Patreon Book Club #1
Added 2022-03-01 16:01:02 +0000 UTCChapters 1-14
Here's how we are going to try this out. I'll post some questions. If you want to answer any or all of these...have at it! But if you've got some of your own questions...please ask in the comments. No spoilers on any plot points ahead of Chapter 14 please :)
1) The opening line of Pachinko is "History has failed us, but no matter." Why do you think the author, Min Jin Lee, decided to open the novel in this way? Did this line entice you to keep reading? Why or why not?
2) Thoughts on Ko Han-su's seduction of Sunja?
3) Han-su tells Sunja "You want to see a very bad man? Make an ordinary man successful beyond his imagination. Let’s see how good he is when he can do whatever he wants." What do you think about that statement?
4) The novel's inciting incident is when Sunja gets pregnant. What do you think about her refusal to become Han-su's mistress?
5) Baek Isak's selflessness stands in stark contrast to Han-su's selfishness. How do you feel about both of these characters?
6) Discuss the different female friendships Sunja has and why are they important?
7) How is life as a Korean immigrant in Japan different than Sunja's life on her small island? Does this move feel like a fresh start or the beginning of a tragic loss of home and identity?
8) Both Yoseb and Isak grew up with memories of their brother Samoel’s involvement in anti-colonial protests, which cost him his life. What do you think of Yoseb's advice to Iasak about avoiding political involvement?
9) What is a scene or a moment that stood out to you in the first section and why?
10) How are you enjoying the writer's style? What works for you and what does not?
Comments
I read this book in 2017 and loved it. Thank god for the cloud it was still in my kindle and am reading it again. But this time I am a lover of all things Korean, thanks to k dramas, and the story is just killing me in all the right ways.And picturing the actors portraying these roles is making this read a hundred time better. The opening of the book breaks my heart and keeps me gobbling up this book. The history of Korea is so tragic, but look where they are now! The seduction of Sunja I had no problem with. I remember being a young woman with an older successful man and it happens. Sunja is a strong woman, love her. I’ll hold off on commenting further because I have read the book before.
Deb
2022-03-06 00:00:13 +0000 UTCI have to bow out of the no-shame book club. I liked chapter 1, but I have 78 other books out from the library and someone else want Pachinko - maybe someone here - so I returned my copy. Hopefully I'll have the chance to pick it up again in the future.
Hannah
2022-03-03 21:24:40 +0000 UTC:( this lost my answers to 1-5. ugh
Becky
2022-03-03 18:51:29 +0000 UTC6. I didn’t think much of these female friendships except to support the overall narrative that she was loved and supported and had always been on multiple levels. 7. The move seems like both to me. Different layers of Korean identity and hierarchy are being brought to the front in both locations. 8. I’m not sure about this yet. I feel like I understand Yoseb’s desperation and fears. 9. Yangjin is the star of the book so far for me and I’m a bit heartbroken that she’s not a main character anymore. I assume/hope she comes back????? 10. The tone feels like it has a distance or matter-of-factness. I’m not sure about it. On the one hand this gives me a lot of space to draw my own conclusions, which I appreciate immensely. On the other hand, I like to be clear on the narrator’s bias/motive and I’m not necessarily clear on that yet. I suppose that first line helps, now that I think about it. Perhaps I dismissed it too soon.
Becky
2022-03-03 17:35:12 +0000 UTCI'm referencing the questions I'm responding to by number - I hope that's okay. 1) I read a 2018 interview with the author and she described the opening line as her thesis statement for the book. She went on to explain that history, as a discipline, is a memory constructed by the elite class and that ordinary people rarely have others recording their lives. For me, this gave the book so much more meaning. I didn’t know much about Korean history in the 20th century (I know more about the Joseon era thanks to Kdramas!) and I knew absolutely nothing about the emigration of Koreans to Japan and the treatment they endured. Pachinko was full of history and scenarios that I hadn’t considered. But in all honesty, I didn’t recognize the importance of that opening line until after I read the interview and went back to re-read this first section of the book. 2) I kind of cringed at the use of the word "seduction" in this question. I was horrified as I read this scene in the book – Han-su was twice her age and Sunja didn't give consent. I realize I’m applying current day standards, but Han-su just took what he wanted; Isak didn't behave that way. 3) It seemed like Han-su was totally projecting. He began as an ordinary man and he became successful beyond his imagination. At that point in the story, I wasn’t sure if he was rationalizing his own behavior or if he just wasn’t self-aware. Probably both. 4) I admired Sunja's decision – but I don’t think I could have done that. It was a clear indication of her character. 9) I loved the scene of Sunja leading Han-su through the forest to gather mushrooms. To me it sounded like he was mansplaining and trying to show off his experience as he whipped out a hankie to collect a few mushrooms - and then they reached the destination and it was carpeted with mushrooms. Sunja was completely humble (I would have been smug!).
Kathi
2022-03-03 05:17:55 +0000 UTCHan-su is a very complicated character who gets more complicated imo.
Megan Erickson
2022-03-03 05:15:58 +0000 UTC(Amy) I just got past the seduction and pregnancy reveal, so I think I'm in chapter six? I was kinda prepared for this because you had warned me that Han-su is a complicated character and that I was going to have mixed feelings about my bae, Lee Min-ho, playing him. Because of course he's all I can see now that they've mentioned the white suit, but of course this angelic looking man dressed all in white is really a wolf in sheep's clothing. It was icky, the grooming/seduction, but I did appreciate the line earlier on when they met where he said that if you give an ordinary man money that he'll become the worst kind of person (I'm paraphrasing), and he was basically flat out telling the reader who he was. Because he did not grow up with money, but he has it now and definitely is using his status to prey and manipulate. Ugh.
Megan Erickson
2022-03-02 23:21:48 +0000 UTCHan-su's seduction of Sunja was so uncomfortable for me to read. It was possessive and grooming, with little permanence for Sunja. The power emballance made me so anxious for Sunja.
Kourinthia H Burton
2022-03-02 20:13:04 +0000 UTC
