Min Jin Lee's Structure and Writing Style

     In comparison to The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko definitely differs in many fundamental ways. As soon as I began reading, I noticed many major differences in style, voice, and my overall focus on the text. Equiano’s text is told from the first person point of view as he is speaking about his life and experiences, but Pachinko is told in a third person omniscient point of view. Another difference is how The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is an autobiography and Pachinko is historical fiction. I found reading Min Jin Lee’s to flow more and it was more interesting to me because within each chapter, so much had changed and as this text covers more generations, there isn’t necessarily any part I have read that is boring or repetitive. On the contrary, Equiano’s text was a bit slower at times for me as a reader, but that did not take away the importance and overall meaning behind the text. To bring another text into the conversation, There There is definitely different compared to Pachinko. There There is political fiction as Pachinko is historical fiction as I stated earlier, but comparing and contrasting texts allowed me to come to a realization regarding the texts we have read in class. I came to the conclusion that personally, reading books of fiction are more interesting for me to read and easier as a whole. This does not mean I despise nonfiction novels, but Fiction books are definitely something that is easier for me to read. Overall, I have greatly enjoyed reading this novel and I am excited to do more research on our topic for the Pachinko group research project.



Comments

  1. Isabella FernandezFebruary 21, 2022 at 11:42 AM

    One thing that I noticed was that although Pachinko is much easier to read than some of our other texts, I can also easily get lost among all the perspectives in one chapter. There are times when I need to go back and reread a section in order to understand which person I am reading from.

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    Replies
    1. Michelle BFebruary 22, 2022 at 9:36 AM

      This is a great point. It can be disorienting not to be firmly embedded in one character's point of view--it feels more like we're flying over a wide expanse instead of spending time in one discrete location.

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  2. John FredericksFebruary 21, 2022 at 12:02 PM

    I also thought Equiano's Narrative was slow at times. I felt like there was much more summary in Equiano and more character development in Pachinko. Like you said, it is important to remember that one is an autobiography and the other is historical fiction. I agree that Pachinko is easier to read.

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  3. Nick PecoraFebruary 21, 2022 at 7:18 PM

    I definitely agree that Lee's pacing is such that the story never feels boring. Events that may have taken up pages in Equiano's Interesting Narrative may only take up a couple paragraphs in Pachinko. This isn't to say that one type of pacing is objectively better than the other, but Lee's pacing is definitely more engaging for me personally than Equiano's.

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  4. Jenna ChinnFebruary 21, 2022 at 10:24 PM

    I agree that this pacing is wildly different from Equiano's. His narrative at times seemed to drag on, whereas in Pachinko you can blink and miss a decade. I prefer Pachinko's pacing, but it is a bit of an adjustment after reading Equiano.

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