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Shōgun (1975)

by James Clavell

Series: The Asian Saga (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
7,9411321,097 (4.29)260
After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen-Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne's loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed. Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Sh?gun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Sh?gun is, as the New York Times put it, "...not only something you read-you live it." Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Sh?gun.… (more)
  1. 60
    Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa (Jannes)
    Jannes: Musashi has been described as "the japanese answer to Shogun". Similar in that is a long and epic historical nove rife with intrigue, violence and, above all, Samurai warriors, but Mushashi i better researched, less stereotypical and is not as full of jarring errors and inaccuracies as Clavell's novel.… (more)
  2. 50
    The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (CGlanovsky, PghDragonMan)
    CGlanovsky: A westerner in Japan.
    PghDragonMan: The best, and worst, of feudal Japan through the eyes of a foreigner.
  3. 20
    Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan by Giles Milton (Cecrow)
    Cecrow: Samurai William is a non-fiction work that relates the true story and facts upon which the novel Shogun is based.
  4. 31
    The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père (ShaneTierney)
  5. 21
    A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (saturnine13)
    saturnine13: If you like gritty, faux historical fiction, how about another with an asian flavor? Shogun, like A Game of Thrones, concerns the byzantine political intrigues of a multitude of different characters painted in moral shades of grey, generously heaped with gruesome action and heart-breaking romance. While Shogun lacks dragons, it does have the added interest of being mostly based upon real events and people.… (more)
  6. 10
    The Tokaido Road: A Novel of Feudal Japan by Lucia St. Clair Robson (guurtjesboekenkast)
  7. 43
    Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn (leahsimone)
  8. 00
    Silence by Shūsaku Endō (soylentgreen23)
    soylentgreen23: Although not from the same period exactly, Endo's 'Silence' is another great book about the incursion into Japan of foreign culture, this time in the form of the Christian Church, and what happened in Japan when that religion was suddenly rejected by the ruling class.… (more)
  9. 11
    Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (ajwseven)
  10. 00
    Lord of Formosa by Joyce Bergvelt (aspirit)
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» See also 260 mentions

English (124)  Spanish (2)  Dutch (2)  Catalan (1)  Italian (1)  Danish (1)  French (1)  All languages (132)
Showing 1-5 of 124 (next | show all)
A fantastic, fact-based fictional drama of a foreigner integrating into historic Japan. In the end, it is mostly a love story. Nevertheless, the book is filled with deep cultural insights.
Quite a long read, so mostly recommended for people interested in other cultures. ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
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. ( )
  A.Godhelm | Oct 20, 2023 |
Watched the TV Series with Richard Chamberlain, then read the book a few years later, which I really enjoyed. Listened to in in 2010 with an appalling narrator who made it really difficult to get through even half way through the 50 hour recording. [return][return]This tells of one of the 1st Portuguese Pilots (ship masters) to reach the isolated island of Japan. Not only does he have to compete with not understanding the rules and language of a completely different world, but is already at a disadvantage when the Jesuit priests are already "on the ground" and speaking Japanese. ( )
  nordie | Oct 14, 2023 |
Watched the TV Series with Richard Chamberlain, then read the book a few years later, which I really enjoyed. Listened to in in 2010 with an appalling narrator who made it really difficult to get through even half way through the 50 hour recording. [return][return]This tells of one of the 1st Portuguese Pilots (ship masters) to reach the isolated island of Japan. Not only does he have to compete with not understanding the rules and language of a completely different world, but is already at a disadvantage when the Jesuit priests are already "on the ground" and speaking Japanese. ( )
  nordie | Oct 14, 2023 |
2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge

Shōgun by James Clavell (1975; 1986 ed.) 1152 pages.

SETTING: 1600’s Japan

England and Netherland (Protestants) were at war with Spain and Portugal (Catholics). The Magellan Pass, the shortcut to the Pacific, was just being discovered, which only the Portuguese had knowledge of since 1542, until someone in Portugal sold out the secret. John Blackthorne, Pilot of the Erasmus, was hired to find and navigate this pathway for England’s trade. But, he and five other vessels were caught up in a thai-fun. All vessels were lost and Blackthorne and eleven of his passengers ended up beached on the shore of Nippon, Japan. He, and what was left of his crew, were taken captive.

Japan had already been discovered by the Portuguese and were infiltrating their land with their Catholic priests, which Japan hated because they couldn’t be trusted. But, they were needed for translating languages for trade. The Catholic priests had a lot of power over them, but there was also the struggle of power from the Jesuits, who were also trying to gain a foothold in Japan. The Japanese couldn’t trust either religious groups, and neither of the religious groups could trust each other.

Taiko, the Shogun of Japan, the Supreme Military Dictator, had recently died and his minor son was to become the next Shogun when he reached age 15. But, there were five top Regents vying for that top position, and John Blackthorne was caught up in the middle and used for his knowledge in modern warfare.

This story is about the cunning and manipulative actions between the top 5 Daimyo’s (territory leaders), and how John Blackthorne rose to the top to become a Samaria and Hatamoto, in title only, because even he, unbeknownst to him, was being manipulated the whole time, and nearly lost his life numerous times during the process of learning Japanese ways.

This gets a 3-star from me…an average read. Parts of it were interesting, and that’s the part about John Blackthorne, himself. Dialogue between characters seemed a bit amateurish at times, and there was quite a bit of Japanese dialogue that didn’t follow up with English translations. Very annoying! Even though there were some exciting sections here and there throughout, the ending, quite frankly, was very dull. But, I definitely can see this being a good movie and can’t wait to watch, but can’t seem to find it.

Ha! Women, tip on how to work a man (from page 318):

“You’re a woman, and you must treat him like any man if he is to be controlled: flatter him, and agree with him and honey him. You forget your weapons.”

BOOK-TO-MOVIE

Shōgun (1980) TV Mini Series - starring Richard Chamberlain as the Anjin-san (John Blackthorne), Torishô Mifune as Torinaga, Yôko Shimada as Mariko-san, and Furankî Sakai as Yabu. These four main characters you will recognize after reading the book. ( )
  MissysBookshelf | Aug 27, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 124 (next | show all)
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Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
An dieser Stelle
möchte ich all jenen - Toten wie Lebenden - danken,
die mir, in Asien wie in Europa, geholfen haben,
diesen Roman möglich zu machen.

Lookout Mountains, Kalifornien
Dedication
For two seafarers, Captains, Royal Navy, who loved their ships more than their women - as was expected of them.
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The gale tore at him and he felt its bite deep within and he knew that if they did not make landfall in three days they would all be dead.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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This is the full novel. Please do not combine with individual volumes.
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After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen-Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne's loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed. Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Sh?gun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but also one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Sh?gun is, as the New York Times put it, "...not only something you read-you live it." Provocative, absorbing, and endlessly fascinating, there is only one: Sh?gun.

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