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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Reading this for the Cincinnati Art Museum's See the Story book club meeting on 3/18/2017 to coincide with the Dressed to Kill exhibit.
A story involving the internecine conflict between clans and lords in 19th Century Japan around 1860. This book covers such an interesting time period with Japan being forcibly opened to the Western World and the drastic changes in Japanese culture. The presence of American missionaries further complicates the plot.
Some of the action seems far fetched, with one samurai of prodigious talents obliterating entire troops in seconds. Similarly, some of the strategy of splitting parties seemed puzzling, but those are small quibbles.
Something interesting to note: The chapters in part one and part five are the same, creating a bracket to the action of the book. An interesting device, and I am curious of what the author meant by this.
A story involving the internecine conflict between clans and lords in 19th Century Japan around 1860. This book covers such an interesting time period with Japan being forcibly opened to the Western World and the drastic changes in Japanese culture. The presence of American missionaries further complicates the plot.
Some of the action seems far fetched, with one samurai of prodigious talents obliterating entire troops in seconds. Similarly, some of the strategy of splitting parties seemed puzzling, but those are small quibbles.
Something interesting to note: The chapters in part one and part five are the same, creating a bracket to the action of the book. An interesting device, and I am curious of what the author meant by this.
A book that certainly nabs your attention... for the first 50%. After that it was just going through the motions.
It's a story of samurai-lords at the time nearing the end of the Shogunate, when outsiders from America and Europe were really making their presence felt. We focus in on a group centred on the young Lord Genji, the last of his line and subject of many plots and rumours. Word is he is a dilettante in love with a geisha, sees visions of the future, sympathises with Christians, and is terribly unfit in his role as leader of his fiefdom. Someone is plotting against him. Ninjas could be anyone, anywhere, waiting for their chance to take his down and end his family line. Then along come the Christian Missionaries who's motives may or may not be as simple and pure as they seem. No one and nothing is as it seems. All that is certain is that change is coming whether Japan is ready for it or not.
As a tome of convoluted political/social intrigues between samurai clans, it's pretty interesting. It's just a shame that by the half way point, you know what's going to happen to everyone. The writing just dried up a bit. It's an incredibly slow book as-is, but when it started dealing with lots of little details that went on and on... It started to drag.
Then there's the habit of the narration to hop between viewpoints within the same paragraph. It meant that instead of us guessing at a room full of people's intentions, we got a glimpse inside everyone's head. It destroyed some of the intrigue factor by removing the reader participation/speculation element, and could get a tad hard to follow who was "speaking" at the time.
It reads like a gleefully cliched historical novel, prone to poetic musings and meandering plot-points that time-hop about the place. There's plenty of blood and gore, though the account of the deeds are matter-of-fact rather than gratuitous description.
A story of backstabbing, revenge, katana-weilding madmen and murder that's more dry account than dynamic action, it's not an overly bad story. Maybe it takes the right person to really enjoy something quite this stylised.
It's a story of samurai-lords at the time nearing the end of the Shogunate, when outsiders from America and Europe were really making their presence felt. We focus in on a group centred on the young Lord Genji, the last of his line and subject of many plots and rumours. Word is he is a dilettante in love with a geisha, sees visions of the future, sympathises with Christians, and is terribly unfit in his role as leader of his fiefdom. Someone is plotting against him. Ninjas could be anyone, anywhere, waiting for their chance to take his down and end his family line. Then along come the Christian Missionaries who's motives may or may not be as simple and pure as they seem. No one and nothing is as it seems. All that is certain is that change is coming whether Japan is ready for it or not.
As a tome of convoluted political/social intrigues between samurai clans, it's pretty interesting. It's just a shame that by the half way point, you know what's going to happen to everyone. The writing just dried up a bit. It's an incredibly slow book as-is, but when it started dealing with lots of little details that went on and on... It started to drag.
Then there's the habit of the narration to hop between viewpoints within the same paragraph. It meant that instead of us guessing at a room full of people's intentions, we got a glimpse inside everyone's head. It destroyed some of the intrigue factor by removing the reader participation/speculation element, and could get a tad hard to follow who was "speaking" at the time.
It reads like a gleefully cliched historical novel, prone to poetic musings and meandering plot-points that time-hop about the place. There's plenty of blood and gore, though the account of the deeds are matter-of-fact rather than gratuitous description.
A story of backstabbing, revenge, katana-weilding madmen and murder that's more dry account than dynamic action, it's not an overly bad story. Maybe it takes the right person to really enjoy something quite this stylised.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved all of the strategy and character twists but the ending was not what I expected or hoped for. I loved the authors writing style and the world he describes.
Entretenido, tal vez en otra ocasión logre engancharme
Buena ambientación y narración. Personajes creíbles. Interesantes puntos de vista. Toques fantásticos sutiles y bien llevados. Madre mía con el final, colega.
selalu tak paham dengan bagaimana Samurai menghadapi tantangan. Good book
Casi lo lográbamos (el libro y yo) y este sería el primer libro con 5 estrellas después de un largo período.
Comenzó siendo un libro fascinante, cultura japonesa - cultura samurái. Lo que más me gustó del libro fue aprender sobre la ética y el código de conducta de los samuráis. Este código incluía valores como lealtad, honor, valentía y sinceridad, y era una parte fundamental de la vida de un samurái. Las descripciones de las batallas fueron emocionantes y dejaban sobre la mesa como se aplicaba este código.
