“Only by living at the edge of death can you understand the indescribable joy of life.”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 late sixteenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, … 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, Shōgun 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 bestselling 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, Shōgun 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: Shōgun.
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I love the Asian Saga from James Clavell, and especially like the earlier ones (where there was much more freedom of action for the characters). This one is probably my favorite out of all of them, although Tai-Pan is a close second with Noble House not far behind. King Rat is also excellent, although much shorter than the others.
GREAT BOOK AND PRETTY GOOD MINI-SERIES TOO.
I lived in Japan for six years and love Japanese history. With a change of names in the parties, this action lead to the beginning of the new shogunate that started in 1600 after the Sekigahara battle. That was a major point in Japanese history and the beginning of a three century shogunate.
I enjoyed this look at life in Japan at the time that the first ‘westerners’ were showing up there.
Somewhere around page 600 or 700, “incomparable” popped into my mind and I spent the remaining 500 pages debating whether James Clavell’s Shogun was, in fact, incomparable.
Blackthorne is a English-born pilot, a first rate navigator and commander, hired by the Dutch to command a fleet that, one-by-one has dwindled to a single ship, until that, …
One of my favorite books by a favorite author. I’ve read it at least 10 times along with Noble House, Taipan, and King Rat. A great intro to Asian culture and history. James Clavell is a gifted writer of realistic historical fiction.
Excellent
Worthy of a movie. Well written making feel what it was like to live in a different era.
Classic.
Shogun presents a realistic view of Japan prior to its Westernization. The story was engaging both as entertainment and as informative.
Huge tome, with great knowledge of Samurai era Japan. However, it’s seems to have been written to be a mini-series, which it was, with our heroes escaping from one crisis to another. Then, after lengthy, detailed writing all through the book, the ending was quite abrupt. I got the sense that the publisher told the author that his deadline had …
There hasn’t been a better novel written before or since. Read everything Clavell wrote. He is excellent. Shogun was my favorite. The tv series was ok, but didn’t do the novel Justice. Read this many years ago.
Clavell has always been one of my favorite storytellers. This was a long book and my criticism is that it was too short, he should have continued the story for a few more hundred pages.
Read this series years ago and fell in love with these stories. This is about my 3rd time re-reading them. Excellent books.
Loved this book.
I have read this book over and over as well as the companion novel Tai Pan. Highly recommend. Sorry we lost this author.
i have read it more than once. i like this book very much. very interesting historical fiction about very early contact of european explorers with japan
Superb original historical fiction that could easily have happened. Intro to ancient Japanese culture.
Clavell at his best
I love this book and others by this author. It really gav you a sense of feudal Japan and the Shogun and Samurai era.