18 Best literary fiction books like The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

Cover of The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

The Pachinko Parlour

By: Elisa Shua Dusapin

3.61

Format: 171 pages, Paperback

The days are beginning to draw in. The sky is dark by seven in the evening. I lie on the floor and …

"They made it illegal to speak Korean. You could be sentenced to death for speaking it. And do you know what your grandmother’s mother did to avoid being subjected to speaking Japanese at school? She sliced off part of her own tongue."

-Elisa Shua Dusapin, The Pachinko Parlour

"They made it illegal to speak Korean. You could be sentenced to death for speaking it. And do you know what your grandmother’s mother did to avoid being subjected to speaking Japanese at school? She sliced off part of her own tongue."

-Elisa Shua Dusapin, The Pachinko Parlour

"When Korea was divided, we were still nationals of a unified Korea. It was called Choson. At separation, the Japanese government gave us permission to keep our Korean identity, but we had to choose between North and South. Many people chose the North, because of their family or because they considered the North more in line with our country’s traditions. There was no way of knowing how things would turn out. Your grandmother and I chose the South because we were from Seoul. That was the only reason. We knew nothing about any of the rest of it. Political questions meant nothing to us, the Cold War, Russia, the United States. Koreans who live in Japan have never known North and South Korea. We are all people of Choson. People from a country that no longer exists."

-Elisa Shua Dusapin, The Pachinko Parlour

"When Korea was divided, we were still nationals of a unified Korea. It was called Choson. At separation, the Japanese government gave us permission to keep our Korean identity, but we had to choose between North and South. Many people chose the North, because of their family or because they considered the North more in line with our country’s traditions. There was no way of knowing how things would turn out. Your grandmother and I chose the South because we were from Seoul. That was the only reason. We knew nothing about any of the rest of it. Political questions meant nothing to us, the Cold War, Russia, the United States. Koreans who live in Japan have never known North and South Korea. We are all people of Choson. People from a country that no longer exists."

-Elisa Shua Dusapin, The Pachinko Parlour

If you liked the literary fiction plot in The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin , here is a list of 18 books like this:

Cover of Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami, Louise Heal Kawai

1. Ms Ice Sandwich

By: Mieko Kawakami , Louise Heal Kawai

3.78

Format: 92 pages, Paperback

A quixotic and funny tale about first love – from the Akutagawa Prize-winning author. Ms Ice San… read more

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's Ms Ice Sandwich book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
Cover of Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, Megan Backus

2. Kitchen

By: Banana Yoshimoto , Megan Backus

3.66

Format: 296 pages,

Banana Yoshimoto's novels have made her a sensation in Japan and all over the world, and Kitchen, t… read more

Similar categories in Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • japanese literature
  • fiction
  • asian literature
  • contemporary

3. Strange Weather in Tokyo

By: Hiromi Kawakami

4.29

Format: None pages, Paperback

Tsukiko is drinking alone in her local sake bar when by chance she meets one of her old high school… read more

Similar categories in Hiromi Kawakami's Strange Weather in Tokyo book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

Cover of Greek Lessons by Han Kang

4. Greek Lessons

By: Han Kang

3.47

Format: 192 pages, Hardcover

A powerful novel about the saving grace of language and human connection, from the author of the In… read more

Similar categories in Han Kang's Greek Lessons book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • novels
  • audiobook
"If snow is the silence that falls from the sky, perhaps rain is an endless sentence."

-Han Kang, Greek Lessons

"Si tomamos como cierta la premisa que dice que, cuando perdemos algo, ganamos otra cosa, ¿Qué es lo que he ganado yo al perderte a ti?."

-Han Kang, Greek Lessons

"Before she lost words - when she was still able to se them to write - she sometimes wished that her own expressions would more closely resemble inarticulacy: a moan or low cry."

-Han Kang, Greek Lessons

"To her, there was no touch as instantaneous and intuitive as the gaze. It was close to being the only way of touching without touch. Language, by comparison, is an infinitely more physical way to tou…"

-Han Kang, Greek Lessons

Cover of Idol, Burning by Rin Usami

5. Idol, Burning

By: Rin Usami

3.23

Format: 144 pages, Hardcover

The novel that lit the Japanese publishing world on fire: From a breathtaking up-and-coming writer,… read more

Similar categories in Rin Usami's Idol, Burning book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
  • audiobook
"His existence and my witnessing of it were all I asked for."

