Sample

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Pachinko

By: Min Jin Lee
Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $30.41

Buy for $30.41

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
activate_WEBCRO358_DT_T2

Publisher's summary

New York Times Notable Book of 2017

A USA Today Top 10 of 2017

July pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times Book Club Now Read This

Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, 2018

Winner of The Medici Book Club Prize

Roxane Gay's Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post

New York Times best seller, number one Boston Globe best seller, USA Today best seller, Wall Street Journal best seller, and a Washington Post best seller.

A New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year and National Book Award finalist, Pachinko is an "extraordinary epic" of four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family as they fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan (San Francisco Chronicle).

"There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones".

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant - and that her lover is married - she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters - strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis - survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

©2017 Min Jin Lee (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"If proof were needed that one family's story can be the story of the whole world, then

Pachinko offers that proof. Min Jin Lee's novel is gripping from start to finish, crossing cultures and generations with breathtaking power.

Pachinko is a stunning achievement, full of heart, full of grace, full of truth." (Erica Wagner, author of

Ariel's Gift and

Seizure)

"Both for those who love Korea, as well as for those who know no more than Hyundai, Samsung, and kimchi, this extraordinary book will prove a revelation of joy and heartbreak. I could not stop turning the pages, and wished this most poignant of sagas would never end. Min Jin Lee displays a tenderness and wisdom ideally matched to an unforgettable tale that she relates just perfectly." (Simon Winchester, New York Times best-selling author of The Professor and the Madman and Korea: A Walk through the Land of Miracles)
"A deep, broad, addictive history of a Korean family in Japan enduring and prospering through the 20th century." ( The Guardian)

Featured Article: The Best Historical Fiction Audiobooks


Often based on real people, events, and scenarios, historical fiction gives us the opportunity to learn about worlds and times we will never experience while introducing fascinating characters and stories set in their midst. Sometimes, the genre can even give us a peek into hidden storylines that routinely go unmentioned in traditional history books, showing us that those of ages past are perhaps not so different from ourselves.

What listeners say about Pachinko

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8,622
  • 4 Stars
    3,944
  • 3 Stars
    1,620
  • 2 Stars
    420
  • 1 Stars
    180
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8,429
  • 4 Stars
    2,928
  • 3 Stars
    1,133
  • 2 Stars
    312
  • 1 Stars
    234
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7,584
  • 4 Stars
    3,333
  • 3 Stars
    1,506
  • 2 Stars
    419
  • 1 Stars
    178

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Historically interesting, but...

Narrator had sweet voice but not suited to story. Into the book, some profanity and descriptions of sexual encounters were either not credible or seemed that way because of the narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

57 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Meh

It was promising when it began, but as the story went along, it became increasingly messy and patchy, with new characters coming and going without any obvious purpose, old characters reappearing without any apparent evolution, and far too many disjointed details to keep my attention. Some cultural and historical nuance was kind of interesting, but much of it grew repetitive. The voice also changed weirdly through the narrative; for example, the sound "neh" (or meh?) appeared a LOT in dialogue toward the latter part of the book, whereas it never came up in the beginning. I hung on, hoping for some big pay off in the end, but the story just faded away, leaving no lasting impression. Sorry, dear author. I know how hard you worked, but it just did not come together for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A Korean TV drama.. but aet in Jaoan

Addictive in the same way KTV is. But Draggy and uneven. Some well described characters but most are "typical"and"flat" and the rendering is poor. We keep getting descriptions of what they look like.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Korean experience as immigrants

This is a multi-generational story about Koreans as immigrants to Japan and the hardships (and successes) they face. The story breaks about 3/4 through as it switches to other family members; I found this a little disorienting as the main protagonist is dropped from the story (it seems). I also thought there was sex which was not particularly pertinent to the story line, and that was distracting. Nonetheless, the portrayal of the Korean immigrant experience in Japan was enlightening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting story, wish characters had more development

This ambitious story certainly encompasses a fascinating period in history and was very thought provoking. I felt, in its execution, that it sacrificed depth (in terms of character development) for breadth and that was not necessary...I have read other books with similar time frames and complexity of characters that somehow succeeded in communicating more new ones around characters thoughts feelings and reactions to situations. There were certainly a lot of situations in this book to which I would have liked to explore more how each character felt or how those situations impacted them. I feel like this was a close to final draft that would be perfect if the author could go back and just add another layer of that depth.
Good reader!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A struggle to wade through.

Narrated well, but I didn't find the story that engaging. Too drawn out and slow moving

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting setting, predictable plot

What did you like best about Pachinko? What did you like least?

I loved the vivid details on the impact of Korean and Japanese history on families over generations. So timely, given what is going on today.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Story line a little too soapy for me ... most of characters defined by one or two traits that stay put and make the outcomes predictable.

Which character – as performed by Allison Hiroto – was your favorite?

Noah of course

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe - depends who’s in it!

Any additional comments?

I thought the narration was excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Way too long

While there is a lot of actions, characters are flat and don't always stay consistent. There are also way too many characters and plot. But, the story is easy to follow, and the topic is fascinating. I never knew anything about the Koreans who migrated to Japan.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed ..... but

I loved this book because it dealt with so many thought provoking issues. I loved the time and place of the story and learning more about their culture. However, while there were many uplifting things, there were also some sexual descriptions that were not needed to make it a good book! I would have recommended it to many people if it weren't for those descriptions!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful 😊

This is the fastest I've ever listened to an audiobook. I haven't seen the show and didn't know much about the story. I am a fan of K dramas and thought this would be good to listen to between shows.. it didn't disappoint. It's moving and descriptive, I feel I learned a lot while also being entertained. Sometimes I wished the author gave us more details as there was plenty to say as the lives of the family members progressed. The author was clear and did a great job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful