Shogun

Rating:
Summary: Thank You Mr. Clavell
Review: John Blackthorne, English pilot of a Dutch ship, is shipwrecked on Japan with a few members of his crew in the year 1600. As he learns about Japanese society and forms relationships, he slowly becomes involved in high level political intrigue under the watch of powerful Japanese daimyo Toranaga.

Within the historical context that Clavell lays out, the book works very well. However, since I know nothing about historical Japan, I had to accept Clavell's assumption that Japanese society of the time was sophisticated but extremely violent.

The characters are very believable. Blackthorne starts out appalled by various Japanese customs and slowly begins to accept them. While never wholly embracing all that's going on around him, he understands it and can work with it to his advantage. Toranaga is a brilliant political and military tactician who understands his own limitations and has a high regard for his vassals. Mariko (a key character and Blackthorne's love interest) is torn between duty and desire. Father Alvito (the main Jesuit priest) seems at first to be the archetypal evil Christian missionary, but by the end he's portrayed as a much more sympathetic character.

The plot is interesting and moves quickly. In spite of a large cast and a sprawling story (covering 1100+ pages), Clavell does a good job of keeping it all together. Since it took me a long time to finish the book, I sometimes lost track of the minor characters, but in the end it didn't really matter. All of the writing in "Shogun" was worth reading. Clavell didn't write long, needlessly descriptive passages and he still managed to capture my imagination completely.

My main objection to the book is the ending. It was too abrupt -- almost as if Clavell was completely caught up in the story and suddenly decided (or was told) to wrap it up in the next 50 pages. A few people have commented on how they didn't want the book to end. I wanted to the book to end, but wasn't entirely happy with the ending given to me.

That being said, I do recommend "Shogun". It's definitely one of the best historical fiction books I've read.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping...truely
Review: I've read between 200 and 300 books in my life and I only remember a handful of them. This book has been filed into my perminant databank. Every time I see Shogun in a store or hear someone talking about it, my heart leaps. When first picking up the book a common thought is "My GOD! It's two-thousand pages!" but as soon as you start reading it you wish it was three-thousand. Better yet, four-thousand...no, five-thousand...At any rate. It's hard to hate any of the charectors in this book, they are all explained thouroughly, all with their own vices and clever. And clever is the word! All of the 'people of power' have the very real and necissary cleverness that just leaves you aghast. Few books truely touch people and stay with them forever, but Shogun will be a part of ever reader forever. I laughed, I cried, I was so gosh darned glad it was part of a series =)

Rating:
Summary: My all time favorite novel!!!
Review: The best book I've ever experienced!!! note:There are some historic inconsitincies such as the name of Toranaga is actually named Tokugawa. The clash of western civilization and eastern civilization in the beginning of the 17th century is told very well in this story. It is a very long read but, by the time you finish you want more!! It is an epic, action, suspense, romance novel, filled with all the elements of a great read. ---the greatest novel I've read so far!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Pure Enjoyment
Review: Wow, When it comes to Shogun, I don't know what to say. Though certainly not a literary masterpiece, and though i was a bit dissappointed at the ended (ended to abruptly for my liking), Clavell has written a truely enjoyable novel. On par with Tai-Pan (one of his other novels), the adventure and intrigue grabs you from the first few chapters and never lets go.

Though i was alittle nervous about the length of the book, i'm glad i didn't shy away from it and was amazed at how quickly the pages seemed to fly by. The vast locations seem to come alive and draw you in as if you were living in them. By the end of the book i felt as if i intimately knew most of the characters. I smiled when they were happy and shed a tear when one of them i greatly liked died.

All in all, this was an amazing and enjoyable read and i would recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Honor and Barbarians
Review: 'Historical' fiction is something of a misnomer, as books placed in this category are almost always fiction first and 'historical' only in time and setting. Shogun, however, comes close to being a true example of this field, detailing the late 16th century exploration and exploitation of the Orient by the Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, and English. As few Americans are aware of some of the atrocities and cruelties committed in the name of crown and religion during this period, some of the scenes depicted in this book may come as shock. But they provide an excellent background portrait of the European mind-set of those times, a palette that Clavell uses to contrast and define the extraordinarily different culture of the Japan of that time.

