#13 in Historical fiction
Pachinko
- 512
- Pages
- about 9 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 1 week on the list, peaked at #10
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Our view
“Pachinko” makes a history lesson feel personal: one Korean family in Japan, followed across the twentieth century. It teaches a great deal about the two countries’ shared past, and for some readers the story grips once it gets going. Others find that covering so many generations in one volume brings abrupt jumps in time and between characters, and that the telling stays cool and distant. For those who enjoy long family sagas.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Pachinko is the second novel by Harlem-based author and journalist Min Jin Lee. Published in 2017, Pachinko is an epic historical fiction novel following a Korean family who immigrates to Japan. The story features an ensemble of characters who encounter racism, discrimination, stereotyping, and other aspects of the 20th-century Korean experience of Japan.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.5 across 1,031 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 88% of the weight and the score stays at 8.5 — the Historical fiction average of 8.0 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.1 | 25 | 2% |
| Hardcover | 8.6 | 1K | 98% |
Frequently asked
How long is Pachinko?
It has 512 pages — longer than 63% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Historical fiction — with scores between 8.4 and 8.5, closest to this book.
