Style/Structure Comparison

 When comparing Min Jin Lee’s book, Pachinko, to other novels that we have read in this course, I think that the point of view of this book could be important. I think that Pachinko uses the third-person omniscient point of view, which means that the narrator can access the consciousness of many of the characters, but also the main character is Sunja so far. If we compare this to a book like Home Fire or There There, rather than having each chapter dedicated to the perspective of a different character, Pachinko does not have each chapter labeled by character, and it just switches from describing the actions of one character to the next based on what is happening. Some of the points of view in There There are in the first person while others are in the third person. Also, in Pachinko, some of the chapters are labeled with a certain year and place, which is different from being labeled with a character’s name.

Also, I think that Pachinko weaves in some historical information since it is set in a time around when Japan annexed Korea. There There includes some historical information about Native Americans in the prologue I believe. The Secret River is also set at a time of Australia being colonized and also shows 18th century London life. 

Additionally, there is one epigraph included at the beginning of Pachinko. This epigraph reminded me of another book we had read that had epigraphs as well. I think it was There There that had some epigraphs at the beginning of different sections.