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

"Maybe that was how a home broke down over the years, as the sound of doors slamming and chairs roughly scraping the floor built up like dust, and the slow drip of gnashing teeth and resentful grumbli…"

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

"Idol groups generally assigned each member an official color, which would be used for the light sticks that fans would hold up to show your support at a performance or for other individual merch. My …"

-Rin Usami, Idol, Burning

Cover of All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

6. All the Lovers in the Night

By: Mieko Kawakami

3.72

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

Fuyuko Irie is a freelance copy editor in her mid-thirties. Working and living alone in a city wher… read more

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's All the Lovers in the Night book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
  • audiobook
"It only took me a couple of hours to realise that she was a woman of talents beyond anything I could imagine - even though I was a stranger to such talents myself."

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"The light at night is special because the overwhelming light of day has left us, and the remaining half draws on everything it has to keep the world around us bright."

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"When I felt sleepy I slept, and when I opened my eyes I got up, letting hunger dictate when to head to the fridge or kitchen cabinet to eat some of the things that I'd stocked up on. When supplies ra…"

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

"When I felt sleepy I slept, and when I opened my eyes I got up, letting hunger dictate when to head to the fridge or kitchen cabinet to eat some of the things that I'd stocked up on. When supplies ra…"

-Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night

Cover of The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

7. The Pachinko Parlour

By: Elisa Shua Dusapin

3.61

Format: 171 pages, Paperback

The days are beginning to draw in. The sky is dark by seven in the evening. I lie on the floor and … read more

Similar categories in Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • france
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • novels
  • japan
  • audiobook
"They made it illegal to speak Korean. You could be sentenced to death for speaking it. And do you know what your grandmother’s mother did to avoid being subjected to speaking Japanese at school? She …"

-Elisa Shua Dusapin, The Pachinko Parlour

"When Korea was divided, we were still nationals of a unified Korea. It was called Choson. At separation, the Japanese government gave us permission to keep our Korean identity, but we had to choose b…"

-Elisa Shua Dusapin, The Pachinko Parlour

Cover of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1) by Satoshi Yagisawa

8. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

By: Satoshi Yagisawa

3.65

Format: 150 pages, Paperback

The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading. … read more

Similar categories in Satoshi Yagisawa's Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1) book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • japanese literature
  • fiction
  • asian literature
  • contemporary
  • japan
  • audiobook
"It hurts to realize that it might be too late now for anything but regret."

-Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

"And here I am spending a sleepless night in a strange place. We might not be far from home, but I feel lonely."

-Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

"In my dream, I was an android maid living in a city in the not-so- distant future. In that neighbourhood, all the buildings were made of used books."

-Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

"No es cuestión de ser expertos o novatos. Si lo plantea así, ni siquiera yo lo soy tanto. Lo importante es sentir emociones al toparse con un libro."

-Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)

Cover of Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

9. Life Ceremony

By: Sayaka Murata

3.75

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

With Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stori… read more

Similar categories in Sayaka Murata's Life Ceremony book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
"Nowadays, your partner is not necessarily a sex object - this is a wonderful advancement."

-Sayaka Murata, Life Ceremony

"I'm seeking an amicable daily routine with someone I get along well with, like brother and sister, without being a slave to sex"

-Sayaka Murata, Life Ceremony

"Walking like this, feeling like a feral human, even machines and buildings were warm to the touch, and some emitted sounds and vibrations. Their presence was similar to the sounds emitted by life-for…"

-Sayaka Murata, Life Ceremony

"If they tried it, the memories of the wild rooted in their flesh would come back to them, and they would discover that eating the city like this would connect the earth between the gaps in the concre…"

-Sayaka Murata, Life Ceremony

Cover of Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

10. Breasts and Eggs

By: Mieko Kawakami

3.86

Format: 430 pages, Hardcover

Challenging every preconception about storytelling and prose style, mixing wry humor and riveting e… read more

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's Breasts and Eggs book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • novels
  • japanese literature
  • fiction
  • asian literature
  • contemporary
  • japan
  • audiobook
"Then there are the real bastards, like my ex,"

-Mieko Kawakami, Breasts and Eggs

"Mi sentivo come un essere privato della carne e della pelle e ridotto a sole ossa. Un carapace enorme completamente cavo."

-Mieko Kawakami, Breasts and Eggs

"We could worry about tomorrow when it came. What mattered most right now is how we would spend the remainder of today, even if it was half over."

