Rating: 
Summary: Better in Retrospect than I Had Thought!
Review: Written in the early twentieth century, this indigenous Japanese novel recounts the life & times of old Japan's greatest swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi -- a man who began life as an over-eager and rather brutish young lout but who, through the discipline of Japan's "way of the sword," turned himself into a master of his chosen weapon. But this tale is not only one of a life spent in training to perfect the art of killing with a sharpened piece of steel. In the venerable Japanese tradition, it is also about a man's search to conquer himself, to become a better man. The Buddhist view cultivated by the Japanese warrior class allowed for a spiritual dimension to their very bloody enterprise of warfare and killing. And it is this aspect of his training that consumes Musashi, to the detriment of the people he encounters and who seek to attach themselves to him. Unable to settle down in the ordinary way, or to simply join a particular clan as a retainer to some noble lord, Musashi embarks on the life of a ronin (masterless samurai) as he wends his way through the feudal world of medieval Japan in his seemingly endless search for perfection. In the process he finds a young woman who loves him and many enemies who seek his destruction, at least in part in repayment for the damage he does them while on his quest. He also crosses swords with many other experts in Japan's martial arts, but it is his encounter with a Buddhist priest, early on,that ultimately puts him on the right path. In the end Musashi finds his grail in a duel to the death with his greatest opponent, the sword master, Kojiro, famous for his "swallow cut" -- a stroke so fast and deadly that it can slice a swooping, looping bird out of the air in mid-flight. This alone is a challenge worthy of the master which Musashi has become -- and a match which even he may not be up to, for this opponent is surely the finest technician in his art in all Japan. But there is more to swordsmanship than technical skill, as Musashi has learned, and more to living one's life than merely following rules. Musashi attains a sort of peace in preparation for his climactic bout, for he is willing to risk all and even die in order to win against the master of the swallow cut, while applying all the strategy he has learned throughout his tumultuous career to unsettle the man who will oppose him. In the end Musashi lived to a fairly ripe old age and, unlike many of his contemporaries, died in his bed after composing the famous Book of Five Rings -- his own contribution to the art of strategy. I had originally rated this book at four stars only but on re-thinking it I find it continues to live vividly in my mind so that, alone, suggests it had a more powerful resonance than I originally gave it credit for. Certainly there are many levels in any continuum of ranking and many ways of placing anything ranked on that continuum. But in one very serious way, this book deserves a five star ranking, not a four so I am correcting for this now.
Rating:
Summary: The Tale of Old Japan's Most Famous Swordsman
Review: Written in the early twentieth century, this indigenous Japanese novel recounts the life and times of old Japan's greatest swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi -- a man who began life as an over-eager and rather brutish young lout but who, through the discipline of Japan's "way of the sword," turned himself into a master of his chosen weapon. But this tale is not only about a life spent in training to perfect the art of killing with a sharpened piece of steel. In the venerable Japanese tradition, it is also about a man's search to conquer himself, to become a better person. The Buddhist view cultivated by the Japanese warrior class allowed for a spiritual dimension to their very bloody enterprise of warfare and killing. And it is this aspect of his training that consumes Musashi, to the detriment of the people he encounters and who seek to attach themselves to him. Unable to settle down in the ordinary way, or to simply join a particular clan as a retainer to some noble lord, Musashi embarks on the life of a ronin (masterless samurai) as he wends his way through the feudal world of medieval Japan in his seemingly endless search for perfection. In the process he finds a young woman who loves him and many enemies who seek his destruction, at least in part in repayment for the damage he does them while on his quest. He also crosses swords with many other experts in Japan's martial arts, but it is his early encounter with a Buddhist priest that puts him on the path which will forever after guide his life. Musashi ultimately finds his grail in a duel to the death with a man called Kojiro, who will become his greatest opponent, a sword master famous for his "swallow cut" -- a stroke so fast and deadly that it can slice a swooping, looping bird out of the air in mid-flight. This alone is a challenge worthy of the master which Musashi has become -- and a match which even he may not be up to, for this opponent is surely the finest technician in his art in all Japan. But there is more to swordsmanship than technical skill, as Musashi has learned, and there is more to living one's life than merely preserving it. Musashi attains a sort of peace in preparation for his climactic bout, for he is willing to risk all and even die in order to win against the master of the swallow cut, while applying all the strategy he has learned throughout his tumultuous career to unsettle the man who will oppose him. In the end Musashi became a legend to his countrymen, composing the famous Book of Five Rings -- his contribution to the art of strategy. But what he and Kojiro must do when they finally face each other is a tale in itself -- and a denoument towards which everything else in this book ultimately leads.
