Rating: 
Summary: A cool book
Review: Takezo turns in to Musashi in this book, transforming from a beast to a human being. With him on this journey is his sword, a wooden one which he recieved from a family of looters. With this sword he bashes his enemies' heads in, and at the same time makes all the women swoon. This story takes place right after the battle of Sekighara, where Tokugawa Ieyasu won the right of Shogun. A definate read
Rating:
Summary: Of all the books i've ever read - this is the best!
Review: This book is just fascinating. It tells a lot about the nature of life in Japan during the age of the Samurai. It's
a documentary sometimes and a thriller some other times -
but mainly it's just a wonderful *very* long - and still to
short - story with heroes who need some time to become heroic and villans, who at times are likeable human beeings too. As a lot of power of this book comes out of the
beautiful language, i should point out, that i read the german
translation. I`ve read thousands of books - but this one is
definetly the Best. I whish i spoke Japanese, so that i could
read all the other works of Yoshikawa, which haven't been translated yet!
Rating:
Summary: Wow! What a great book for anyone who loves the old Japan...
Review: This is my all-time favorite book. I am not one to do anything twice unless I am truly impressed. This is a book that I have read more than once and which I will keep in my library for many years to come.
I first ran across the book in a used bookstore in Japan, just two months before I left the country where I was spent my childhood. I spent two days and nights reading the book. I could not put it down because it captured my imagination and my heart.
For anyone who has ever fallen in love with the old Japan, that delightful culture, the unique history of the people and their customs, this is a book to treasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reading - gives understanding of Japanese culture
Review: For those in the martial arts, this book gives outstanding
insight into Japanese culture and particularly the martial
aspects of Japanese culture. The historical figure of Miyamoto Musashi comes alive and real. The story drags occasionally,
but overall it's a good, entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: Push life to an extreme
Review: The philosophy of life for a real swordsman is to view the world as an obstacle that must be cut through in order to reach the destiny.It's not hatred, in fact he respects his enemies and in some sense loves them. And he cut through his enemies in such respect. However my opinion is that after cut through all the obstacles this attitude becomes his final shackle that he can't throw away. He had mad a painting of a bird standing on the top of leafless tree. I guess this mirrors his own life,too.
Rating:
Summary: The tale of Japan's greatest Samurai Legend
Review: Remarkable story of a <a href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=1&k=samurai%20warrior" onmouseover="window.status='Samurai warrior'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">Samurai warrior</a> and how he finds his true calling.The novel tells the story and circumstances of how a timid, young man traverses the long path to becoming the greatest and most feared Samurai warrior of all time.
The size of the book (almost 1000 pages) makes it difficult to start. But once you start, you will always keep coming back to complete it
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Musashi is one of those books that stays with you long after you finish reading it. It actually made me wish that I knew how to speak Japanese so that I could read the original work. That's not to say that the translation is not good because the book reads extremely well in English.
The story of Musashi is intriguing. The battles he faced, the trials he undertook are all catalogued here in a beautiful manner. The words themselves are simple and the sentences brief and quick. One of the best things about this book is the excellent imagery. There are many places in this book that just took my breath away because the picture in my mind was painted so clearly by the words. It's the smallest details that matter here. Musashi might awake after a battle(and there are many) and find himself looking at a petal falling from a tree and being blown about by the wind. It's small details like those which add so much to the book.
Then, there are the grandiose parts of the book. In one scene, the lone Musashi faces off against over 70 men in battle. The trance, the battle, the deaths and screams are presented so vividly that I almost saw myself in the crowd of by-standers watching the battle. The battles itself are fantastic but not overly descriptive. Not only are they a physical experience but also show the mental status of those in battle. The battle against many men I mentioned above holds place as one of the best written battle scenes I have ever read, and the other more personal(1v1) battles are fabulous as well.
The characters are all extremely interesting too. In some books, characters just come and go but here almost every character we are presented with has a big presence throughout the whole book. Characters we are introduced to early in the book might return much later. That's also one of the only problems with the book, not much a problem really, just a personal complaint. It gets difficult to recognize certain characters because we are presented with so many names. A character returned later in the book that was presented earlier and I didn't even recognize him as the same character until some time later. It's really not that much of a problem if you pay attention and I have no qualms about reading the book again. This is one book that should truly be read a few times to appreciate the complexities of the character interactions. The characters are very well placed within the context of the book. There never is a moment where I feel a character is unnecessary. They come in, play their part and retreat until their presence in the story is required again.
