WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19 AT 3:00 PM OR THURSDAY, JUNE 20 AT 6:30 PM DISCUSSION GUIDE: By Min Jin ABOUT THE AUTHOR was born in , South , and grew up in , New York. A graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, she studied history at Yale College, then received a JD from Georgetown University Law Center. Lee is currently researching and writing her third novel, which explores the role of education for Koreans around the world for her diaspora trilogy The Koreans, which includes Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko. A New York Times best seller, Pachinko was a finalist for the National Book Award and was named to more than 75 best books lists globally, including the top-10 lists of the BBC, the New York Public Library, , and USA Today. Lee’s debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires, was a top-10 pick for NPR’s Fresh Air, (London), and USA Today. Her writings about books, food, global affairs, and travel have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, , the New York Times Book Review, the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, the Times, the Times Literary Supplement, Travel + Leisure, Vogue, and , and she served for three seasons as a columnist for , ’s leading newspaper. Lee, a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, received the 2000 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the 2002 William Peden Prize from the Missouri Review, and the 2004 NarrativePrize. IN THE AUTHOR’S WORDS Interview with Timothy Tau of Hyphen Magazine TIMOTHY TAU: I remember hearing about your plans working on Pachinko after Free Food for Millionaires ("Millionaires") was published, and before Millionaires was released, you wrote an award-winning short story, "Motherland.” Pachinko appears to be a continuation or an expansion of "Motherland" and seems to involve the same characters from the novel. When you were crafting the epic span of the canvas that eventually became the novel, did you start with this short story as a narrative kernel? Or did you end up creating the timelines of the novel first and realize that this story would fit in nicely within this larger world? What was your methodology and process in writing and building Pachinko? MIN JIN LEE: I had written a complete manuscript of Pachinko from 1996-2003 in another form, which I never submitted for publication. The story you mention, “Motherland,” is from that first manuscript. It is the only section which made it into the final version of Pachinko, which was eventually published in 2017. I have worked on this book off and on since 1996. I got the idea for the book in 1989. I had not meant to work on this for so long. It was trial and error and mostly error. TT: The extensive research you went through to accurately flesh out the historical periods rendered in the novel really shows. I feel as if I am transported to those eras in a very cinematic way when I am reading, yet taken beyond the visual realm because I also experience many other senses through your words. Can you describe your research methodology? MJL: I do extensive book research for all of my projects, both fiction and nonfiction. Also, I do a lot of personal interviews with dozens of subjects. I don’t think my way of working is smart or efficient, but I think my working style alleviates my personal anxieties about getting things right. TT: The characters are very memorable, and in some ways reminded me of some of the characters from Millionaires as well. Sunja, for example, appears to be the protagonist of the novel as we mainly follow her through most of the major story arcs. In many ways she is a contrast to Casey Han of Millionaires (primarily due to the chronological difference in the eras or time periods) but in some ways they share similar traits, perhaps resilience being the most apparent commonality. What made you decide to center the narrative around Sunja's point of view and her family/timeline? MJL: At the risk of sounding odd, for me, Sunja is not the central character because I work in an omniscient point of view. Sunja is an ordinary working class woman who becomes a matriarch of an ordinary family. She is not powerful in the world, but she is important to her family. I wanted to write about an ajumma who is unheralded in history books but who is so important in our daily lives. Moreover, I wanted very much to write about regular men and boys who make up so much of ordinary history. I explore the masculinity of oppressed minority men in this book, and that was one of my most important challenges in this work. I want to write community novels, and the interconnections of themes and multiple characters are far more important to me than one character. TT: Koh Hansu appears to be one of the most interesting characters I've encountered in literature and probably my favorite one in the entire novel — very compelling, charismatic, cool, but you later see his more villainous aspects — really not a character intending to be evil or criminal, but because he wields so much power and resources and is ambitious