Blog Post Week 7 Prompt 3

I think the structure that Lee uses in Pachinko is really interesting. I think it reminds me the most of Home Fire just because it looks at many different perspectives. The first thing that jumps out is that despite certain chapters seem to focus on particular characters (like Sunja, Isak, and Hansu), the whole novel is written in third person. Unlike Home Fire, the book isn't split into sections based on characters, and because of this, it makes changes in perspective very subtle. A couple of times while reading the novel, I only realized that the chapter was from the vantage point of a new or different character halfway into section. After The Secret River, it felt nice to get many different perspectives as it seemed like that was a common criticism of Grenville's work. Pachinko is split into three separate books, the first of which is called Gohyang or Hometown. Additionally, the story seems to jump through time starting in 1883 and continuing well into the mid 1900s.

So far I am really enjoying the novel, which was kind of surprising as it didn't seem like my cup of tea. I think I've found the characters are interesting and I have really enjoyed the historical context given by Lee. While I know about some of the events taking place over the course of the book (namely the invasion of Manchuria), it's been interesting to read this from the perspective of not only someone from East Asia, but also from characters that are dealing with a colonizing power. It will be fascinating to see how the experience of the Koreans compares with that of other oppressed groups that we have read about and discussed these last couple of quarters.