Shogun

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent - complex and detailed
Review: If you want to become immersed in a really good book you cannot go past Shogun. The detail and historical accuracy is amazing, the characters human and indentifiable, and the ending will astound you. It is hugely entertaining - I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Rating:
Summary: This is the most incredible book ever written.
Review: I read this book for the first time in 1998, when I was fourteen, and I read the entire thing again in a month. I read a lot of books, but this one surpasses all others. Shogun is the most incredible, detailed book that exists. You are immersed in medival Japan, and never completely leave.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books of All Time
Review: This book is without a doubt one of the best I've ever read. It is quite lengthy but it is well worth the time. It follows the adventures of an English pilot who is shipwrecked in Japan. He is involved in a regional power struggle, a romance, etc. Once you get to the end, you'll be praying for Clavell to write a sequel. It is an OUTSTANDING book.

Rating:
Summary: one of top ten best books I have ever read.
Review: I generally reread this book about every 18 months - it never get old - always interesting and entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: beware of the _many_ mistakes about japan in this book
Review: Yes, this is a good book, despite its convoluted plot, unimpressive prose, and weak ending. But it's a bit scary that people think they'll learn a lot about Japan in this book, because...

The profound ignorance Clavell shows toward Japan's culture and language did not bother me, as I knew they were wrong and passed them over. But from real life conversations and these reviews it seems that a lot of people aren't aware of these things and take Clavell's portrayal as accurate.

In reality, Clavell apparently never took the time to ask someone fluent in Japanese to check his attempts at their language, as there is _not_one_ grammatical Japanese sentence in this entire book, other than a few "nan desu ka"s and "wakarimasu ka"s. I personally find that appalling, and inexcusable because it is misleading.

Worse, Clavell also subjects Japanese culture to an extreme form of mystification, i.e. orientalism, that makes my skin crawl. The romantic, mystical portrayal of this oppressive period in Japan's history is absolutely nauseating. One wonders if Clavell ever learned _anything_ about Japan other than history books, since his Westerner's starry-eyed, know-nothing vision of Japan is hard to maintain once you actually get to know the Japanese (of any age) for what they are (and were) -- normal people with normal problems. The kind of allegedly Eastern wow-weren't-these-people-immersed-in-their-mystical-ways claptrap is the sort of thing one would hope never to see after, say, 1945, but here it is in a book from the '70s.

It's even more nauseating that many people believe that _Shogun_ is both entertaining and educational, which is why those inaccuracies worry me. Enjoyed on its own terms, perhaps... but as a real representation of Japan and the Japanese, no way. I wouldn't say this book is "racist," like one reviewer, but it's certainly biased in its ridiculous cultural portrayal of a Japan that never was.

Another reviewer mentioned many of the historical counterparts from _Shogun_ but missed the main character: Blackthorne is Will Adams! Sheesh. And by the way, a few Japanese have complained about Clavell's messing with their history, and no wonder -- how would you like it if foreigner rewrote the revolutionary war, with George Washington called "Irving Clarke"?

Recommended for fans of historical novels; it's a fun book, even while confusing at times. Not recommended for the gullible, who unfortunately seem to make up most of the population...

Rating:
Summary: If You pick up the book have LOTS of spare time
Review: I ended up getting Shogun because I had to write an essay on it and it was the only book (other than who has seen the wind) left to write about. I picked up the book and started reading. I kept reading until I looked up and realized it was about three thirty in the morning... I had read it for about five and a half hours straight. It was a great novel... I couldn't put it down. I had a few nights with very little sleep for I wanted always to read "a couple more pages"

In my opinion Shogun is one of the greatest pieces of literature written this century. (And I've read other supposedly Great novels) I actually for once enjoyed writing an essay on a book. JT

Rating:
Summary: Shogun is a great book
Review: I read shogun, i am only 13, i really think that it is an excellent book. My favorite has to be shogun.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!!!!
Review: This book almost made me fail out of school. I read this book nonstop untill the point where my parents let me read it only on a check in check out basis. I would recomend this book to everybody.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Japanese Novel Ever Made
Review: I'm only fourteen and I read the whole book. Mr. Clavell's writing style kept me from putting the book down. This story is probably the perfect sumarization of Feudal Japan in a awesome story. Now I feel like going to the library to learn some Japanese History.

Rating:
Summary: Shogun is great story telling
Review: I had seen the mini series a dozen times and never expected the book to be any better, but it is one of the best books I ever read. As a history major , I was taught to take historical-fiction with a gain a salt, but who is to say what really happemed long ago, none of us were ever there? Needless to say this book captures the spirit and romance of a bygone era. Oh how I hate to live in the 20th century. The lady Mariko almost steals the show, and the insights into the feudal world of the samurai are priceless. You will get more out of this book then a dozen dry narrative histories of Japan. I have recommend taipan and gaijin for those clavell fans as well.