Shogun

Rating:
Summary: A Dissenting Opinion
Review: While I enjoyed this book, I didn't love it. Initially I was disappointed to discover that the book was NOT about real people in Japanese history. I later discovered that the characters in the novel are actually based on actual people, but the names were changed and some literary license was taken, which did a lot to sway my disappointment. The story was gripping and the length of the novel served to provide a lot of great detail about the life and times of 17th century Japan. I am not an expert on Japanese history and culture, but I suspect that a lot of what was written was culturally accurate for the time. I know for a fact, that much of what was written is true for present day Japan. I was completely engrossed in the characters and found myself reading late into the night and during any spare time that I had.

That said, while the story overall was very good, I just couldn't get over the flaws in the writing style. Many people tout this as Clavell's masterwork, and if it is, I have to wonder at him being a master at all. I found many of the exchanges between the Dutch seamen and the Portugese monks repetitive and annoying, as well as the exchanges between any of the foreigners and the Japanese. I understand that hatred was rampant among these groups and that bigotry and racism existed back then as it does now, but during every single exchange between these people, a racial slur or epithet was uttered. I got the point very early on that there was no love lost among the foreigners and between the foreigners and the Japanese, but after the first few exchanges it just got old. I expect better from a "master". As a person who has lived in Japan for a number of years and who speaks some Japanese, I was disappointed in the use of Japanese in this book. I understand that languages evolve, but the evolution of the language from having no such thing as a past tense to now having such a thing seems like an awfully big thing to change--even in the 400 years since this novel was supposed to have taken place. So many of the exchanges between the Japanese and between the Japanese and the foreigners were written in English, with no Japanese first and then an English translation, I wondered why Clavell seemed to need to put ANY Japanese in there at all. I also didn't like the way that Clavell showed the evolution of Blackthorne's (the main character) learning of Japanese. Japanese has no articles, so the "English" translation of Blackthorne's Japanese with no articles, merely served to be completely strange and somewhat irritating. These are just a few examples of my problems with the overall writing style.

Overall, I thought the book was good. Had the story not been as good as it was, I would have stopped reading it after the first few hundred pages. With some novels a good story just cannot overcome bad writing. I'm glad to say that this wasn't the case with Shogun.

Rating:
Summary: My Second Favourite Novel
Review: With so many reviews I cannot add anything new. This book holds you enthralled from start to finish. Clavell's descriptions of 16th century Japanese life, politics and the effects of an English 'intruder' into this environment is stuff that dreams are made of. I do not read many books more than once but this book can be read numerous times and never pales with each read.

Rating:
Summary: One of the classic novels of all time
Review: Shogun is one of those rare books that you wish would go on forever. Indeed, I know people who re-read it every year. The story follows the adventures of marooned English sailor John Blackthorne in late medieval Japan during the tumultuous years when Tokugawa Ieyasu (here called Toranaga) was uniting all of Japan under his rule by any means necessary. It's truly an epic tale of war, honor, trechery, masterful manipulations, tragic heroism, and star-crossed love.

The characters come alive completely and the plot is absolutely gripping. Be warned that you probably won't be able to put this one down - Somehow I read this 1000+ page book in only five days, ignoring all my schoolwork. I can't say enough good things about this book - it never lets up, always keeps you thinking, and can be quite moving emotionally too. The other thing that's cool about this book is how amazingly accurate it is historically, considering it's fiction. One of my only complaints about this book is that Clavell changed all the names even though almost all his characters were real people - even the main character, Blackthorne, was based on a real guy. It would have been cool to get the real names.

Shogun is Clavell's masterwork - if any author writes a book this good even only once in a lifetime he or she has suceeded. Everyone should read it, not because it will incredibly enrich your life (its only fiction after all), but simply because this book is so damn good it would be a shame for anyone to miss out on it.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: A huge, colossal achievement. A novel of culture and race and love and hate and war and peace and loyalty and betrayal. Packed together in over 1000 pages filled with action and excitement. Wonderful and magical.

Rating:
Summary: Historical Fiction at Its Best.
Review: Do you ever wonder what it would be like to visit, or be visited from people from another world? In Shogun, we learn that Japan was visited from strange aliens 350 years ago. These aliens were British and Spanish, citizens.

In Shogun, the author takes us back in time to a completely foreign culture. He mixes in a great, and real political struggle, a forlorn love affair, and plenty of action and adventure. The result is a great book well worth the read and time.

The hero of Shogun is a British navigator, Blackthorne. He and his men, a small group, are all that remain from a ship that has gone through a bad storm. They land in the Japanesse Islands, which is itself in the beginnings of a civil war.

To the Japanesse, Blackthorne is a barbarian. He smells, because he doesn't bath; he has a furry beard, unheard of in Japan; and he has a vast set of strange customs and habits. Somehow, however, the English have great ships, guns, and technology undreamed of in Japan. Can you imagine their chagrin? These "barbarians" are more advanced then them.

For Blackthorne, called "Anjin" which means pilot in Japanesse, the situation is worse. He is in a strange country, he doesn't know if he will ever go home, he doesn't speak the language, and some of his men are attacked by his Japanesse host. When he finally learns that there are other Europeans there, he learns the horrible truth that they are Spanish. As England and Spain have been in a stage of war for 100 years, this isn't good news.