-Mieko Kawakami, Breasts and Eggs

"I could see people all around me, but I almost felt like nobody could see me. I heard a train go by, rumbling down the tracks, drawing a thick line between the world and my experience. I was getting …"

-Mieko Kawakami, Breasts and Eggs

Cover of Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

11. Heaven

By: Mieko Kawakami

3.80

Format: 192 pages, Hardcover

Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-y… read more

Similar categories in Mieko Kawakami's Heaven book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • novels
  • japanese literature
  • fiction
  • asian literature
  • contemporary
  • japan
  • audiobook
"Karena kau selalu dilukai, kau sungguh-sungguh memahami seperti apakah orang terluka."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"The more I looked at it, the less it seemed like something for a house. More like a tiny gravestone."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"You think about how other people feel. You're so kind. It makes sense. Because we're always in pain, we know exactly what it means to hurt somebody else."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

"People are always dying. It's a perfect truth. No matter how we live our lives, we all die, sooner or later. In which case, living is really just waiting to die."

-Mieko Kawakami, Heaven

Cover of This is Amiko, Do You Copy? by Natsuko Imamura

12. This is Amiko, Do You Copy?

By: Natsuko Imamura

3.63

Format: 122 pages, Paperback

Other people don’t seem to understand Amiko. Whether eating curry rice with her hands at school or … read more

Similar categories in Natsuko Imamura's This is Amiko, Do You Copy? book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
"Every time she cried, "I love you!" the words shattered her heart without mercy."

-Natsuko Imamura, This is Amiko, Do You Copy?

Cover of Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada

13. Weasels in the Attic

By: Hiroko Oyamada

3.43

Format: 96 pages, Paperback

From the acclaimed author of The Hole and The Factory, a thrilling and mysterious work that explore… read more

Similar categories in Hiroko Oyamada's Weasels in the Attic book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
"We meet at school, or work, or maybe a store. Wherever it is, there's just a random group of individuals, right? Within that group, you find your mate. If you were in a different group, you' d end up…"

-Hiroko Oyamada, Weasels in the Attic

Cover of Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

14. Diary of a Void

By: Emi Yagi

3.51

Format: 213 pages, Hardcover

A prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about a woman in Japan who avoids harassment at … read more

Similar categories in Emi Yagi's Diary of a Void book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • novels
  • japan
  • audiobook
"Having a baby isn't easy. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It's been two thousand years, and it's the same old story, right?"

-Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void

"I'm always so alone. I guess I should be used to it by now. That's the way it is from the moment we come into this world, but I'm still not used to it - how alone we all are."

-Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void

"Maybe that's making a family is all about: creating an environment in which people make space for one another - maybe without even trying, just naturally, to make sure that nobody's forgotten."

-Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void

"Until they arrived, while everyone else was transitioning to winter, putting on coats and sweaters, I was going to stick with my summer dress and my usual work blazer. Dressed in the dazzling flowers…"

-Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void

Cover of Butter by Asako Yuzuki

15. Butter

By: Asako Yuzuki

3.60

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist inten… read more

Similar categories in Asako Yuzuki's Butter book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • japanese literature
  • japan
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
"Dessert was home-made candied chestnuts, chiffon cake baked with amazake and rice flour, and cups of gingery chai. Biting into the cake, Rika discovered that it was perfectly fluffy, with a pleasing …"

-Asako Yuzuki, Butter

"Soon after, Rika heard the sizzle of butter melting in a hot frying pan. It smelt to her like life itself. Maybe because it was animal fat, there was rough, raw depth and fragrance to its smell, whic…"

-Asako Yuzuki, Butter

"Milk was originally blood. In that case, was the butter in the Babaji story actually a metaphor for all the carnage that took place under the cover of the jungle? What seemed pure, white and creamy h…"

-Asako Yuzuki, Butter

"The whipped butter had already started melting across the waffles' latticed brown surface, creating a golden trickling waterfall that pooled in their hollows. Rika bit into the dough, savoring how ju…"

-Asako Yuzuki, Butter

Cover of The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto

16. The Premonition

By: Banana Yoshimoto

3.43

Format: 133 pages, Hardcover

The internationally beloved author of Kitchen and Dead-End Memories returns with a beautiful and he… read more

Similar categories in Banana Yoshimoto's The Premonition book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
"I'd never known a love before that could blot out the world around like this."

