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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, Shogun 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, Shogun 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: Shogun.
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)
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)
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)
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. ( )
An amazing, sprawling story that never slows down. Filled with romance, drama, violence, and an intense sense of progression. The story is about a genius sailsman that gets into an accident, trying to get to Japan to kick out the Spanish and Portuguese catholic rule, with his ship and gets captured in the coasts of the country. Not only he's a genius as a pilot, but as a person. He's the only open mind, fair man of his crew, making him practically japanese by the end of the book, accepting his destiny and trying to make the best of it all. He's relationship with every secondary character are all interesting because they're very well developed. None of the situations are ever boring. The most interesting of them all is the warlord Toranaga, who crafts a beyond brilliant plan since the beginning of the book, influencing everything that happens to everybody, almost with no fail. Playing psychological games with the other warlords of the land, and our main character. Using his people deep sense of honor and duty and profound search for retribution to gain advantage. And in between all this are the small, human stories that move the plot along. Just incredible.
How beautiful life is and how sad! How fleeting, with no past and no future, only a limitless now.( )
It was by luck that I came to read this book. I had a book club going at my workplace and this book was randomly picked after few others. The book club is no more, but this book I have finished and I am so happy that I did and happy that this book found its way into my life. One of the if not THE greatest reads of my life. Full of intrigue , tension, betrayal but also full of honour , beauty and the joy of life. I do not posses the words to describe the gravity of this book in few words and I don't want this to be too long. If you are on the edge about reading this please do yourself a favour and read it. I myself took way longer than average to read it, but in the end I am very happy that I took my time to savour it. Every day not reading I was thinking about the ideas this book explores and what loyalty, love, family , money and morality means to me. So many great questions. Masterpiece. ( )
This was a big DNF for me, about 250 pages in. What made it impossible for me to continue? Multiple POVs and internal monologues of all the characters who appear even briefly; plodding pacing; unsympathetic characters; characters that are introduced and later dropped completely (or so it seems 250 pages in), etc. ( )
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, Shogun 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, Shogun 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: Shogun.
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Der große historische Roman über die Einigung Japans und den Aufstieg des Shōgunats — jetzt neu verfilmt als Blockbuster-Serie bei Disney+
Im Jahr 1600 strandet der englische Navigator John Blackthorne an der Küste eines Landes, das erst wenige Europäer erreicht haben: Japan.
Blackthorne bleibt nur wenig Zeit, um sich in der fremden Sprache und Kultur zurechtzufinden. Und er muss seine Vorstellungen von Loyalität, Mut und Moral hinterfragen.
Schon bald gerät er mitten hinein in den Machtkampf der japanischen Fürsten, der das Land zu zerreißen droht. Blackthorne tritt in den Dienst des faszinierenden Strategen Toranaga. Doch als er sich in die Übersetzerin Mariko verliebt — die Frau eines Samurais in Toranagas Diensten — wird seine Loyalität auf eine harte Probe gestellt.
In einem Land, das sich unaufhaltsam wandelt, hängt nicht nur Blackthornes Überleben davon ab, dass er die richtigen Entscheidungen trifft. Denn nur einer der rivalisierenden Fürsten kann siegreich sein und Shōgun werden.
James Clavells Weltbestseller Shōgun gehört zu den meistverkauften Romanen aller Zeiten und wurde mehrfach hoch erfolgreich verfilmt. Die neueste Serienadaption läuft im Frühjahr 2024 beim Streamingdienst Disney+.
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