Además, el libro tiene una escritura muy fluida y es fácil de seguir, incluso para aquellos que no estén familiarizados con la historia y la cultura japonesas. En general, El honor del samurái es un libro increíblemente interesante y recomendado.
Lo que me hizo cuestionarme la 5 estrella fue el final... abrupto, lo sentí como que el autor se había quedado sin tiempo o presupuesto y había tenido que cerrar la historia. En fin...me quedé con ganas de más.
Si alguien lee hasta acá y tiene alguna recomendación de un libro parecido, por favor, estoy abierto a sugerencias.
Comenzó siendo un libro fascinante, cultura japonesa - cultura samurái. Lo que más me gustó del libro fue aprender sobre la ética y el código de conducta de los samuráis. Este código incluía valores como lealtad, honor, valentía y sinceridad, y era una parte fundamental de la vida de un samurái. Las descripciones de las batallas fueron emocionantes y dejaban sobre la mesa como se aplicaba este código.
Además, el libro tiene una escritura muy fluida y es fácil de seguir, incluso para aquellos que no estén familiarizados con la historia y la cultura japonesas. En general, El honor del samurái es un libro increíblemente interesante y recomendado.
Lo que me hizo cuestionarme la 5 estrella fue el final... abrupto, lo sentí como que el autor se había quedado sin tiempo o presupuesto y había tenido que cerrar la historia. En fin...me quedé con ganas de más.
Si alguien lee hasta acá y tiene alguna recomendación de un libro parecido, por favor, estoy abierto a sugerencias.
Engrossing with plenty of action and gore. It's written like a movie. I like how the writer describes the clash of cultures and religions. The big downside for me is that constant switching between the many different character perspectives affects the depth of the characters.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Muy muy alejado de mi estilo de lectura usual, pero muy muy bueno.
Me hizo reflexionar mucho, sobre muchas cosas...
Ese final estuvo maravilloso, y las enseñanzas a las que alude tanto en la trama como en los pergaminos antiguos se quedarán un buen rato conmigo.
Me hizo reflexionar mucho, sobre muchas cosas...
Ese final estuvo maravilloso, y las enseñanzas a las que alude tanto en la trama como en los pergaminos antiguos se quedarán un buen rato conmigo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation
When a psychologically disturbed senior samurai shows up who masters the art of fighting with two katanas , you know you're in Shogun territory. It's worth taking a slow ride. Matsuoka can pass an important plot point or beautiful vignette by you in the flash of a geisha's eye.
The perceptive & receptive prince Genji is borderline implausible, but any story set in pre-Restauration Japan needs a foreigner-friendly perspective to sell. It remains the ideal period setting to reflect upon the strengths, flaws and compatibilities between two cultures. The reader always shares in the Bildung process.
Genji's subtle attentions towards the well-being of the people around him show life between the lines of history. An immature, heavily indepted bodyguard and a spinster handmaiden are steered towards the happy stability of married life. A teenage farmer's daughter who wouldn't mind a one night stand with an entitled but handsome nobleman remains untouched, her father handsomely rewarded for his hospitality instead.
Don't ask how a Wild West gunslinger wins a bamboo swordfighting contest on a few hours of training against warriors who could sever before they were toilet-trained. Just don't. The book rushes into its ending with the greatest implausibility of all: a traumatised Anna Leonowens migrating to Japan in the 1860s is one thing, the reverse quite another.
It's a lousy set-up for sequels. We knew that Genji's vision of the first Diet must either return by epilogue or sequel unless the pace quickens from Shouru's horse to his visions of Tokyo commuters. But at this point, we have been dipped again and again in the dark past of these two strangers in a strange land.
We want to see them overcome their demons. We also want to see the schism among Japanese nobility play out: those too entrenched in the outer aspects of tradition to accept the dawn of the new age, and those that want to "enrich the land en strengthen the army" so that their values can survive behind the protection of Western knowledge and technology.
The perceptive & receptive prince Genji is borderline implausible, but any story set in pre-Restauration Japan needs a foreigner-friendly perspective to sell. It remains the ideal period setting to reflect upon the strengths, flaws and compatibilities between two cultures. The reader always shares in the Bildung process.
Genji's subtle attentions towards the well-being of the people around him show life between the lines of history. An immature, heavily indepted bodyguard and a spinster handmaiden are steered towards the happy stability of married life. A teenage farmer's daughter who wouldn't mind a one night stand with an entitled but handsome nobleman remains untouched, her father handsomely rewarded for his hospitality instead.
Don't ask how a Wild West gunslinger wins a bamboo swordfighting contest on a few hours of training against warriors who could sever before they were toilet-trained. Just don't. The book rushes into its ending with the greatest implausibility of all: a traumatised Anna Leonowens migrating to Japan in the 1860s is one thing, the reverse quite another.
It's a lousy set-up for sequels. We knew that Genji's vision of the first Diet must either return by epilogue or sequel unless the pace quickens from Shouru's horse to his visions of Tokyo commuters. But at this point, we have been dipped again and again in the dark past of these two strangers in a strange land.
We want to see them overcome their demons. We also want to see the schism among Japanese nobility play out: those too entrenched in the outer aspects of tradition to accept the dawn of the new age, and those that want to "enrich the land en strengthen the army" so that their values can survive behind the protection of Western knowledge and technology.