Listen free for 30 days
-
Pachinko
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $39.38
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
You may also enjoy...
-
Paper Wife
- A Novel
- Written by: Laila Ibrahim
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Southern China, 1923. Desperate to secure her future, Mei Ling’s parents arrange a marriage to a widower in California. To enter the country, she must pretend to be her husband’s first wife - a paper wife. On the perilous voyage, Mei Ling takes an orphan girl named Siew under her wing. Dreams of a better life in America give Mei Ling the strength to endure the treacherous journey and detainment on Angel Island. But when she finally reaches San Francisco, she’s met with a surprise. Her husband, Chinn Kai Li, is a houseboy, not the successful merchant he led her to believe.
-
-
Loved it!
- By R.J.G. on 2021-07-10
Written by: Laila Ibrahim
-
The Library Book
- Written by: Susan Orlean
- Narrated by: Susan Orlean
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual false alarm. As one fireman recounted later, “Once that first stack got going, it was good-bye, Charlie.” The fire was disastrous: It reached 2,000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more.
-
-
Beautiful story, painful narration
- By Mistaya Langridge on 2019-07-11
Written by: Susan Orlean
-
Sparks Like Stars
- A Novel
- Written by: Nadia Hashimi
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara’s world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara’s entire family. Only she survives.
-
-
Beautiful writing, incredible story
- By snowpatch100 on 2021-04-23
Written by: Nadia Hashimi
-
Yellowface
- A Novel
- Written by: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.
-
-
Am I missing something?
- By Katherine Provost on 2023-07-11
Written by: R. F. Kuang
-
Penelope in Retrograde
- A Novel
- Written by: Brooke Abrams
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romance writer Penelope Banks can write the perfect love story, but when it comes to family, all she’s got is a rough draft. Penny shelved the idea of fitting in with her high-achieving family years ago, but when her new business venture—a romance bookstore—is at risk of closing before its doors have opened, she’s forced to ask for help from the one place she never expected. Home.
-
-
Could Not Get Through It
- By Alexandra Daignault on 2024-04-13
Written by: Brooke Abrams
-
The Murder at the Vicarage
- A Miss Marple Mystery
- Written by: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks intrigue, guilt, deception and death. Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing land-owner is the most detested man in the village. Everyone—even in the vicar—wishes he were dead. And very soon he is—shot in the head in the vicar's own study. Faced with a surfeit of suspects, only the inscrutable Miss Marple can unravel the tangled web of clues that will lead to the unmasking of the killer.
-
-
my thoughts on the book.
- By Paul Atwal on 2018-09-16
Written by: Agatha Christie
-
Paper Wife
- A Novel
- Written by: Laila Ibrahim
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Southern China, 1923. Desperate to secure her future, Mei Ling’s parents arrange a marriage to a widower in California. To enter the country, she must pretend to be her husband’s first wife - a paper wife. On the perilous voyage, Mei Ling takes an orphan girl named Siew under her wing. Dreams of a better life in America give Mei Ling the strength to endure the treacherous journey and detainment on Angel Island. But when she finally reaches San Francisco, she’s met with a surprise. Her husband, Chinn Kai Li, is a houseboy, not the successful merchant he led her to believe.
-
-
Loved it!
- By R.J.G. on 2021-07-10
Written by: Laila Ibrahim
-
The Library Book
- Written by: Susan Orlean
- Narrated by: Susan Orlean
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual false alarm. As one fireman recounted later, “Once that first stack got going, it was good-bye, Charlie.” The fire was disastrous: It reached 2,000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more.
-
-
Beautiful story, painful narration
- By Mistaya Langridge on 2019-07-11
Written by: Susan Orlean
-
Sparks Like Stars
- A Novel
- Written by: Nadia Hashimi
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara’s world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara’s entire family. Only she survives.
-
-
Beautiful writing, incredible story
- By snowpatch100 on 2021-04-23
Written by: Nadia Hashimi
-
Yellowface
- A Novel
- Written by: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.
-
-
Am I missing something?
- By Katherine Provost on 2023-07-11
Written by: R. F. Kuang
-
Penelope in Retrograde
- A Novel
- Written by: Brooke Abrams
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romance writer Penelope Banks can write the perfect love story, but when it comes to family, all she’s got is a rough draft. Penny shelved the idea of fitting in with her high-achieving family years ago, but when her new business venture—a romance bookstore—is at risk of closing before its doors have opened, she’s forced to ask for help from the one place she never expected. Home.
-
-
Could Not Get Through It
- By Alexandra Daignault on 2024-04-13
Written by: Brooke Abrams
-
The Murder at the Vicarage
- A Miss Marple Mystery
- Written by: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in the sleepy little village of St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks intrigue, guilt, deception and death. Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing land-owner is the most detested man in the village. Everyone—even in the vicar—wishes he were dead. And very soon he is—shot in the head in the vicar's own study. Faced with a surfeit of suspects, only the inscrutable Miss Marple can unravel the tangled web of clues that will lead to the unmasking of the killer.
