Pachinko [First Part]

[Machine Translation] Yeongdo Island, off the coast of Busan, on the Korean Peninsula, which was annexed by Japan. Born the daughter of a couple who run a boarding house, Kim Song-ja meets a man named Hans, who trades with Japan for a living. She falls in love with Hans, a stranger with the scent of the city, and when she is pregnant, she learns that Hans has a wife and child in Japan. Ashamed and distressed by her unforgivable pregnancy, a young priest, Isaac, reaches out to her. He vows to raise Sonja's child as his own, and together with Sonja, they travel to Tsuruhashi, Osaka, where her brother lives... The story opens on the Korean peninsula in 1910, moves to Osaka, and then to Yokohama. This is a magnificent story that reminds us once again of the overwhelming power of the novel. Thirty years after its conception, this epic work by a Korean-American author has thrilled readers around the world and was a finalist for the National Book Award, the largest literary award in the United States.

日本に併合された朝鮮半島、釜山沖の影島。下宿屋を営む夫婦の娘として生まれたキム・ソンジャが出会ったのは、日本との貿易を生業とするハンスという男だった。見知らぬ都会の匂いのするハンスと恋に落ち、やがて身ごもったソンジャは、ハンスには日本に妻子がいることを知らされる。許されぬ妊娠を恥じ、苦悩するソンジャに手を差し伸べたのは若き牧師イサク。彼はソンジャの子を自分の子として育てると誓い、ソンジャとともに兄が住む大阪の鶴橋に渡ることになった...一九一〇年の朝鮮半島で幕を開け、大阪へ、そして横浜へ―。小説というものの圧倒的な力をあらためて悟らせてくれる壮大な物語。構想から三十年、世界中の読者を感動させ、アメリカ最大の文学賞・全米図書賞最終候補作となった韓国系アメリカ人作家の渾身の大作。