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Summary: This novel is the most capturing book i have read in my life
Review: i truely reccomend this novel to any person in or above the highschool reading level!
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Summary: It's All About Power
Review: Though it is the adventure story about Blackthorn that draws you in, this book is about Power. Sometime at the end of the book, you realize that the entire book, every action taken, everything sentence spoken, utimately, contrubutes to Toranaga's Power. I don't how Clavell crafted a character as subtle and as cunning as Toranaga. Toranaga is the ultimate in cunning. Everyone interested in Japan and/or Power will love this book. If there is a little of Toranaga in the Japanese to this day, that would explain thier status as the only truely powerfull country in East Asia.
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Summary: A 20th Century Classic
Review: If you are interested in insights into the Japanese mind, this is a wonderful source. Blackthorne, who is based on an genuine 15th century pilot, is shipwrecked in Japan and proceeds to be taught, by force at the beginning, how to live a totally different life. He becomes involved in political intrique and the love of his life. A wonderful read, I have read it half a dozen times at least.
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Summary: THE BEST BOOK IVE EVER READ
Review: Shogun is an absolute masterpiece. I found that I could not put this book down, and i've read it again several times since then to pick up more of the details. The way Clavell was able to get into delve into Japanese culture so completely is amazing. It is a great read.
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Summary: UN-B-LIEVABLE
Review: We should all mourn the loss of James Clavell. He gave us a book that was expertly written and very gripping. There are few contemporary authors who have been of the same calibre. Thanks again James Clavell.
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Summary: A most fascinating journey into Japan
Review: James Clavell is one of the world's most skilful writers. His writingsare of astonishing expertise and credibility. This book tells about European travelers in Japan around the year 1600, when Japan was virtually unknown in Europe. The actions are described through the eyes of Europeans and Japanese. That gives the reader an amazing insight into the Japanese way of thinking and doing things, which is so much different from ours. Different (and hostile to each other) philosophies and mentalities are described with an absolute truthfulness, with no preachments or disparaging.It's also a book of incredible excitement. The novel's very long and full of different complicated plots. Through the whole book, you have no chance of guessing what will come next or how the story might end. (Essentially the same can be said of Mr. Clavell's book "Tai-Pan" which plays in 19th century China. If you like "Shogun", make sure you'll read "Tai-Pan", too.)
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Summary: a masterpiece
Review: I haven't read a book this good for a long time
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Summary: Not quite so bad... but not excellent
Review: Jimmy wrote a pretty gripping novel, and it should be enjoyed for what it is. Criticisms of his Japanese grammar inconsistencies are well-put, but criticisms of "Historical innaccuracy" seem misplaced when one considers this is a work of fiction. Sure, Toranaga is really Tokugawa, and Blackthorne Will Adams, but these are just the people on whom Clavell was trying to base his fictional characters. Don't expect to learn a great deal about the Japanese people (I have yet to urinate with someone) from this book... especially Japanese people of today. However, those who happen to know what "Japanese" people are like shouldn't take umbrage at the way people were in the late 16th-early 17th century. Of course Japan is "mystical" through the eyes of the English Blackthorne, he'd never heard of regular bathing before washing ashore. A good book and a fun read... Go for it, it will make you cool.
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Summary: Simply amazing.
Review: Shogun is easily one of the greatest novels ever written. Though quite lengthy (clocking in at well over 1,000 pages), when you reach the end you can't help but to yearn for more. In addition to the true-to-life characterizations and heart pounding action, Shogun is a lesson in cultural acceptance and understanding. It is all too easy to put ourselves in the shoes of Pilot Major Blackthorne and share his prejudices and ignorance, then grow with him as the book progresses. The strategic brilliance of the ancient Japanese comes across well in Omi, Yabu, Toranaga, and Ishido, yet the opacity of their personalities makes it difficult to interperet their motives. A simply amazing work in all respects.
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Summary: Machiavellian political chicanery in 16th Century Japan.
Review: If politicians like Toronaga-sama were ruling Japan during WWII we'd be talking japanese today. James Clavell paints a cleverly crafted picture of the land of the rising sun during the 16th century in minute detail right down to their ablutions and the minutiae of every day life.The story begins when an englishman named John Blackthorne,pilot of a dutch ship is marooned on the japanese islands,falls foul of a jesuit priest who considers him a heretic and eventually winds up as the virtual prisoner and later friend of the powerful and cunning warlord,Toronaga.Blackthorne has arrived at a pivotal moment when a power struggle is ensuing between Lord Toronaga and another warlord,Oshido.It is a game played within the courts and councils of power with such amazing mental agility and acumen that to be a player,raw nerves and ruthlessness are the only weapons that count.The stakes are high and the ancient samurai code of bushido also ensures that no prisoners are taken.And the prize for all this-the complete domination of the japanese islands its peoples and even the emperor himself under the supreme title of Shogun.Toronaga plays a deft hand of cat-and-mouse never betraying his thoughts even to his close family and advisers.He befriends Blackthorne and is determined to use his knowledgeable mind to his advantage.He is intrigued by the englishmans unpredictability,a startling contrast to the men around him.After Blackthorne saves his life a second time Toronaga has no hesitation in creating him samurai and 'hatamoto'with the right to have his own retainers.Such a rare and distinct honour,rarer even still for a foreigner astounds the japanese.Eventually with his gift for acquiring languages Blackthorne supercedes the jesuit father Alvito and becomes Toronaga's official interpreter.Along the way we meet an array of characters notably the lady Mariko-noh-Buntaro a highborn japanese catholic who finds herself attracted to the protestant Blackthorne and against all her training and background becomes his lover.Not only is she talented and beautiful Mariko is also samurai.Not afraid for herself or their eventual discovery she worries over Blackthorne and realises that until he acquires the unique japanese way of thinking he is powerless.I recommend this story to all political science majors,it is very detailed and gives an amazing account of everyday life.It also to me, went a long way in explaining why the japanese behave the way they do today,especially socio-economically.Not to be missed.
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