more than Hyundai, Samsung and kimchi, this extraordinary book will prove a revelation of joy and heartbreak. I could not stop turning the pages, and wished this most poignant of sagas would never end. Min Jin Lee displays a tenderness and wisdom ideally matched to an unforgettable tale that she relates just perfectly.”—Simon Winchester, New York Times bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman and Korea: A Walk through the Land of Miracles
“PACHINKO is elegant and soulful, both intimate and sweeping. This story of several generations of one Korean family in Japan is the story of every family whose parents sacrificed for their children, every family whose children were unable to recognize the cost, but it’s also the story of a specific cultural struggle in a riveting time and place. Min Jin Lee has written a big, beautiful book filled with characters I rooted for and cared about and remembered after I’d read the final page.”—Kate Christensen, Pen/Faulkner-winning author of The Great Man and Blue Plate Special
“An exquisite, haunting epic…’moments of shimmering beauty and some glory, too,’ illuminate the narrative…Lee’s profound novel…is shaped by impeccable research, meticulous plotting, and empathic perception.”—Booklist (starred review)
“PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee is a great book, a passionate story, a novel of magisterial sweep. It’s also fiendishly readable-the real-deal. An instant classic, a quick page-turner, and probably the best book of the year.”—Darin Strauss, National Book Critics Circle-winning author of Half a Life: A Memoir
“The breadth and depth of challenges come through clearly, without sensationalization. The sporadic victories are oases of sweetness, without being saccharine. Lee makes it impossible not to develop tender feelings towards her characters–all of them, even the most morally compromised. Their multifaceted engagements with identity, family, vocation, racism, and class are guaranteed to provide your most affecting sobfest of the year.”—BookRiot, “Most Anticipated Books of 2017”
“An absorbing saga of 20th-century Korean experience… the destinies of Sunja’s children and grandchildren unfold, love, luck, and talent combine with cruelty and random misfortune in a deeply compelling story, with the trouble of ethnic Koreans living in Japan never far from view. An old-fashioned epic whose simple, captivating storytelling delivers both wisdom and truth.”—Kirkus (Starred Review)
“A sprawling and immersive historical work… Reckoning with one determined, wounded family’s place in history, Lee’s novel is an exquisite meditation on the generational nature of truly forging a home.”—Publishers Weekly
“If proof were needed that one family’s story can be the story of the whole world, then PACHINKO offers that proof. Min Jin Lee’s novel is gripping from start to finish, crossing cultures and generations with breathtaking power. PACHINKO is a stunning achievement, full of heart, full of grace, full of truth.”—Erica Wagner, author of Ariel’s Gift and Seizure
“A beautifully crafted story of love, loss, determination, luck, and perseverance…Lee’s skillful development of her characters and story lines will draw readers into the work. Those who enjoy historical fiction with strong characterizations will not be disappointed as they ride along on the emotional journeys offered in the author’s latest page-turner.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Brilliant, subtle…gripping…What drives this novel is the magisterial force of Lee’s characterization…As heartbreaking as it is compelling, PACHINKO is a timely meditation on all that matters to humanity in an age of mass migration and uncertainty.”—South China Morning Post Magazine
“Everything I want in a family saga novel, a deep dive immersion into a complete world full of rich and complex lives to follow as they tumble towards fate and fortune…PACHINKO will break your heart in all the right ways.”—Vela Magazine
“Gorgeous.”—Nylon.com, “50 Books We Can’t Wait To Read In 2017”
That is quite a bit of love for one title. It should definitely jump to the top of your MUST READ list!
