A fantastic, fact-based fictional drama of a foreigner integrating into historic Japan. In the end, it is mostly a love story. Nevertheless, the book is filled with deep cultural insights.
Quite a long read, so mostly recommended for people interested in other cultures. ( )

A true doorstopper of a novel; the chronological start of the forever unfinished Asian Saga. Though it never feels as long as it is, it's hard to justify the length as well. There are massive sections that could be cut without changing the book much at all. This is the "extended edition" and you will get to see every bit of Blackthorne's stumbling journey into japanese society. Upon rereading it, perhaps the repetitious nature of a few too many so sorry's, or the stilted romance between Anjin & Mariko stuck with me more than it used to, and rubbed some of the shine off of an otherwise great book.
This is a romantic (in the old sense) view of history, not a factual one - though the '75 publication date (only decades after the very bitter end of the war in the pacific) makes it an impressively favourable telling of west meets east, for a western audience. ( )

Watched the TV Series with Richard Chamberlain, then read the book a few years later, which I really enjoyed. Listened to in in 2010 with an appalling narrator who made it really difficult to get through even half way through the 50 hour recording. [return][return]This tells of one of the 1st Portuguese Pilots (ship masters) to reach the isolated island of Japan. Not only does he have to compete with not understanding the rules and language of a completely different world, but is already at a disadvantage when the Jesuit priests are already "on the ground" and speaking Japanese. ( )

Watched the TV Series with Richard Chamberlain, then read the book a few years later, which I really enjoyed. Listened to in in 2010 with an appalling narrator who made it really difficult to get through even half way through the 50 hour recording. [return][return]This tells of one of the 1st Portuguese Pilots (ship masters) to reach the isolated island of Japan. Not only does he have to compete with not understanding the rules and language of a completely different world, but is already at a disadvantage when the Jesuit priests are already "on the ground" and speaking Japanese. ( )

2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge

Shōgun by James Clavell (1975; 1986 ed.) 1152 pages.

SETTING: 1600’s Japan

England and Netherland (Protestants) were at war with Spain and Portugal (Catholics). The Magellan Pass, the shortcut to the Pacific, was just being discovered, which only the Portuguese had knowledge of since 1542, until someone in Portugal sold out the secret. John Blackthorne, Pilot of the Erasmus, was hired to find and navigate this pathway for England’s trade. But, he and five other vessels were caught up in a thai-fun. All vessels were lost and Blackthorne and eleven of his passengers ended up beached on the shore of Nippon, Japan. He, and what was left of his crew, were taken captive.

Japan had already been discovered by the Portuguese and were infiltrating their land with their Catholic priests, which Japan hated because they couldn’t be trusted. But, they were needed for translating languages for trade. The Catholic priests had a lot of power over them, but there was also the struggle of power from the Jesuits, who were also trying to gain a foothold in Japan. The Japanese couldn’t trust either religious groups, and neither of the religious groups could trust each other.

Taiko, the Shogun of Japan, the Supreme Military Dictator, had recently died and his minor son was to become the next Shogun when he reached age 15. But, there were five top Regents vying for that top position, and John Blackthorne was caught up in the middle and used for his knowledge in modern warfare.

This story is about the cunning and manipulative actions between the top 5 Daimyo’s (territory leaders), and how John Blackthorne rose to the top to become a Samaria and Hatamoto, in title only, because even he, unbeknownst to him, was being manipulated the whole time, and nearly lost his life numerous times during the process of learning Japanese ways.

This gets a 3-star from me…an average read. Parts of it were interesting, and that’s the part about John Blackthorne, himself. Dialogue between characters seemed a bit amateurish at times, and there was quite a bit of Japanese dialogue that didn’t follow up with English translations. Very annoying! Even though there were some exciting sections here and there throughout, the ending, quite frankly, was very dull. But, I definitely can see this being a good movie and can’t wait to watch, but can’t seem to find it.

Ha! Women, tip on how to work a man (from page 318):

“You’re a woman, and you must treat him like any man if he is to be controlled: flatter him, and agree with him and honey him. You forget your weapons.”

BOOK-TO-MOVIE

Shōgun (1980) TV Mini Series - starring Richard Chamberlain as the Anjin-san (John Blackthorne), Torishô Mifune as Torinaga, Yôko Shimada as Mariko-san, and Furankî Sakai as Yabu. These four main characters you will recognize after reading the book. ( )