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2.94 AVERAGE
2.94 AVERAGE
I'm trying to work out why this book is boring me - I enjoyed greatly Lian Hearn's Otori quartet, but this novel is not managing to hold my interest. As usual, her characterisation is strong, but as with the previous series, the extensive Japanese names are a challenge, made even more difficult by their various shortenings. This makes it a bit difficult to follow the story at times, and I think the fact that the main character we are following is not directly involved in the battles being described makes it more difficult to engage with what is happening.
Not being intrinsically interested in Japanese history, and it being difficult to truly keep up with who is who in the battles against the foreigners makes it a challenge I might not be up to.
We're only following one character in detail, and even her romances so far are not long lasting, so we don't extend our umbrella of interest to a couple, so we are in the end following the adventures of a lot of people whose fate we are not very involved in. I can see now why it is rated by the Goodreads community so much more lowly than is the Otori series.
Not being intrinsically interested in Japanese history, and it being difficult to truly keep up with who is who in the battles against the foreigners makes it a challenge I might not be up to.
We're only following one character in detail, and even her romances so far are not long lasting, so we don't extend our umbrella of interest to a couple, so we are in the end following the adventures of a lot of people whose fate we are not very involved in. I can see now why it is rated by the Goodreads community so much more lowly than is the Otori series.
LIan Hearn has put down the tales of the Otori to give us an excellent novel of the Meiji restoration, as Tsuru’s life becomes intertwined with the revoltionaires from her domain of Choshu as they seek to restore power from the fading Shogunate to the Emperor. At the same time America has demanded Japan ends it’s isolation and the British, French and Dutch are all scheming to get a foot on the Japanese soil. As the domains take sides, strive for power while at the same time trying to prevent their rivals from gaining power, a driven few will see that enemies must unite, and that change must come, whatever the cost. There are plans and schemes, battles and pilgrmages as Japan is dragged into a new future. One of the domains older warriors accuses the younger ones of thinking too much about the future, rather than how to achieve it, but as Tsuru struggles to see chances for herself in the old world or the new, she wonders if they think about it enough.
These aren’t the only problems Tsuru faces, there is also a relentless number of names thrown at her throughout the book. I read on and eventually managed to remember about four characters, only for them to die or change their names completely. Naturally Tsuru had no such problems, and she didn’t even have the guide at the beginning of the book detailing all the characters, which I decided not to use as it would have taken me years to cross check every time I was confused, which was often. I’m currently listening to a Short History of Japan podcast (here if you’re interested) and they haven’t quite reached this period, so as usual, not only did I bring my own Japanese naming inadequacies to the book, I had no idea what was what and what happened at the end, still it’s always a lot more interesting if you don’t know the end no?
But names aside I loved this book, Lian Hearn has crafted a deep and rich painting of 19th Century Japan, and you can almost feel her passion for the country and this particular period in the narrative, which sees Tsuru have an incredible life that is buffeted by great sadness but which sees power restored to the Emperor and the birth of modern Japan.
(blog review here)
These aren’t the only problems Tsuru faces, there is also a relentless number of names thrown at her throughout the book. I read on and eventually managed to remember about four characters, only for them to die or change their names completely. Naturally Tsuru had no such problems, and she didn’t even have the guide at the beginning of the book detailing all the characters, which I decided not to use as it would have taken me years to cross check every time I was confused, which was often. I’m currently listening to a Short History of Japan podcast (here if you’re interested) and they haven’t quite reached this period, so as usual, not only did I bring my own Japanese naming inadequacies to the book, I had no idea what was what and what happened at the end, still it’s always a lot more interesting if you don’t know the end no?
But names aside I loved this book, Lian Hearn has crafted a deep and rich painting of 19th Century Japan, and you can almost feel her passion for the country and this particular period in the narrative, which sees Tsuru have an incredible life that is buffeted by great sadness but which sees power restored to the Emperor and the birth of modern Japan.
(blog review here)
Found this interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's set in a period of Japan's history that is critical to it's development. Secondly, the cultural mindsets and the conflict between the old and new ideas in parallel with the conflict between the gender stereotyping provides a fertile ground for story lines. It keeps you reading to see what is going to happen
slow-paced
I read Lian Hearns 'The clan of the otori' when they were published because i just love everything set in Japan/Japanese Culture. I loved reading the books and felt like they were an 'easy' and enjoyable read. This book is not easy. And not always enjoyable. Even if you are interested in Japanese culture and history(i really do like reading about the Bakumatsu era so i thought this would be very interesting) , this book is REALLY hard to follow.
There are so many characters that i constantly had to switch to the character list and a lot of times, esp. the last chapters, it felt more like a history book than a novel. Three stars because of all the historical things and a female main character who was a bit different but i would not recommend this to you if you do not know anything about japanese history and even then it might be really hard to follow.
There are so many characters that i constantly had to switch to the character list and a lot of times, esp. the last chapters, it felt more like a history book than a novel. Three stars because of all the historical things and a female main character who was a bit different but i would not recommend this to you if you do not know anything about japanese history and even then it might be really hard to follow.
This was a lovely story. The history was enthralling, and Tsuru was extremely engaging. I loved her adventure, and I found the duality extremely interesting. The parts with other characters were a bit distracting and confusing (I personally feel like they didn't add much for me because I found it difficult to listen to all the different voices). All in all, a good book.
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I picked this up because I loved the Tales of the Otori when I was a kid but I found this quite disappointing. The different tensions in the narrators character sound interesting but put together they somehow fell flat. The only character I ended up really interested in by the end was the painter.
Geisha are my pet peeve - or specifically, the (very American) assuption that geisha = courtesan/prostitute. Geisha were and are artists, are paid for conversation, singing, playing shamisen and other instruments, dancing - and the same person was not allowed to be a geisha and a prostitute at the same time during the times shown in the book (this was illegal as per the laws made by the shogunate).
If geisha weren't shown as prostitutes - and there were no Japanese language errors in the book - I would have rated it 5 stars as I enjoyed it a lot.
If geisha weren't shown as prostitutes - and there were no Japanese language errors in the book - I would have rated it 5 stars as I enjoyed it a lot.