And it is his portrait of the Japanese, his lovingly detailed characterizations of Toranaga, Mariko, Omi and their deeply intertwined interactions with the English pilot Blackthorne that defines and breathes life into this breathtakingly large and complex story of love, war, and political intrigue. And these characters are not static. Each grows and changes as events unfold, most especially Blackthorne himself, growing from a totally self-centered 'barbarian' of unclean habits to a person who can appreciate the beauty, intelligence, and moral rectitude of others, who comes to care deeply for those around him, who comes to understand a philosophy of life totally different from that of his own culture. The reader will eventually take each of these characters into his heart, will live right along with them and their problems, cares, successes, and failures, until they are almost more real than the mundane world the reader inhabits.

Is this book totally historically accurate? No, but it doesn't really need to be. It is a fictional account of one of the defining moments of Japanese history, with all the requirements of a work of fiction, written for an American audience, and certain items have yielded to literary license to make the story more approachable by the reader. Certainly Toranaga would not have played chess, but would American readers have understood 'Go' as metaphor for Toranaga's deep political machinations? As a story, a tale of high adventure, as a hard look at alternative life philosophies, as an exposition of a very exotic time, place, and culture, this work succeeds on almost every level. This is an excellent read that will expand your horizons and enrich your life, entertain you and satisfy your inner craving for something different from the every-day world of today.

Rating:
Summary: Epic Masterpiece -- Must Read!
Review: "Shogun" is one of my absolute favorite novels. James Clavell masterfully weaves a tale of gigantic scope -- the clash of the Orient versus the West, civil war, religious strife, forbidden love, and the rise of Lord Toranaga to the position of Shogun. To even attempt to tell such a tale is an astounding feat, and yet Clavell tells the story with such intimacy and power that the reader can't help but be swept away.

John Blackthorne, English pilot of a Dutch merchant ship, accidentally finds Japan after a storm blows his scurvy-ridden ship ashore. He awakes to find himself in a beautiful, alien land -- a tall, blonde, blue-eyed European, he could not appear more out of place than among the short, delicate-yet-deadly Japanese. Language is just one of the many barriers to be crossed. While Blackthorne is horrified by Japanese brutality -- a samurai viciously beheads a peasant who fails to bow -- Blackthorne is also introduced to the wonders of Japan, such as the simple pleasure of a hot bath.

Much of the story revolves around Blackthorne's "education," and how he learns to become Japanese. While Blackthorne is one heck of a capable guy, Clavell wisely shows Blackthorne repeatedly struggling with the transition -- his difficulty learning the language is a nice touch.

Along the way, Blackthorne meets and falls in love with the beautiful Mariko, who bears the burden not only of a tormented bull of a husband (the warrior Buntaro), but also the curse of her family caused by a treacherous ancestor. Blackthorne also meets the wily, sadistic Yabu, who boils one of Blackthorne's crew members alive for his pleasure and is one of the most unreliable allies one could wish for.

Blackthorne also finds himself a major player in Lord Toranaga's undeclared civil war. Clavell repeatedly throws Blackthorne and Toranaga from danger to peril, and their escapes are alternately achieved by daring, physical prowess, and intelligence.

Further complicating matters are the Jesuits, who already have a strong foothold in Japan and have even converted some of the leading samurai . . . as well as Mariko. Clavell's handing of the struggle between the militant Japanese spirit and the seemingly contradictory Christian ideals is particularly sensitive. Like many of us, the Japanese fight to adopt Jesus' teachings into their world, in which the practicalities of life and death (as well as commitment to Japanese traditions) makes Christianity more than a bit burdensome. Mariko's spirituality is particularly moving.

Rich in detail, "Shogun" spends as much time on a major battle between ninja and samurai as it does a slow tryst between Blackthorne and Mariko as they travel to Osaka. Buntaro's perfect tea ceremony, an offer of reconciliation with Mariko, is heartbreaking in its sincerity. Blackthorne, with a great eye for detail, is forever marking the exquisite details of this foreign land, and the reader feels as if he has tramped the hills of Izu, strode the halls of Osaka castle, and sailed the Japanese coast by the time the book is over.

