Book Review: Shogun

Shogun by James Clavell was an inspiring and sweeping epic that was both engaging and surprisingly easy to read. Easy meaning that although the author weaves several deep political stories, and works in several themes and shows how a prisoner of war can become a victim of the Stockholm Syndrome, Clavell deftly enter into the minds of his characters and allows each of them to explain the stories from so that the story becomes easy to understand as well as supremely engrossing.

One of the aspects of the book that I enjoyed the most was that it landed far more on the side of fiction than history. One aspect of historical fiction that I've never enjoyed is trying to figure out what is actual history from fiction. I'll never read another Mischner if only cause I'm never sure what I can cite to my friends with complete certainty. Clavell lets the reader know from the outset, through the changing of the names and people who lived and died, that very little of what is in the book should be taken as a fact. Instead what the reader gets is a primer on life in Japan in the late 16th century.

Clavell's writing is descriptive, clear and at time poetic. I marked these samples in my Kindle Notes:

Describing Mariko, the protagonist's love interest, "At once she hurried back into the other room, her silk kimono sighing like a midnight sea."

Blackthorne, the protagonist, thinking about Toronaga, "That's where Toranaga will be, he thought, an ice barb suddenly in his bowels."

Blackthorne watching the sunrise, thinking about the coming day, "The dawn was smoky. The sky to the east was already burnt clean of the haze. The air smelled salt and wet from the sea. Flies already swarmed. It'll be hot today he thought." It turned out to be a bad day, I thought the sentence set that up well.

Clavell also seemed to make a big deal in describing the eating, "(he) went to his own quarters and ate rice, pickled vegetables, and broiled chunks of fish." The first few times he says this I thought it was to emphasize the simplicity of the Japanese diet at the time. Later, after he had used the same saying dozens of times, I started to wonder if he was using it so often to express the monotony of the always eating the same thing, that perhaps the diet was too simple. Still it was just one of the hundreds of "slices of life" that he uses to help transport the reader into the setting.

One of the main characters, Toranaga, the eventual Shogun in fact, is a vivid character who becomes more likable as the novel progresses. Clavell often describes Toranaga hunting with his hawks. The author does a wonderful job of allowing the reader insight into Toranaga's mind. He also takes these opportunities to reinforce a couple of the themes by having the Toronaga think about and analyze the hawks he owns and loves. He goes to extreme detail in the description of the hunts. At the end of one hunt he writes, "Because Tetsu-ko had flown so well, Toronaga decided to let her gorge and fly her no more today. He gave her a small bird that he had already plucked and opened for he. When she was halfway through her meal he slipped on her hood. She continued to fee contentedly through the hood. When she had finished and began to preen herself again he picked up the cock pheasant, bagged it, and beckoned his falconer, who had waited with the beaters." What is interesting is that throughout that whole passage Clavell describes the hawk's through Toronaga, letting the reader think he is linking the qualities of one particular hawk to Blackthrone. It's not till the end that the reader realizes who he is actually describing.

Among the several stories that Clavell weaves through the book is a political struggle between the ruling parties at the time. Although there are passages where in I found myself confused by the Japanese politics, in general I never found myself too confused, and by the end of the book was not confused at all. I found that a bit of patience helped me gain a fuller appreciation for the book and the story. It was very much like being in a chess game, particularly as so many of the samurai in the book are treated like pawns, used and sacrificed with hardly a second thought. There were dozens of feints and thrusts and threats of the same. By the end of the book the reader feels as though Toronaga has set up the board just as he wanted it from the very beginning of the book.

At one point, near the end of the book, a main character betrays Toronaga and Blackthrone. It was such a sudden and unexpected twist that I actually gasped as I read it. What I found so interesting about this betrayal was that it was perfectly in tune with the nature of the character; there was no reason for the reader not to expect it. In fact, Toronaga, in an excellent example of foreshadowing, expects it throughout the book. Still, it was surprising when it came.

Finally, I have to say that Donald Maass (whose book, Writing the Breakout Novel was the impetus behind my reading Shogun) was entirely correct. Shogun does sweep the reader away and immerse them in a compelling and rewarding story. I can think of few books that stand alone (meaning serials are excluded) that have done such a masterful job of creating a world and rich set of characters. If you haven't, go read it. Expect future posts to describe how the mini-series differs.