This is a lengthy book too. It's over 1000 pages and is in a relatively small font but it's all completely necessary. I was wishing for much more when it finished. It's not like some authors who write a 1000 page book(Fantasy genre, anyone?) at which end you feel there was only 400 pages of context and 600 pages of filler. Here, it's all context and it's all beautiful. This has definitely made it's way to my top 5 historical fiction list and will probably find a place atop that list once I have time to re-read this masterpiece.
If you're a fan of Shogun or at all interested in Asian history then you must read this. Musashi receives my highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: The oriental epic
Review: Don't be afraid to start Eiji Yoshikawa's magna opus, "Musashi", because of its mamooth size. If you read it, you'll be rewarded at the end with one of the most fantastic tales ever told. This is the life of Myiamoto Musashi, one Japan's of the greatest samurai, and his lifelong quest for expertise, love and a rightful way of life.
Yoshikawa vividly portraits one of the most disturbed periods in Japan's history, beginning the story after the famous battle of Sekigahara (this battle is also portrayed in the final moments of another masterpiece, James Clavell's "Shogun"), when Japan started to give up on its feudal government system. Musashi is a young man -at the time not even known as Musashi - and after the battle he decides he will be one of the greatest swordmen in his country. But that is not an easy task. Along the way - and along more than 1800 pages, at least in the brazilian version - he will have to defeat scores of enemies, find and loose love, friends, and he will have to learn to live the way fitting to a legend.
Yoshikawa's style in not epic, even if his book is. The story unfolds in an utterly simple narrative, almost naive. Characters come and go, filling the pages with their own stories, not only Musashi's. In fact, at times Musashi is not the focal point of the story, disappearing for some chapters, while the narrative concentrates on what is going on with other characters around him. This diversity is what makes "Musashi" great. This is not a sword-battles book, but a big picture of the end of an era of one of the most fantastic cultures in the world.
Grade 9.2/10
Rating:
Summary: The Boshido Way
Review: Mushashi, is an incredible story, more so because it is based on the life of a real man, Myumoto Musashi, the greatest sworsman in all history. The story was released in serial form in the newspapers of Japan as propaganda during the world war. The central message... Only the warrior is a human being, because only the warrior decides his destiny. The odyssey of Musashi as he developes himself into the perfect warior is at once, funny, romantic, exciting, and most of all thought provoking. The actual writings of this man have been used for centuries as a model for excellence. If you are interested in Samuri culture, or in mans search for excellence you will enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Long live the anti-hero!
Review: I consistently found myself enjoying "Musashi" not when the narrative focused on its main protagonist, but instead when reading about the darker characters of the book. Sasake Kojiro and Osugi were particularly delightful, probably because their behavior was most "human" and three dimensional, and so their outcomes were anyone's guess.
Miyamoto Musashi's story on the other hand, was driven along as if by fate. I did not find it inspiring at all as others believe it to be. The old "follow your dreams and let no adversity hold you down" theme was hammered home several times and quickly grew tiring. Other heroes such as the weepy provincial lass Otsu and the whiny Jotaro were no less irritating and flat. On the other hand, Akemi, Matahachi, and the monk (Takezo?) had much more depth of character. Overall, I would say Musashi's journey was far more interesting when he was interacting with other people instead of wasting time in unconvincing efforts toward self-improvement as an eremetic wanderer with the occasional squire. The sub-plots are the real gems here, each with its own lesson, parables within a novel. The encounter with Gonnosuke Tanzaemon, (I've read it about 2 years ago - cut me some slack on the names,) his attempt to meet the lotus-cutting sword master, the showdown on the Hon'iden plain, and his sojourn with Japan's preeminent geisha rank among the best parts.
The book's length (in my opinion) was not justified by the varying pace of the story nor by its big ideas and finale which could have easily been concluded in 2/3rds of the space with equal literary effect. Yoshikawa certainly has his moments however, and he seems to have a knack for instilling into a character that delicate and complex temperament which I can only describe as "magnanimous humility," a sort of practical Buddhist ideal for the worldly layperson.
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