Shōgun

Shogun is an expansive and immersive world that was a pleasure to dive into. All of the characters are brilliantly complex and realistic. The cities and towns are gloriously detailed. The plot is filled with twists and turns and will keep you guessing to the end. I can now see why this book written over 50 years ago is still so appreciated today.

This book quickly rose up to be one of my all time favorites. It does a great job of keeping you engaged and wondering what will happen next. A must read if you’re interested in the time period at all.

This is the review for this particular edition. I bought it from COSTCO when it carried this newest edition of all James Clavell's books. I heard his books for long time, like Shogun, Tai Pan, Noble House, but never read it before. So I decided to pick one, which Shogun was the one that I had the earliest impression. I got hooked into the story instantly. I can only say that James Clavell is a master story teller. The mix of Japanese culture and adventure story of the main character, both bring the thrill of the story, and also the learning of an exotic culture up and close. This is a book that is in the same level as Ken Follet's Pillars of Earth and World without End. All of them are about 1000 pages long, and I would say not even a single page is a waste. I also would like to comment on this edition. The paper quality and publish is excellent. I feel great with its sharp edge, bright paper, and the touch of the soft paper. It's an excellent combination of the choice that created a collectible feeling. I would highly recommend people to consider this edition vs any other edition out there. After I finished this book, I was just sold with all James Clavell's book. I feel regret that I didn't buy all of the books from COSTCO that time. COSTCO does not carry these books any more. So now, I am reading Tai Pan from my kindle, which turns out another great read. When I read a great book, I wish it never ends. I just had this feeling while reading Shogun. I almost feel lost when I reached final pages, and wished that the story to continue is another few hundred pages. It's truly a thousand page of enjoyment. Highly recommend for anyone loves Japanese history and culture. Oh, btw, I also watched the Shogun TV after reading the book. Good adaptation, and very honest to the original book. But some how I feel a lot of detail and person's inner thought cannot be possibly expressed through screen. People may just be lost without reading the book first.

I started reading this new edition of James Clavell's "Shogun; A Novel of Japan" just a few days ago, bought from yet another book store being liquidated. What a GREAT SUMMER READ! First published in 1975, Clavell's long-form (1152 pages) historical (Northern Europe's earliest contact with, and role, in the final battle whose victory transformed feudal Japan into the centralized and deliberately isolated command and control society of the hereditary Shogun in Tokyo) novel (epic in intent, form and accomplishment). This new edition is inexpensive at $7.99 face price. It's from Dell Publishing being reprinted in series as "James Clavell's world-famous Asian Saga ('Shogun', 'Tai-Pan', 'Gai-Jin', 'King Rat', 'Noble House', and 'Whilrwind')". The typeface is pretty small; put on your reading glasses. But for the price it's printed on pretty good paper, and doesn't stink like so many pulp editions. If the others in Clavell's Asian Saga are as good as "Shogun", then it's good I'm retired with enough free time to devote to them. I'll stay all summer under a fan with lemonade and "Shogun," and abandon time and care. As deeply satisfying as "War and Peace"! And as long! Longer, counting sequels--oh, goodie goodie!

Thoroughly researched, as are all of Clavell's works, Shogun takes you on a non-stop cultural and political roller-coaster ride. I read this novel in 3 days - with work interrupting - over 15 years ago. It has never left me. The Portuguese have been guarding the trade route to Japan. Profits are high. Politics are dangerous, both within the European community that has the sudden influx of the wreaked sailors from an English vessel, and the Japanese court and its Samurai warriors and generals - and their ladies. Advancement and power are paired with honor and death. Torture is not so much a tool as an advocation. Deception might just be honorable. If you enjoy intrigue, an insider's indepth view of the workings of power in a culture both unlike and like our own, powerful relationships of all kinds (based on power, on gender, and on both), and exciting historical fiction of the highest caliber, then you don't want to miss this one. King Rat and Tai-pai follow, but this is the best of the three.

Clavell brings the far East history to life so I felt like I was there with his characters. Interesting and informative.

For sheer narrative power and immersion in another world, few have done it better than Clavell in Shogun. The book grabs you from the first page and never seems to let go. It's an easy read, too, since you barely notice you're reading. (I read it in three days back in the seventies, hardly stopping for air, and have needed bifocals with reading lenses ever since.) Still the book has some unfortunate blunders including an allusion to a samurai using judo (not invented until the 1880's, while this book takes place in the 16th century) and another shaking off his sandals to kick at an enemy (quite out of character for such warriors since they were predominantly weaponed soldiers who would never choose to kick an enemy if they had access to one of their traditional instruments of war; besides so-called karate kicking wasn't introduced into Japan, from Okinawa, until the 1920's). The worst error, I thought, had Lord Toranaga playing chess, a western game, when it would have made more sense for him to be playing the indigenous Japanese game of go instead. But the Japanese warriors did have jiu-jitsu, the forerunner of judo, and kicking could have been a part of what they did (however unlikely) and Toronaga could have taught himself chess since he is portrayed as a quick study with a keen and very deep mind. And besides, these are minor quibbles. Basically, this is a powerful tale of intrigue and maneuvering as the players move about on the chessboard of feudal Japan, never certain who among them is really moving the pieces and who is just being moved -- at least until the end. The sense and feel of the culture, if not the details, also ring remarkably true and you do feel as though you've lived the entire experience when at last you close the book on the final page. And the characters, as the reviews following mine point out, are also based on real people; the events on things that really occurred -- though Clavell granted himself literary license to manipulate and recast what he found in the histories to make his tale a more dramatic one. It's not a true story in that sense, but it's a great one and well worth a pair of glasses. -- Stuart W. Mirsky