I'm so glad you chose this book, Jananie...I don't think I would have picked it up if you hadn't! I just wanted to add that the theme of yearning for home was so powerful throughout the book. I related immediately as a Tamil person, and I know so many other people who are displaced because of war could also relate. Korea was a home that not many of the characters got to experience and appreciate; Japan never accepted them as citizens, no matter how much they tried to assimilate and no matter how many generations were born in Japan. And many of us go back, like Solomon and Mozasu, to a home that feels unrecognizable and inaccessible. There's really something so deeply heartbreaking about this specific feeling of being lost without a home.
There was so much that could be said but not enough time to discuss all the things that happened in this book. To add to the discussion, I found so many parallels while reading about the Korean community in Japan to the BIPOC experience in North America. The prejudice immigrant communities suffer. For example, the blame placed on them for their poverty when they were refused jobs and adequate housing. Noa's internalized racism was especially heartbreaking. To see how he grew up with so many people praising him while criticizing his community, left him alienated and chasing an ideal he could never satisfy since he could never truly be Japanese. Being a good Korean was a constant effort, while being a good Japanese was a default.
👍👍Wow this book sounds heavy! As a descendant of displaced people I feel like I can really relate to some of these themes and at the same time like I will never truly understand what some people have endured simply to exist. And with the idea of having to jump through hoops to save face and then still being considered unworthy, or having zero authority and yet being blamed for every failure, I can see how survival really is a game that's rigged! Book sounds very powerful and I will definitely be recommending this one myself 👌
I went completely blind, I only knew that it has a high rating on StoryGraph, like 4.4. I loved it. The main reason is that it managed to describe that specific time in history and tell it in a such personal way. I would recommend you to read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
i coincidentally just finished reading pachinko, came across this video and decided to listen in for a few minutes out of curiosity. i ended up watching the entire thing! thank you for the amazing insights and discussion- i loved this book but now i feel like i appreciate and love it ten times more.
I'm so glad you chose this book, Jananie...I don't think I would have picked it up if you hadn't! I just wanted to add that the theme of yearning for home was so powerful throughout the book. I related immediately as a Tamil person, and I know so many other people who are displaced because of war could also relate. Korea was a home that not many of the characters got to experience and appreciate; Japan never accepted them as citizens, no matter how much they tried to assimilate and no matter how many generations were born in Japan. And many of us go back, like Solomon and Mozasu, to a home that feels unrecognizable and inaccessible. There's really something so deeply heartbreaking about this specific feeling of being lost without a home.
There was so much that could be said but not enough time to discuss all the things that happened in this book. To add to the discussion, I found so many parallels while reading about the Korean community in Japan to the BIPOC experience in North America. The prejudice immigrant communities suffer. For example, the blame placed on them for their poverty when they were refused jobs and adequate housing. Noa's internalized racism was especially heartbreaking. To see how he grew up with so many people praising him while criticizing his community, left him alienated and chasing an ideal he could never satisfy since he could never truly be Japanese. Being a good Korean was a constant effort, while being a good Japanese was a default.
👍👍Wow this book sounds heavy!
As a descendant of displaced people I feel like I can really relate to some of these themes and at the same time like I will never truly understand what some people have endured simply to exist.
And with the idea of having to jump through hoops to save face and then still being considered unworthy, or having zero authority and yet being blamed for every failure, I can see how survival really is a game that's rigged!
Book sounds very powerful and I will definitely be recommending this one myself 👌
Omg it’s Monica Kim! I love their channel 👏🏽
I went completely blind, I only knew that it has a high rating on StoryGraph, like 4.4.
I loved it. The main reason is that it managed to describe that specific time in history and tell it in a such personal way.
I would recommend you to read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
i coincidentally just finished reading pachinko, came across this video and decided to listen in for a few minutes out of curiosity. i ended up watching the entire thing! thank you for the amazing insights and discussion- i loved this book but now i feel like i appreciate and love it ten times more.
Do you guys have a discord channel, I just wanna fell part of the book community and discuss books 🥺
We have a fable book club here! fable.co/club/read-in-colour-book-club-with-jananie-k-velu-111751962292
@@thisstoryaintover joined!!!!