-Banana Yoshimoto, The Premonition

"Later, for the first time in a very long time, I heard my aunt play the piano. Its tone was soft, and just like I remembered it. At the kitchen window one overcast afternoon, I watched its beautiful …"

-Banana Yoshimoto, The Premonition

Cover of I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki by Baek Se-hee

17. I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

By: Baek Se-hee

3.28

Format: 232 pages, Paperback

The South Korean runaway bestseller, debut author Baek Sehee's intimate therapy memoir, as recommen… read more

Similar categories in Baek Se-hee's I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • asian literature
  • asia
  • audiobook
  • contemporary
"Togetherness means altruism, and altruism is what saves us from selfishness."

-Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

"For example, when you’re co-dependent on your partner you resent them, but when you leave your partner, you feel anxious and bereft."

-Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

"Fear increases when it's something that you keep to yourself. Instead of suffering alone, it can often be good to share it with someone else."

-Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

"What matters isn't what people say but what you like and find joy in. I hope you focus less on how you look to other people and more on fulfilling your true desires."

-Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki

Cover of What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

18. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library

By: Michiko Aoyama

4.09

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

For fans of The Midnight Library and Before the Coffee Gets Cold, this charming Japanese novel show… read more

Similar categories in Michiko Aoyama's What You Are Looking For Is in the Library book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • japanese literature
  • japan
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • audiobook
Cover of People From My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami

19. People From My Neighbourhood

By: Hiromi Kawakami

3.53

Format: 121 pages, Paperback

From the author of the internationally bestselling Strange Weather in Tokyo, a collection of interl… read more

Similar categories in Hiromi Kawakami's People From My Neighbourhood book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • japanese literature
  • japan
"Even the smallest hole is enough to send a balloon spiraling to the ground. The falsification of memory is like that. All it takes is one individual who remembers the truth, said Romi, for the whole …"

-Hiromi Kawakami, People From My Neighbourhood

Cover of Concerning My Daughter by Hye-Jin Kim

20. Concerning My Daughter

By: Hye-Jin Kim

3.71

Format: 176 pages, Paperback

When an ageing mother allows her thirty-something daughter to move into her apartment, she wants fo… read more

Similar categories in Hye-Jin Kim's Concerning My Daughter book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • audiobook
"Ir abrindo mão das coisas de que gostamos. Essa é a definição do verbo envelhecer."

-Hye-Jin Kim, Concerning My Daughter

"That child who sprang from my own flesh and blood is perhaps the creature I'm most distant from."

-Hye-Jin Kim, Concerning My Daughter

"Ela estudou tanto que, não tendo mais o que estudar, foi aprender o que não devia. Por exemplo: como negar o mundo, como ir contra o mundo."

-Hye-Jin Kim, Concerning My Daughter

"It's not my fault. It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. If we keep telling ourselves that, then who should all the victims of the world go to for their apology?"

-Hye-Jin Kim, Concerning My Daughter

Cover of Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah

21. Untold Night and Day

By: Bae Suah

3.49

Format: 160 pages, Hardcover

A seductive, disorienting novel that manipulates the fragile line between dreams and reality, by So… read more

Similar categories in Bae Suah's Untold Night and Day book and Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

  • literary fiction
  • asia
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • asian literature
  • novels
"In life there are wounds that like leprosy slowly eat away at the soul in solitude."

-Bae Suah, Untold Night and Day

"The door swung back so suddenly it severed them from their shadows, which were left behind like dark ghosts."

-Bae Suah, Untold Night and Day

"Whatever the intention or aim of the photographer, every photograph is a unique proof of identify, firmly declaring that human beings are ghosts."

-Bae Suah, Untold Night and Day

"Whatever the intention or aim of the photographer, Wolfi thought, every photograph is a unique proof of identity, firmly declaring that human beings are ghosts."

-Bae Suah, Untold Night and Day

19 must-read fiction books like The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

Transform Your Habits

Ms Ice Sandwich

Mieko Kawakami , Louise Heal Kawai

3.78

Transform Your Habits

Kitchen

Banana Yoshimoto , Megan Backus

3.66

Transform Your Habits

Greek Lessons

Han Kang

3.47

Transform Your Habits

Idol, Burning

Rin Usami

3.23

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5 best-selling japan books like Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Transform Your Habits

More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #2)

Satoshi Yagisawa

3.87

Transform Your Habits

The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #1)

Hisashi Kashiwai

3.70

Transform Your Habits

Butter

Asako Yuzuki

3.60

Transform Your Habits

Mongrel

Hanako Footman

4.38

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