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The Pachinko Parlor

By: Elisa Shua Dusapin, Aneesa Abbas Higgins - translator
Narrated by: Hannah Choi
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Summary

The days are beginning to draw in. The sky is dark by seven in the evening. I lie on the floor and gaze out of the window. Women's calves, men's shoes, heels trodden down by the weight of bodies borne for too long.

It is summer in Tokyo. Claire finds herself dividing her time between tutoring twelve-year-old Mieko, in an apartment in an abandoned hotel, and lying on the floor at her grandparents': daydreaming, playing Tetris, and listening to the sounds from the street above. The heat rises; the days slip by.

The plan is for Claire to visit Korea with her grandparents. They fled the civil war there over fifty years ago, along with thousands of others, and haven't been back since. When they first arrived in Japan, they opened Shiny, a pachinko parlor. Shiny is still open, drawing people in with its bright, flashing lights and promises of good fortune. And as Mieko and Claire gradually bond, a tender relationship growing, Mieko's determination to visit the pachinko parlor builds.

The Pachinko Parlor is a nuanced and beguiling exploration of identity and otherness, unspoken histories, and the loneliness you can feel among family. Crisp and enigmatic, Shua Dusapin's writing glows with intelligence.
©2018 Editions Zoé (P)2023 Tantor
Coming of Age Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction
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Unexpected beauty.

This was such a gorgeous (and poignant) vignette into a young woman's stay in Japan with her grandparents. In just three hours, I experienced another's life thousands and thousands of miles away. Couldn't recommend enough.

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Very monotonous voice.

I listened as loved book “Pachinko” - this was more like a college essay about Life in Japan!

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