Rating:
Summary: a moving epic, samurai, Zen and how to be a legend
Review: this is a great book over 900 pages in the hardback edition but about a third into the epic i looked at the "remainder" and thought it could be a lot longer!the story begins at "ground zero" as it were for best friends takezo - later to be musashi - and matahachi, both young men out to prove themselves and earn their place in the world, dreaming of becoming "rich and famous" quickly by joining the army to fight a big battle at Segikihara. they lost. from the same starting point the two lives diverged significantly. takezo, a brash if not violent youth, was to realise that might is not right and there are things larger than himself with "help" from takuan soho, a monk, who seemed to be walking about the country trying to save people from themselves. the transformation into musashi began in theory as it were - having being "imprisoned" in a room of a castle. cut off from the "real" world takezo read and study texts such as art of war for three years. when he emerged he is given the name musashi miyamoto and began his journey of way of the sword. sword fights and duels are quite graphic but no buckets of blood. the death of a 13year old challenger may shock but not if understood from musashi's point of view. woven closely is the love story between musashi and otsu, the once-betrothed of matahachi. there is also the hate-story of osugi, the mother of matahachi, and musashi. single-minded and always praying for justice, osugi chased musashi all over seeking revenge on him and otsu. but, true to japanese storytelling, there are not clear cut good or evil characters. matahachi's misadventures of lazy drunkeness drifts from dreams of glory, masquarading as a well-known samurai, and a would-be assassin. a downward spiral. although musashi's elevated path led him to notoriety and "self-improvement", he too realised that he is also "too" human with his own failings. in the end each went through a "hell" of their own making to perhaps find redemption. definitely worth a second or third reading...now if only i read japanese
Rating:
Summary: Better in Retrospect than I Had Thought!
Review: Written in the early twentieth century, this indigenous Japanese novel recounts the life & times of old Japan's greatest swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi -- a man who began life as an over-eager and rather brutish young lout but who, through the discipline of Japan's "way of the sword," turned himself into a master of his chosen weapon. But this tale is not only one of a life spent in training to perfect the art of killing with a sharpened piece of steel. In the venerable Japanese tradition, it is also about a man's search to conquer himself, to become a better man. The Buddhist view cultivated by the Japanese warrior class allowed for a spiritual dimension to their very bloody enterprise of warfare and killing. And it is this aspect of his training that consumes Musashi, to the detriment of the people he encounters and who seek to attach themselves to him. Unable to settle down in the ordinary way, or to simply join a particular clan as a retainer to some noble lord, Musashi embarks on the life of a ronin (masterless samurai) as he wends his way through the feudal world of medieval Japan in his seemingly endless search for perfection. In the process he finds a young woman who loves him and many enemies who seek his destruction, at least in part in repayment for the damage he does them while on his quest. He also crosses swords with many other experts in Japan's martial arts, but it is his encounter with a Buddhist priest, early on,that ultimately puts him on the right path. In the end Musashi finds his grail in a duel to the death with his greatest opponent, the sword master, Kojiro, famous for his "swallow cut" -- a stroke so fast and deadly that it can slice a swooping, looping bird out of the air in mid-flight. This alone is a challenge worthy of the master which Musashi has become -- and a match which even he may not be up to, for this opponent is surely the finest technician in his art in all Japan. But there is more to swordsmanship than technical skill, as Musashi has learned, and more to living one's life than merely following rules. Musashi attains a sort of peace in preparation for his climactic bout, for he is willing to risk all and even die in order to win against the master of the swallow cut, while applying all the strategy he has learned throughout his tumultuous career to unsettle the man who will oppose him. In the end Musashi lived to a fairly ripe old age and, unlike many of his contemporaries, died in his bed after composing the famous Book of Five Rings -- his own contribution to the art of strategy. I had originally rated this book at four stars only but on re-thinking it I find it continues to live vividly in my mind so that, alone, suggests it had a more powerful resonance than I originally gave it credit for. Certainly there are many levels in any continuum of ranking and many ways of placing anything ranked on that continuum. But in one very serious way, this book deserves a five star ranking, not a four so I am correcting for this now.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Entertaining Tale
Review: Eiji Yoshikawa did a marvelous job combining the figures from that era in Japan's history into an exciting and thought provoking book. I first read this when I was in elementary school and I must say it has partly influenced me from that point forward. It made me think about my work ethics in school and appreciate the benefits of hard work and staying focused. Now I'm a few years out of University and I still think back to the lessons I learnt from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Kurosawa it's not: not gaga over this overly long saga!
