Dear Min Jin Lee:

I read your book Pachinko, and I wanted to write you to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Reading Pachinko made me appreciate the struggles of my parents and grandparents. One of my favorite characters was Solomon. He lived a comfortable, modern and rich lifestyle which—on the surface—made it relatively uninteresting, but the multi-generational scope of the story provided a unique context for his life in terms of just how much he inherited from his family’s ordeals, sacrifice and perseverance. In a way, Solomon benefited from Hoonie’s hard-work and kindness even though they never knew each other. It made me reflect on my own life, and I thought about how much I inherited from my family. My father ran away from home from an abusive father to join the army after his mother died at the age of 16. He didn’t have the easiest life, but I was born in Canada because of him. My father’s father never let him play games, so my father insisted that all his kids should play ice hockey and be Canadians. I feel like Solomon and I don’t understand or appreciate enough of our parents’ and grandparents’ lives and struggles.

I was very lucky to be born in Canada. Solomon’s life was privileged, but can anything be worth the humiliation of discrimination and internalized shame he experienced in Japan? While reading Pachinko, I thought about the way I grew up. I grew up believing that I could be the Prime Minister of Canada. When I was a child, other kids of my ethnicity made fun of the way I spoke my native language—a few times I was called white-washed—but I never felt discriminated against or shunned and it didn’t bother me. If anything, I was confused. I relay these two anecdotes to convey that, as a kid, there was no doubt in my mind that I was Canadian. In contrast, last year I lived in Japan and I met a Taiwanese Australian who had been living there for more than 10 years. He told me that he didn’t feel like Japan was his home. “I don’t really feel like I have a home,” he said. It made me feel sad for him. Before living in Japan, I never appreciated that Canada and the United States of America are amazingly diverse and deeply accepting countries. I am thankful to have lived the childhood that I did, especially amidst the current political climate. I was already thinking about these things while living in Japan, and Pachinko further broadened my perspective. I came out of your book with a deeper understanding and appreciation for my own childhood and respect and empathy for all those people who are judged for their ethnicity.

I could go on (a friend and I had a two hour discussion about Pachinko), but I expect you are busy. I appreciate you taking the time to read my letter.

Thank you.

Abdurrahman Ayyaz Qureshi