Quotation Study: Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
On forgiveness, eternal learning and those annoying people who think they are the bees knees...
This is not necessarily a review—I just love analysing and unpacking quotes, sometimes even individual words within them. However, as a general rule, if I underline lots of quotes, it’s usually a highly rated book!
These are studies of quotes within certain novels—either unpacking larger themes or simply exploring how each quote makes me feel on its own. I like applying quotes to my life, using them to articulate feelings I’ve never known how to describe. So, welcome to Quotation Studies.
There’s no rhyme or reason here. Just thoughts sprawled out onto a page. It’s me enjoying language as a former literature student who misses the act of unpacking words.
This week’s focus: Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
This is a generational novel woven with different cultures and beliefs. It encapsulates the lives of multiple generations, navigating change while demonstrating what remains constant. What resonated most with me was the sense of foreboding—the passing of time, the slow creation of history.
When I read Pachinko a couple of years ago, I audibly screamed "no" as the novel ended. I needed more. I was completely encapsulated by the writing. Following three generations of a family really pulls you in, and it's such a skilful way of crafting historical fiction. I also learned so much about the war and politics between Korea and Japan—history that we are not taught in schools.
The quotes I’ve pulled out this week (although, honestly, nearly every page of this novel is underlined) are those that feel most fitting for my life right now. As I yearn for knowledge and development but feel ever so stagnant. As I reflect on how oppressive history can feel, and how we are often fed only a one-sided narrative. On the ordinariness of life, which I hate and love in equal measure. On wanting to be someone but not wanting to be seen—to be an invisible force.
“Learn everything. Fill your mind with knowledge—it’s the only kind of power no one can take away from you.” Hansu never told him to study, but rather to learn, and it occurred to Noa that there was a marked difference. Learning was like playing, not labor.
Learning has always been important to me, and I wish it could be my job. Instead, it’s the small bit of freedom I get outside of work. It is play, not labor, as the novel puts it. I also want to focus on the idea of learning as a tool of power—of liberation, or even retaliation. This isn't a new idea, of course (think I Who Have Never Known Men, The Handmaid’s Tale, or any dystopian novel really). Knowledge is power, as the saying goes.
I wish we would all keep learning—and not just the kind of learning that involves memorising keyboard shortcuts at work. I mean learning by reading, questioning, engaging with cultural ideas. I think it’s how we create well-rounded individuals who can make informed decisions without excluding others' perspectives. Without this, we end up where politics is now: closed conversations and endless frustration.
“We cannot help but be interested in the stories of people that history pushes aside so thoughtlessly.”
This ties into the above. Learning new stories is so beautiful. Reading this novel and hearing a Korean perspective on wars we typically only learn about through Western narratives (Germany, the U.S., the U.K.) was incredibly eye-opening. History is curated by politicians—we all know that by now. That’s why having the freedom to pick up a novel from a different country, to learn about another culture, is so powerful. It makes me so happy to see translated literature filling bookshop tables. It's one of the most potent ways to access sides of the story we might never otherwise encounter.
“No one is clean. Living makes you dirty.”
No matter how hard you try to live a good life, some stain of sin or error clings to you. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes, and I think it’s crucial to keep this in mind before judging others. I see so much bashing online—for example, people criticizing writers who use AI tools for inspiration or drafting. But before you judge, ask yourself: have you never once taken a shortcut when you were busy or needed a little help? Compassion matters.
“A man must learn to forgive—to know what is important, that to live without forgiveness was a kind of death with breathing and movement.”
Another core idea (perhaps getting a bit too close to Catholicism again, but hey—I do go to Mass every week!). Forgiveness is incredibly important. As I said, we all make mistakes. Some are bigger, harder to forgive, but without forgiveness, we cling to grudges and can't move forward. I think this quote beautifully captures forgiveness not just as an action, but as a process—breathing in and letting go of resentment so we can move toward better things. Forgiveness, too, is a form of learning that shapes us into better people.
“Living every day in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage.”
And of course, there will always be people who refuse to forgive, who think they are somehow morally superior. It’s exhausting. They nitpick, they criticize, they never show grace. So gold stars to those of us who have not punched anyone in the face yet (and yes, that includes me and my self-restraint at work).
“There's nothing fucking worse than knowing that you're just like everybody else.”
In sum.
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