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A review by malaprop
Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era by Eiji Yoshikawa, Charles Terry
5.0
This was a masterpiece. I really enjoyed the depth and richness of characters, social commentary, and culture. It's a multi-faceted coming-of-age historical fiction. I will be thinking of this book for a while. Even though it weighs in around 1,000 pages, it ended too fast.
After reading this, I noticed there were polarized reviews on whether or not people related to the characters. I see that viewpoint, but I think the key is to properly put this book in place in the historical context and honor-shame culture. Would I value and make the same decisions as most of the characters in this book? No.
But what did fascinate me was how the literary style of the writing matured with the characters. Without spoiling much, the books starts with two of the characters as young teenagers thrown into a conflict. The dialog at this point is very simple, almost primitive. As the book goes on and the characters grow, a tapestry begins to be woven together and the writing style and dialog grows with the characters. Maybe not everyone noticed this, but it was a nice touch. From this point, each of the characters follow different paths driven by their own circumstances. Not all of these paths will lead to good places.
But the lives of each of the characters will touch and set into motion the paths of others. So while some might have considered this a meaningless repetition, the nuance in the outcomes makes all the difference.
After reading this, I noticed there were polarized reviews on whether or not people related to the characters. I see that viewpoint, but I think the key is to properly put this book in place in the historical context and honor-shame culture. Would I value and make the same decisions as most of the characters in this book? No.
But what did fascinate me was how the literary style of the writing matured with the characters. Without spoiling much, the books starts with two of the characters as young teenagers thrown into a conflict. The dialog at this point is very simple, almost primitive. As the book goes on and the characters grow, a tapestry begins to be woven together and the writing style and dialog grows with the characters. Maybe not everyone noticed this, but it was a nice touch. From this point, each of the characters follow different paths driven by their own circumstances. Not all of these paths will lead to good places.
But the lives of each of the characters will touch and set into motion the paths of others. So while some might have considered this a meaningless repetition, the nuance in the outcomes makes all the difference.