Review: Being a great fan of 20th century Japanese literature and Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" the first page of this book made enough of an impression to approach the remaining 969. After spending quite a bit of time making my way through the book I finished it with mixed feelings. This book which has been named the Japanese "Gone with the Wind" is a fictionalized history of the historical person Musashi detailing his path to enlightment attained by studying the Art of War and The Way of the Sword. Especially in the beginning when the narrative still has significant drive this is a very entertaining book. Thanks to the prominent presence of the priest Takuan, who is the novel's character that comes closest to three-dimensionality, the onset of the story really lives up to its reputation. The author is excellent in his description of the landscape and there is plenty of Zen and humor to go around. Yet, for a work of this length most of the characters including Musashi are too two-dimensional to carry a novel of this length. Time and again the reader get references to Musashi's pursuit of the Way of the Sword, but both the lack of description of the details of the "way" and the rather limited perspective on a person, who seems little more than a collection of dogmas, resulted in a rather hollow tale. As such, I felt that the last 600 pages were repetitive and full of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" inspired digressions that failed to add to the story. In despite of the writer's excellent style I thought that the book would have greatly benefited from reducing the text of the last 600 to about half. I know it is a little harsh to judge this book against Kurosawa's masterpiece. Yet, anyone who has read Yoshimura's "Shipwrecks", a classic that provides a detailed universe of Japan in Musashi's days in just over 200 pages, really can not go gaga over this overly long saga.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of insights
Review: This is a great book not just because of the action, characters, samurai spirit, etc., but also it gives the reader a lot of insights to the human nature and how to live a life. There are wisdom bits scattered all over the book. You can't help to feel a bit enlightened after reading this book. I recommend this book to both young and old, martial artists and non-martial artists alike. Anybody can and will benefit from reading this book. A special credit must be given to Charles S. Terry for his great translation.
Rating:
Summary: I can't say enough good things about this book
Review: It is Japanese through and through.
After reading Musashi I realized how pale Shogun is. This book is worth twice the price. The characters are true, not bits from central casting. The minutia about daily life in Edo Japan was priceless.
Rating: 
Summary: A Heart-moving Tale.
Review: This book, by the master storyteller Eiji Yoshikawa took me by surprise. I have always had a hard time reading novels, but this one struck me with its attention to the human condition. Musashi is a passionate, ethical, and at times immoral man who fights his repressed desire to marry the woman of his heart in order to prove to himself that he can overcome his human flaws. Did I mention that he is a legend in Kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship)? Historical accounts maintain that Musashi was an extreme perfectionist who gave up the world of fleeting pleasures in order to prefect his mastery over the martial arts and strategy. It is said that he had very bad eczema, never bathed and never settled in a house for very long. It is also reported that he engaged in over 60 duels with different swordsmen and never lost one. At one point he became so skilled he gave up fighting with a sword and instead used a wooden sword to clobber his opponents over their heads. It is true that he spent the last two years of his life in a cave writing the "Go-Rin No-Sho", the "Book of Five Spheres", which is a book of strategy still read today by strategians and businessmen. Eiji Yoshikawa's book doesn't concern itself with the historical Musashi, but a romantic recreation of what his life might have been like. A life punctuated by bloody duels between sword masters, and wandering through the beautiful terrains of Japan. The final duel between Musashi and his most skilled opponent caught me off guard with its attention to detail and the author's descriptive power. Toward the middle of the book I found that I could barely put it down, it just keeps drawing you deeper and deeper in. The only problem I had with this book was that there are simply too many coincidences. A reader of this title will know what I am talking about. The first set of coincidences don't seem to matter, but they don't seem to stop. Other than that this title is highly recommendable.
Rating:
Summary: Stirring Saga
Review: As a fan of Japanese martial arts and culture I always strive to seek out books, movies or other media to further gain an understanding of this complex society. This book served to further enlighten my search. The saga of Musahi Myamoto japan's sword saint is not only exiting but it serves to illustrate a period in Japan's history in great detail. It is essentially one man's journey to fing greatness in himself. At the beggining he looks for fame in battle and at the end he searches for greatness in himself through his skill with the sword. There is also and excellent film series Samurai 1,2,and 3. great accompinament to the book.
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