Shogun by James Clavell has got to be one of the best books I have ever read. I used to think Memoirs of a Geisha was the best, but Shogun pretty much changed my mind. The book is romantic and beautiful. Everyone should definitely check it out. By the way, has anyone read Shogun? If so, what did you guys think of it?
:cry: I've been reading this book for months and I haven't finished it yet... But yeah, it's pretty good. V.V
I'm on the same boat as blaksum, except i borrowed it from the library and tried to extend it about 20 times. Now i owe them money....ONLY TWO INSTALLMENTS LEFT! I'm actually up to page....(looks through book).....(yes i still have it)....150 exactly! I got my signiture from the book too! /Xio [EDIT] Hey! theres a typo in it! DAMMIT!!
There's a million typos in it. I'm on page 1000something. I've been reading it for MONTHS. It only took me a couple weeks to read IT - which is the same length, if not longer - but Shogun is so much more...intricate. V.V
I'm currently reading and finding it quite enjoyable but there are certainly problems with it. In places I find the writing style very irritating, Clavell seems to have a habit of changing which character the viewpoint is from without warning and it gets tiresome jumping back and forth between characters like this. Secondly, he also seems to change perspective quite a lot, jumping from third person to first person (usually when a character is introspecting) and then back again.
Yeah I've read it twice, and will again I have no doubt. An excellent book, with an intricately woven story, although it does seem to over-romanticise the samurai themselves in many ways - I suspect that not many of them were as honourable and loyal as they are made out to be. If you like Shogun, then you'll love any of the films by Akira Kurosawa - especially Kagemusha and Ran - if you haven't seen them already.
There are sequals to Shogun too, but they don't follow on i think. Taipan King Rat Nobal House Whirlwind etc /Xio
Shogun is one of my favourite books. It took me years to finish reading it on and off as it couldn't hold my interest in the beginning. I really liked it since the first page, but it was so long and daunting. But then things got really good, and I couldn't put it down. It took awhile, but it's one of my favourite reads. If you haven't already, I advise you all to read Musashi by Yoshikawa Eiji. (I actually haven't been able to read it because I can't find it, but Vagabond is a manga based on Musashi, and it's really good.) And even if you're not into manga or comic books, you should also give Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima a shot.
Hey don't say it. I haven't finished it yet! I'm only up to where Blackthorn tries to commit seppuku........Oh! sorry if you hadn't read this far
I just finished the miniseries. Very good, except for the ending. The ending makes no sense. I don't get it. 1) Why did Lord Toronaga burn the Erasmus? 2) Why will he burn every ship Anjin builds? 3) What is this about either Anjin dies or the ship dies, but they can't both remain? I don't understand why one of them has to perish. 4) How is it Muriko's death saved the lives of Anjin and the "hostages"? And who were the hostages anyway? 5) And what happened to the rest of Anjin's crew? I presume they were killed when the Erasmus burned, but, that wasn't stated in the movie. The miniseries was great until the last 5 minutes! I'm all and and about the ending! Can anyone clue me in?
I read the book about 15 years ago, so my memory of it is a little vague. At the time I really enjoyed it.
