Pachinko: Tone 1 key example

Meanwhile, simple, undecorated sentences set down characters’ habits and circumstances in straightforward terms—Noa’s marriage “was a stable one,” and Kyunghee remains a “lovely woman” despite her years of work. The novel renders some of its most important moments in dry, understated prose. Sunja’s marriage to Isak, for instance, takes place in a ceremony that “was over in minutes.” She leaves her homeland with her husband with a similar absence of fanfare: “Every item had been satisfied. The officers could not trouble him. He and his wife could go.”

Lee’s surgical narration creates intimate moments of empathy. When applied to her characters, the novel dissects their innermost feelings and seems almost to speak on their behalf. “Go-saeng—the word made her sick,” the narrator shares to the reader while piercing Sunja’s train of thought, “what else was there beside this?” The narrator hides nothing—not even Kim Changho’s shameful lust or Solomon’s complicated attachment to Japan—from the reader’s view. In this way, the narrator approaches the characters with powerful observation and clear, careful words that bring grief and pain to light.