as well as disciplined, intelligent and talented, he just can't help it. I also found in Koh Hansu some similarities to the character of Sabine Gottesman from Millionaires, who was, quoting a line from that novel, "fairy godmother, mentor and bad cop" to Casey Han. Koh Hansu seems to be a gangster godfather, mentor and good cop/bad cop to many characters in the book as well. What were some inspirations in constructing both characters? MJL: Characters like Sabine and Hansu populate the upper echelons of the world. Strong and powerful people are remarkably similar because they have clear codes of behavior, which are often nonnegotiable. They also cannot exist without subjects to dominate. TT: Building on the last question, Koh Hansu wants so much to exert an influence over Noa and pave a promising future for him. However, I found it interesting that you made Hansu financially support Noa so he could wholeheartedly study English literature without distraction — which seems a bit at odds with the normally expected "useful/pragmatic/practical" degrees and careers that Asian immigrants want their children to pursue (e.g., the pachinko manager comments on the "uselessness" of an English degree before he hires Noa; I can also easily imagine Sabine Gottesman or even Joseph Han balking at this choice of academic path). Was the choice to make Noa study English deliberate? MJL: I think Hansu has none of the traditional immigrant anxieties because he is not someone who is obsessed with money and conventional security. He is an intellectual and a philosopher, and I think it delights him that his own blood has strains of genius with a strong work ethic. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. “History has failed us, but no matter.” How does the opening line reflect the rest of the book—and do you agree? 2. In a way, Sunja’s relationship with Isak progresses in reverse, as her pregnancy by another man brings them together and prompts Isak to propose marriage. How does Lee redefine intimacy and love with these two characters? 3. “Their eldest brother, Samoel, had been the brave one, the one who would’ve confronted the officers with audacity and grace, but Yoseb knew he was no hero…Yoseb didn’t see the point of anyone dying for his country or for some greater ideal. He understood survival and family.” What kinds of bravery are shown by different characters, and what motivates this bravery? 4. Compare Noa’s biological and adoptive fathers, Hansu and Isak: What qualities does each try to foster in Noa, and why? Whom does Noa most resemble? 5. What does “home” mean to each of the main characters? Does it ever change? In what ways does a yearning for home color the tone of the novel? 6. How do courting and marriage alter from one generation to the next? 7. How much agency and power do you think Sunja really has over her life? 8. Sunja tells Noa that “Blood doesn’t matter.” Do you agree? What parts of the novel support or weaken Sunja’s claim? 9. Yangjin and Kyunghee agree that “A woman’s lot is to suffer.” Do you think the women suffer more than the men in this book? If so, in what ways? How does the suffering of Sunja and Kyunghee compare to that of Yoseb? Noa and Mozasu’s? 10. Much is made of Sunja’s fading beauty, as well as the physical appearance of all the women who surround her. What does this reveal about society at this time? Do you see this emphasis on female beauty reflected in present-day culture? 11. Throughout the book, characters often must choose between survival and tradition or morality. Can you think of any examples that embody this tension? 12. Many of the main characters struggle with shame throughout their lives, whether due to their ethnicity, family, life choices or other factors. How does shame drive both their successes and failures? 13. The terms “good Korean” and “good Japanese” are used many times throughout the book. What does it mean to be a “good Korean”? A “good Japanese”? 14. “Both men had made money from chance and fear and loneliness.” Pachinko begins with the family of a humble fisherman that, through the generations—and through times of poverty, violence and extreme discrimination—gains wealth and success. What were the ways in which the family managed to not only survive, but also eventually thrive? What is the relationship among money, race, power and class? 15. “Wherever he went, the news of his mother’s death preceded him, wrapping the child in a kind of protective cloud; teachers and mothers of his friends were watchful on his behalf.” In what other ways does death act as a “protective cloud” in this novel? 16. Compare the many parent-child relationships in the novel. How do they differ across families and generations? What hopes and dreams does each parent hold for their children—and are these hopes rewarded? 17. Even in death or physical absence, the presence of many characters lingers on throughout the book. How does this affect your reading experience? How would the book have been different if it were confined to one character’s perspective? 18. Why do you think the author chose PACHINKO for the title?