Perhaps Clavell's greatest creation is Lord Toranaga, the ultimate puppet master in this epic. Through Toranaga's humanity as well as his genius, we appreciate why so many are willing to fight and die for him . . . and through him we see the true worth of the other characters.

All in all, a wonderful masterpiece that you won't want to end.

Rating:
Summary: "First Contact" with a strange and fascinating culture
Review: Shogun is a story of high drama and excitement set upon the stage of feudal Japan. The protaganist is Blackthorne, an Englishman who captains a Dutch privateer around 1600. He comes to Japan and becomes embroiled in the politics of that time, learns about bushido, falls in loves, and befriends one of the most powerful people in feudal Japan.

When he comes to Japan, it is a completely alien society to him. He is unprepared for a civilization that regards money and trade with disdain, and where life can be thrown away so easily. It is a place where duty overshadows every other virtue. If you read a lot of science-fiction, you'll notice that a similar them exists in "first contact" stories where humans come in contact with aliens that have bizarre worldviews. In some ways, the culture of Japan as presented here is just as strange as (or more than) any of these extraterrestrial cultures. By the end of the book, you will comprehend the beauty and values of the culture, and characters that acted in nearly incomprehensible ways will become logical.

The politics and intrigue are riveting. It is fascinating to be taken into the minds of many different characters as they vie for power--yet you are never taken all the way in. A shadow always conceals much of the ambitions and strategies of the key characters. The plotting is unpredictable, while at the same time being entirely believable--because the characters make it believable.

Rating:
Summary: Great joy and some disappointment
Review: And still it's well worth 5 stars. the first two thirds of this book is quite simply the richest and funniest story I have ever read. Clavell combines elements of power politics, culture clash, intrigue and romance in such a powerful way, just when a few pages of one aspect leaves you breathless the other grips you. There aren't many dull moments in this largish book.

The book might have it's faults as far as language and detail goes, but it's the most entertaining fiction I ever read. Unfortunately there comes a point in the story where more effort goes into bulding the climax, and a truly woeful event takes place which will likely lessen the interest of many readers; the last third of it is is drifting along both for the main character and the readers, and while a climax is built properly, in fact there is no proper climax, or it can be read from history books but not this one.

Which is not an entirely bad thing because this book serves as a great introduction to late medieval Japan, more in the sense of arousing interest toward the culture and history rather than being that educational, or necessarily even accurate at points. For anyone who doesn't want to educate themselves about history and exotic cultures, beware - after reading this, the next three books you'll read will be exactly that.

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable.
Review: This book resembles a long term relationship with someone that you love. It's a wonderful book all the way through and that's a good thing because this book will take a very long time to read. You will think about this book throughout your entire day.
Once you get to those final hours of reading you feel sad because you will know that the your almost done reading it and you won't want it to end. Finishing the book was like saying goodbye to a good friend. Truly unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Shogun
Review: Shogun, by James Clavell, in my opinion is one of the greatest novels ever written. All of the characters play an intricate part in this story, whether their piece of the plot is big or small. There are several things that set Shogun apart from other novels, with the most intriguing being unpredictability. You never know what will happen next, or who the bad guy really is. It has a marvelous plot with one action-packed sequence following another.

One of the only weak points in Shogun is the abrupt ending. It ends with man plot lines left unfinished, the aftermath of the book could be explained better; and if these were different, it would make the story more complete to the reader when they finish reading. A paragraph at the end summarizes the fate of all the characters, it's not enough. Another 1,000 pages could easily have been devoted to the "aftermath."

The book is so absorbing that you just can't put it down, and you have a desire to finish it because you want to know what's going to happen next, but it's usually not what you think will happen.

Before I was even done with the first 100 pages, I was engrossed, completely. I learned to love some characters and hate others. Clavell's style of writing is unique and sometimes confusing, but he usually explained his ideas later in the book in greater detail.

The book is great, although it contains some themes that are rather mature, so I wouldn't recommend it to younger readers.