"Pachinko" by Min Jin Lee

I don’t know a lot about Korean or Japanese history, so I learnt quite a lot from reading this inter-generational family drama set in Korea and Japan from the 1930s to the 1990s. It is fascinating to read all sorts of little details about what life would have been like, the similarities and the differences of life experienced by each generation. This novel deals a lot with the struggles of families who find themselves living in poverty (in contrast to the more effortless lives of rich characters), who seem to have been dealt so much bad luck, and how different people’s personalities and their life experiences, not to mention their gender, shape their fortunes within the confines of what circumstances they find themselves in. How hard some people work, just to get by, yet live with such kindness, generosity and strength. How each generation dreams and projects their dreams on each subsequent generation, hoping for them to have a better life with more opportunities than they themselves did, and yet how this can be at odds with what the next generation’s personalities and desires and experiences are. It also shows intergenerational effects of poverty, suffering and war, and how decisions and mistakes of one generation can still have serious consequences for future generations.

I enjoyed this book, although I definitely was more drawn in by the first half than the second, as I found myself more interested in the lives of the older generations and history of the earlier eras in Japan and Korea rather than the ones of the more recent generations in more modern times. Reading this book in the lead up to International Women’s Day also made me thankful that I am born as a woman in current times, even though there is still much to be done in search of gender equity especially when considering the opportunities for non-white, non-cis-het women, we have still come a long way in the last 100 years.


Started reading on my Kindle: 20th February 2020
Finished: 6th March 2020
My score: 8/10
Stats: Historical novel, Female author, American-Korean author.

"After Darkness" by Christine Piper

This is the first book I have read as part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2016. I chose to read it as it was given a 5 star recommendation on the Book Lover Book Reviews blog: http://bookloverbookreviews.com/2014/06/book-review-after-darkness-christine-piper.html

This book reminds me in style, quality and similar subject matter/themes to some of Bryce Courtenay's work (but a much shorter book than most of Courtenay's massive novels). I felt a real disappointment and loss when Bryce Courtenay died as the realisation that he wouldn't be writing any more awesome stories for me to read sunk in as I have thoroughly enjoyed and been caught up in many of his books. I'm feeling very impressed and feel a new hope after reading this book that this new Aussie author could potentially take over where Bryce Courtenay left off. I hope Christine Piper becomes as prolific and consistently awesome an author as Courtenay in the years ahead.

This book "After darkness" alternates between 3 locations and times: Early 1930s in Japan, late 1930s in Broome, Western Australia, and during the Second World War in the Loveday internment camp in South Australia. The main character Dr Ibaraki is a reserved, discreet Japanese medical doctor with a background in medical research. He moves to Broome to become head of a small hospital in the Pearl diving community in order to escape some events in his past which are slowly revealed as the novel progresses. He's then arrested and put in a prison camp in Australia during WW2 due to his Japanese background. I didn't know a lot about the prison camps in Australia during the Second World War, so it was a bit of an eye-opener for me to read a novel based on a bit of our history that isn't widely spoken about now. It also highlights the unfortunate timelessness of many of the issues of racial discrimination, conflict of ethics, and loyalty that are faced by many, even if the focus or details change with the decades.

Started reading: 6th February 2016.
Finished reading: 8th February 2016.
My score: 8/10
Aussie Author Challenge Stats: Female Author, New to me, WW2/historical fiction genre.