PACHINKO

Narrator Allison Hirato's slow pacing does not enhance this multigenerational story. Furthermore, she offers little delineation between characters, even those of different genders. Still, the clarity of her diction and her expressiveness compensate some for those deficits. At the heart of this novel is Sunja, who was born during before WWII in Japanese-occupied Korea. Sunja perseveres with integrity through misfortune: her own, her sons', and grandsons'. That the family comes to make its livelihood by running pachinko parlors--pachinko being a pinball-like game of chance involving balls careening unpredictably--reflects Senja's own random fortunes. While Hirato's reading would have benefited by being less deliberative and more brisk, PACHINKO remains gently affecting as an audio. K.W. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2017]