James Clavell (1921–1994)

A doorstopper of a novel that doesn't rise to the heights of Shogun. It's engaging and quite fun, but the length makes it hard to justify, compared to other historical novels. It relies quite a bit on repetition of the same themes and phrases by God and it's easy to see how you could cut it down severely without really compromising the contents. The novels chauvinistic and imperialist aspects might stand out to a modern reader but considering the time it was written and the period it's about, it's quite progressive.… (more)

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.… (more)