Because of his knowledge, Anjin because a pawn in the coming political struggles. Shogun shows you his adventures in Japan, and teaches you much about the history, culture, and people of those times. This is a great read for any fiction lover who has even the slightest interest in history. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Everything
Review: This is a great book with a little bit of everything. There is the person out of his element, politics and intrigue, romance, action... I reread this at least once a year!

Rating:
Summary: A Critical Review of Sho-Gun
Review: For an admirable depiction of Japanese philosophical views in their historical context, few are adept enough to compare to James Clavell's Sho-Gun. Sho-Gun seemingly grabs the reader, such that he finds himself inside the self-centered world of 17th century Japan. Clavell's interpretation of 17th century Japanese society provides the reader with an apparently accurate portrayal of Japanese philosophical views as well as an overall depiction of the time period and character sketches. The fact that a large sum of characters is a result of Clavell's intellectual ingenuity is beside the fact in Sho-Gun. Clavell creates an almost personal understanding of nearly every character as they are introduced. For example, Clavell surrounds our protagonist Blackthorne, an English pilot (the term used at the time for the Captain/ Navigator {the two were combined}), with awe for his proficient ability to conform to Japanese philosophical views. The mindset by which Clavell created Lord Toranaga is truly exhilarating. Clearly, to have the writing capacity to create such a character of marvel, who can predict the chess pieces each foe is preparing to bestow, one must encompass a comprehensive understanding of Eastern methods of thought. Lady Mariko was another character who was generously imparted upon the reader to satisfy lust for a truly tragic love episode, one between herself and the great Anjin-san (the Japanese name assigned to Blackthorne for the natives could not even closely pronounce his name). Sho-Gun is a novel with such greatness, very implicit that the reader would have a nearly impossible task of finding flaws in the author's style. On the other hand, historical inaccuracies are easily stumbled upon in Sho-Gun. One such error lies in the fact that the Samurai in Sho-Gun explicitly use Judo, which was not instituted in Japanese culture until the 1880's. Another blunder is situated in that James Clavell overtly has Japanese warriors using a form of Karate when a Samurai kicks off his shoes to attack a foe. To the contrary, Microsoft's Encarta clearly states that, " In 1922 karate was introduced to the Japanese public by an Okinawan, Funakoshi Gichin, and the art is today chiefly associated with Japan ," while the novel takes place in the 17th century. In addition, Japanese samurai were more likely to use their weaponry such as their long sword, but unarmed combat was extremely rare. One very amiss portrayal is that of Lord Toranaga plays the European game of chess, while it would be much more historically accurate for him to be playing the Indian game of "chaturanga, a game believed to have originated in India in the 6th century or perhaps earlier, which itself may be related to a much older Chinese game" and therefore more likely to have been played in Japan during the 17th century. In the words of a popular book reviewer, Stuart W. Mirsky ", Basically, Shogun is a powerful tale of intrigue and maneuvering as the players move about on the chessboard of feudal Japan, never certain who among them is really moving the pieces and who is just being moved -- at least until the end." In conclusion, James Clavell's Sho-Gun is a truly spine-tingling novel of deception, conspiracy, and stratagem but has some significant historical inaccuracies.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating book
Review: This is a story of a group of English and Dutch sailors reaching Japantowards the end of the 15th or 16th century, when only Spanish or Portugese had been there before. Not only does the book portray the religious tensions between the Catholics and protestants, but it does manage to give us the Japanese characters' point of view on things, and their special way of thinking. One of its strengths is its very tolerant point of view towards what might seem strange beliefs and behaviors at first by showing us how John Blackthorne becomes a "true" Japanese, especially when we compare him to his friends who remain disgusted at them, while still holding on to his stronger Christian values.

Rating:
Summary: The greatest adventure in Fuedal Japan
Review: This book has come to be known as one of the greatest fictional adventur estories of all time. It tells of a foreigner to Japen, a man known as Blackthorne whose fleet is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan. Taken in by the natives, Blackthorne becomes assimilated in Japanese society, only to learn of the power and deciet of the country. It is a tale of backstabbing and power hungry lords that scavange the land in search of anything they can get thier hands on. Blackthorne witnesess firsthand, the beauty, terror, and power of the country called Japan in an era of war. I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys a good adventure tale.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating tale of deceit, romance, power, even humor...
Review: I picked up "Shogun" years ago, and I've thumbed through my poor, worn paperback copy many times since then.

At first, I laughed at the humor of the culture clashes. I still do. But now, I'm more fascinated by the story, by the PEOPLE in the story.

It's made me appreciate Iyeasu Tokugawa even more than I already did. He was a great man, that not to be doubted.

I haven't been to Japan, so I can't say if this story is correct about Japanese culture. Besides, even it it WAS correct, things have changed since 1600.

This story has a captivating hold on a person. I found myself unable to put it down, and when I was finally done, I found myself disappointed by the fact that there wasn't more. I could have been content if the book had gone on forever.