The last book of 2022

Pachinko

I had no clue about the history of Korean migrants neither Japanese society during 1900s until I read Pachinko (Min Jin Lee). Such a Saga!

I have been appreciating every ordinary people I meet in my life. I especially care for the elder, people with special needs and women. I believe every human being has a tough life.

First of all, I am a big fan of fiction that portray historical-political stories through fictional characters. I read all of Khaled Hosseini’s books which got me thrilled about the fanatic life of people in Afghanistan. I also read two books about how the Nazi empire destroyed knowledge and souls thanks to The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) and All the light we cannot see (Anthony Doerr). I guess studying Global Studies made me more aware of the complexities of global politics and there is so much to learn about human journeys and pilgrimages.

So the idea of telling the stories of the four generations is brilliant. I could imagine the faces and even recall the names of the characters, there are no fewer than 20 names and life trajectories. I am always wracking my head to remember students’ names. I learned to admit the shame to call the wrong names to train my brain about names.

My favorite character - Mozasu

The character I like the most in the book is Mozasu. The second son of Sunja, the daughter of Yangjin. Mozasu was the third generation of a Korean family who had to go to Japan to leave due to the war in Korea where the Japanese came attacked and robbed all of the property. The migration was partially forced by a personal story of Sunja when she was pregnant with Hansu but didn’t know that he had a family already!

I did not have much impression of him initially. Then the whole grownup journey of Mozasu demonstrated that he was a real mature man who dared to live with virtues and break the status quo. In the first place, I was a bit scared of him because he was quite violent as a schoolboy. The thing is he stood up for himself and righteousness. I admire that nobody wanted to touch him later on. Everybody has a choice. He didn’t choose to kill himself like many Korean kids who could not stand bad mouths about their background. He neither chose to fit in a community of discrimination. Instead, he quit school and started working in a pachinko at the age of 16. He worked his best to send money to his brother to support his tuition fee, and also send money to his uncle for medications.

Then he became successful because he never spent too much money on himself but provided allowances and healthcare for his staff and their children. He sent his son to an international school and then to America in hope that his son will be respected in society. Eventually, even if his son didn’t want do follow his dream to work in America for foreign companies, he empathized with and supported his son to teach him to continue Pachinko business. He is such an honest, hard-working, smart and caring brother, son, father, husband, and nephew. The best thing in life is to be true to oneself and be brave to make a difference.

The death of Noa left me in awe. Beyond the suffering of women, feeling powerless to make decisions or work, how come the discovery of one’s blood is such a pain? He already received so much love and care from his perseverant mother, educated dad, grandmother and others. I don’t quite understand his action. How ashamed he must be to end his life right after seeing his mother. While Noa wase a genius. He didn't encounter difficulties in studying or making a career because his capabilities and interests allowed him to be excellent at anything he wants. But after the heart-attack truth about his real father, he hated himself and he hid his history from even his own new family. How to live such an invisible life! And I became more admiring of Mozasu. In such a society, every individual has to be strong inside out to live among despise and polarization of class, gender, nationality and identity.

Happiness is created by one’s perceptions and the choice one makes.

This is one rare English book that is so easy to follow. With simple language, I barely need a dictionary, and of course, the plot is fascinating, so I finished 502 pages within 1 week. Thank you for the semester break!

There are so many other characters to learn about their characteristics, motives, passions, and fates. Another theme under discussion is religion, and the powerful impacts of Christianity and Buddhism on people’s behaviors. Besides, the sex scenes of women of different times were a remark! I love to see how characters perceive sex from the perspectives of Sunja, Yumi, Akiko (Noa’s ex), Ayame (Haruki’s wife) and Hana. I didn’t know that Waseda is such a longstanding university in Japan. But sadly, migrant Koreans hardly have a chance to enter that school.

Read the book, my friends! For Thammasat students, it is free to borrow from the library. Thank you my university for bringing me a free world of knowledge.

#Since the book used past tense, so I should use that in my writing as well.

#Write immediately after finishing the book. Fresh feelings and memories.