Read about another entry on the list.Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee
If you fell in love with Apple TV+’s sensational adaptation of Pachinko but haven’t read the award-winning source material yet, it’s time to get caught up. With the epic sweep of Zola or Dickens, Min Jin Lee chronicles four storied generations of a Korean immigrant family, beginning with a pregnant young woman’s decision to enter a marriage of convenience that ferries her to a new beginning in Japan. Her decision to leave home echoes across the generations, all of it playing out against the rich tapestry of an ever-changing twentieth-century Japan, where the Zainichi (Korean immigrants and their descendants) encounter brutal racism and class discrimination. The sheer bigness of this novel is majestic, as are its themes of joy, sacrifice, and heartbreak.
Pachinko is among Daphne Fama's seven top novels set during times of great political upheaval, Mia Barzilay Freund's eighteen best historical fiction books of the last several decades, Courtney Rodgers's best historical fiction of the 21st century so far, Bethanne Patrick's twenty-five best historical fiction books of all time, Asha Thanki seven books about families surviving political unrest, the Amazon Book Review editors' twelve favorite long books, Gina Chen's twelve books for fans of HBO’s Succession, Cindy Fazzi's eight books about the impact of Japanese imperialism during WWII, Eman Quotah's eight books about mothers separated from their daughters, Karolina Waclawiak's six favorite books on loss and longing, Allison Patkai's top six books with strong female voices, Tara Sonin's twenty-one books for fans of HBO’s Succession, and six books Jia Tolentino recommends.
--Marshal Zeringue
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