-
-
my thoughts on the book.
- By Paul Atwal on 2018-09-16
Written by: Agatha Christie
-
One Puzzling Afternoon
- Written by: Emily Critchley
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street, fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living with her eccentric mother and her mother's new boyfriend, she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life. So when the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. Even though Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep. Then Lucy goes missing. Now in 2018, Edie is eighty-four and still living in the same small town, when one afternoon she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen.
-
-
Good Mystery
- By Kindle Customer on 2024-04-07
Written by: Emily Critchley
-
The Chocolate Maker's Wife
- Written by: Karen Brooks
- Narrated by: Willow Nash
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into poverty, brutalised and ignored by her family, it is only when she is married off to a nobleman that her life undergoes a transformation, as her husband recognises in Rosamund a magic she does not know she possesses but which affects almost all who encounter her. Presiding over a luxurious chocolate house where men go to be seen, exchange news and indulge in the sweet and heady drink to which they have become addicted, Rosamund feels blessed. But disaster strikes, and Rosamund stands on the brink of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve.
-
-
Lots of intricate stories inside stories
- By loralou on 2024-02-26
Written by: Karen Brooks
-
The Art of Racing in the Rain
- Written by: Garth Stein
- Narrated by: Christopher Evan Welch
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling novel from Garth Stein - a heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope - a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.
-
-
Really good
- By Taylor Kavanagh on 2023-11-16
Written by: Garth Stein
-
The Bitter Past
- Sheriff Porter Beck, Book 1
- Written by: Bruce Borgos
- Narrated by: James Babson
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Porter Beck is the sheriff in the high desert of Nevada, north of Las Vegas. Born and raised there, he left to join the Army, where he worked in Intelligence, deep in the shadows in far off places. Now he's back home, doing the same lawman's job his father once did, before his father started to develop dementia. All is relatively quiet in this corner of the world, until on old, retired FBI agent is found killed. He was brutally tortured before he was killed and clues at the scene point to a mystery dating back to the early days of the nuclear age.
-
-
A Great Discovery
- By snowpatch100 on 2023-12-28
Written by: Bruce Borgos
-
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
- A Novel
- Written by: Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. He is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock. Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie - magical, comforting, wise beyond her years - promised to protect him, no matter what.
-
-
Coraline for Adults
- By Jenna R on 2020-06-19
Written by: Neil Gaiman
-
The Woman in the White Kimono
- A Novel
- Written by: Ana Johns
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Lauren Ezzo
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Japan, 1957. Seventeen-year-old Naoko Nakamura’s prearranged marriage to the son of her father’s business associate would secure her family’s status in their traditional Japanese community, but Naoko has fallen for another man - an American sailor, a gaijin - and to marry him would bring great shame upon her entire family. When it’s learned Naoko carries the sailor’s child, she’s cast out in disgrace and forced to make unimaginable choices with consequences that will ripple across generations.
-
-
Beautiful writing style.
- By guineverebradshaw on 2020-02-20
Written by: Ana Johns
-
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
- Written by: Alix E. Harrow
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
-
-
An imaginative story, beautifully told.
- By Robyn on 2019-10-04
Written by: Alix E. Harrow
-
The House of Doors
- Written by: Tan Twan Eng
- Narrated by: David Oakes, Louise-Mai Newberry
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 1921. Lesley Hamlyn and her husband, Robert, a lawyer and war veteran, are living at Cassowary House on the Straits Settlement of Penang. When “Willie” Somerset Maugham, a famed writer and old friend of Robert’s, arrives for an extended visit with his secretary Gerald, the pair threatens a rift that could alter more lives than one. Maugham, one of the great novelists of his day, is beleaguered: Having long hidden his homosexuality, his unhappy and expensive marriage of convenience becomes unbearable after he loses his savings—and the freedom to travel with Gerald.
-
-
Superb!
- By PWL on 2024-03-25
Written by: Tan Twan Eng
-
African Samurai
- The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan
- Written by: Thomas Lockley, Geoffrey Girard
- Narrated by: Gary Furlong
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The remarkable life of history’s first foreign-born samurai and his astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese society.
-
-
Black Bushido
- By Anonymous User on 2023-02-17
Written by: Thomas Lockley, and others
-
Who Fears Death
- Written by: Nnedi Okorafor
- Narrated by: Yetide Badaki
- Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a post-apocalyptic Africa, the world has changed in many ways; yet in one region genocide between tribes still bloodies the land. A woman who has survived the annihilation of her village and a terrible rape by an enemy general wanders into the desert, hoping to die. Instead, she gives birth to an angry baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand. Gripped by the certainty that her daughter is different—special—she names her Onyesonwu, which means "Who fears death?" in an ancient language.
