More I studied Japanese history in University and would say that Clavell's historical account of samurai and the Bushido code were accurate. I enjoyed padding my basic knowledge of Japanese history. In fact, Clavell borrowed the story line from a famous samurai's rise to Shogun. The book was heavy, super heavy in monotonous dialogue.
So sorry, I am not worthy of the honor of reviewing this novel. If however, my Lord insists it, then I shall endeavor to offer up some humble thoughts regarding its mighty, even epic narrative. Neh? The scope is so vast, the characters and settings are so many, the head is liable to spin at times, so sorry. But the arc it follows is like a peregrine's path through the sky: long but fast and with vicious twists along what might otherwise have seemed a predictable path. I'm sure my Lord would agree that parts of the story can become quite tedious. I am not speaking of the slow-to-develop romance between Mariko and the Anjin-san nor even of the dueling political machinations of Toranaga and Ishido. No, Sire. This humble vassal speaks more to the text and how Japanese is interwoven with the barbarian words in so many places. And then how barbarian words come even to replace Japanese! Or barbarian words standing in for the words of other barbarian tongues! If you'll excuse this vassal's petulant tongue, Sire, it's enough to make one fart dust, so sorry. But these tedious affectations do blend in after a while, neh? and the narrative is quite the enjoyable one — full of so much intrigue and humor. A rousing and enjoyable tale of which I am not worthy to comment further. Please, I cannot live with this shame. Please allow me to commit seppuku at once.
SOON TO BE AN FX LIMITED SERIES • A bold English adventurer. An invincible Japanese warlord. A beautiful woman torn between two ways of life. All brought together in an extraordinary saga aflame with passion, conflict, ambition, and the struggle for power.
Here is the world-famous novel of Japan that is the earliest book in James Clavell’s masterly Asian saga. Set in the year 1600, it tells the story of a bold English pilot whose ship was blown ashore in Japan, where he encountered two people who were to change his life: a warlord with his own quest for power, and a beautiful interpreter torn between two ways of life and two ways of love.
The principal figures are John Blackthorne, whose dream it is to be the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, to wrest control of the trade between Japan and China from Portuguese, and to return home a man of wealth and position; Toranaga, the most powerful feudal lord in Japan, who strives and schemes to seize ultimate power by becoming Shogun—the Supreme Military Dictator—and to unite the warring samurai fiefdoms under his own masterly and farsighted leadership; and the Lady Mariko, a Catholic convert whose conflicting loyalties to the Church and her country are compounded when she falls in love with Blackthorne, the barbarian intruder.
In dramatizing how a Westerner, the representative man of his time, comes to be altered by his exposure to an alien culture, Mr. Clavell provides a spellbinding depiction of a nation seething with violence and intrigue as it moves from the medieval world to the modern.
Praise for Shogun
“I can’t remember when a novel has seized my mind like this one. . . . It’s not only something you read—you live it.”--New York Times Book Review
“Adventure and action, the suspense of danger, shocking touching human relationships . . . a climactic human story.”--Los Angeles Times
“A tale surging with action, intrigue and love . . . a huge cast . . . vast and dramatic . . . stunning . . . savage . . . beautiful . . . an extraordinary performance.”--Publishers Weekly
“Exciting, totally absorbing...be prepared for late nights, meals unlasting, buisness unattended.”--Philadelphia Inquirer
Here is the world-famous novel of Japan that is the earliest book in James Clavell’s masterly Asian saga. Set in the year 1600, it tells the story of a bold English pilot whose ship was blown ashore in Japan, where he encountered two people who were to change his life: a warlord with his own quest for power, and a beautiful interpreter torn between two ways of life and two ways of love.
The principal figures are John Blackthorne, whose dream it is to be the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, to wrest control of the trade between Japan and China from Portuguese, and to return home a man of wealth and position; Toranaga, the most powerful feudal lord in Japan, who strives and schemes to seize ultimate power by becoming Shogun—the Supreme Military Dictator—and to unite the warring samurai fiefdoms under his own masterly and farsighted leadership; and the Lady Mariko, a Catholic convert whose conflicting loyalties to the Church and her country are compounded when she falls in love with Blackthorne, the barbarian intruder.
In dramatizing how a Westerner, the representative man of his time, comes to be altered by his exposure to an alien culture, Mr. Clavell provides a spellbinding depiction of a nation seething with violence and intrigue as it moves from the medieval world to the modern.
Praise for Shogun
“I can’t remember when a novel has seized my mind like this one. . . . It’s not only something you read—you live it.”--New York Times Book Review
“Adventure and action, the suspense of danger, shocking touching human relationships . . . a climactic human story.”--Los Angeles Times
“A tale surging with action, intrigue and love . . . a huge cast . . . vast and dramatic . . . stunning . . . savage . . . beautiful . . . an extraordinary performance.”--Publishers Weekly
“Exciting, totally absorbing...be prepared for late nights, meals unlasting, buisness unattended.”--Philadelphia Inquirer
- Random House Publishing Group; February 2009
- ISBN: 9780307490896
- Read online
- Title: Shogun
- Series: Asian Saga (No. 1)
- Author: James Clavell
- Imprint: Dell
Subject categories
- Fiction > Historical
- Fiction > Romance > Historical
- Romance > Historical
- Fiction > Sagas
ISBNs
- 9780440178002
- 9780307490896
In The Press
'Superbly crafted...grips the reader like a riptide...gets the juices flowing!'--Washington Star
'Exciting, totally absorbing...be prepared for late nights, meals unlasting, buisness unattended...'--Philadelphia Inquirer
'Adventure and action, the suspense of danger, shocking, touching human relationships...a climactic human story.' --Los Angeles Times
“A tale surging with action, intrigue and love...a huge cast…vast and dramatic ...stunning…savage...beautiful...an extraordinary performance.”
–Publishers Weekly
“I can’t remember when a novel has seized my mind like this one....It’s not only something you read–you live it.” –New York Times Book Review
From the Paperback edition.
'Exciting, totally absorbing...be prepared for late nights, meals unlasting, buisness unattended...'--Philadelphia Inquirer
'Adventure and action, the suspense of danger, shocking, touching human relationships...a climactic human story.' --Los Angeles Times
“A tale surging with action, intrigue and love...a huge cast…vast and dramatic ...stunning…savage...beautiful...an extraordinary performance.”
–Publishers Weekly
“I can’t remember when a novel has seized my mind like this one....It’s not only something you read–you live it.” –New York Times Book Review
From the Paperback edition.
About The Author
James Clavell, who died in 1994, was a screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although he wrote the screenplays for a number of acclaimed films, including The Fly (1958), The Great Escape (1963), and To Sir With Love (1967), he is best known for his epic novels in his Asian Saga.
From the Paperback edition.
From the Paperback edition.