Written by: Nnedi Okorafor
-
Calico
- Written by: Lee Goldberg
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella, Eric Conger
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There's a saying in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert . . . The Interstate here only goes in one direction: Away. But it's the only place where ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, after a staggering fall from grace, could get another badge . . . and a shot at redemption. Over a century ago, and just a few miles further into the bleak landscape, a desperate stranger ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, also hoping for a second chance.
-
-
Don’t waste your money!
- By Amazon Customer on 2024-03-08
Written by: Lee Goldberg
-
Marilla of Green Gables
- A Novel
- Written by: Sarah McCoy
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold, heartfelt tale of life at Green Gables...before Anne: A marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the 19th century, that imagines the young life of spinster Marilla Cuthbert and the choices that will open her life to the possibility of heartbreak - and unimaginable greatness. Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is 13 years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife.
-
-
Excellent
- By J on 2021-06-14
Written by: Sarah McCoy
Publisher's Summary
New York Times Notable Book of 2017
A USA Today Top 10 of 2017
July pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times Book Club Now Read This
Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, 2018
Winner of The Medici Book Club Prize
Roxane Gay's Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post
New York Times best seller, number one Boston Globe best seller, USA Today best seller, Wall Street Journal best seller, and a Washington Post best seller.
A New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year and National Book Award finalist, Pachinko is an "extraordinary epic" of four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family as they fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan (San Francisco Chronicle).
"There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones".
In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant - and that her lover is married - she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.
Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters - strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis - survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.
What the critics say
"If proof were needed that one family's story can be the story of the whole world, then
Pachinko offers that proof. Min Jin Lee's novel is gripping from start to finish, crossing cultures and generations with breathtaking power.
Pachinko is a stunning achievement, full of heart, full of grace, full of truth." (Erica Wagner, author of
Ariel's Gift and
Seizure)
More from the same
What listeners say about Pachinko
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-09-13
Loved it
Well narrated and great characters. I love it all. #Audible1. The only thing I would say that could have been improved is the character development during the last part of the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-08-02
Great story, mismatched narration
This is an extraordinarily well written and moving story. I finished the book a week ago and am still thinking about the characters and the history of Korea-Japan relations.
However, the narration doesn't match the tone of the story and takes away from its depth and richness. At one point the narration was so jarring and distracting that I had to stop listening and start reading the book, which was a good call.
Summary: Magnificent book but the narration doesn't fit the tone and can take the listener out of the story at times.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joan R
- 2020-06-09
Disappointed
There was far too much sexual content in the book. It would have been such a good read as the basic content was there just not followed through.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Johannah
- 2021-05-24
Good story! read it before it becomes a TV show
A good epic story spanning several generations of one family. melodramatic but not overly so. the characters are well developed. chapters and sections are concise so even though the book is long, it doesn't feel long. the plot moves at a steady pace so you don't feel bored.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-05-24
Terrible Narrator
The story is very compelling, however, I had to stop listening to the audio and read the book. The narrator is so boring to listen to..and I literally kept falling asleep. The narrator has terrible inflection and tone (which does not match the story).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mariam Javed
- 2019-08-02
MUST READ
I absolutely LOVED this book and LOVED the narration too. I was slightly worried about reading this book because some of the reviews said the narration took away from the story, but I didn't find that AT ALL. Narration was well done and I found it complimented the story.
This book is a must read.......I couldn't stop listening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather Connell
- 2020-08-23
Worth the time
I enjoyed this historical multigenerational saga. That starts in Korea and ends in Japan. I enjoyed the story of the family and the history of the colonization of Korea by Japan. I had no idea that prior to the war Japan had oppressed Korea or
that the Japanese were so racist towards the Koreans.
The writing was very straightforward and direct which I found suited the story line. Towards the end of the book I found more characters were introduced but I felt nothing for them and didn’t enjoy their storylines. I would highly recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- H. Dumas
- 2022-07-10
Careful, you might binge this one
I couldn't stop listening. I appreciated how the narrator moved between three languages with authenticity, and gave nuance to each character. I am sad I finished the book, but looking forward to reliving the story through the TV adaptation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2022-11-21
excellent
absolutely beautiful book. an intergenerational story which causes one to reflect on both how history shapes the present and the lingering effects of that from generation to generation. absolutely tragic and touching at times, a truly great read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Conor
- 2018-04-27
Sweeping epic let down by story telling
The historical aspect of this story was fascinating and the characters were great, but I really felt the very linear story telling let the book down . And the narration! I felt like a I was being read a child’s bedtime story. The narrator put inflections in strange places and the tone was that of a “once upon a time” tale. It is a testament to the characters written that I cared enough to keep listening. If the narration doesn’t bother you then it’s a good book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful