The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
aterriblebloom's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
notesonbookmarks's review against another edition
4.0
I did it!! 54 audiobooks hours. Do not F with me!
This "epic novel of Japan" centers on captain Blackthorn, an English sailor, Lord Toronaga, a Japanese Lord with big ambitions, and Mariko, the translator. Of course there are also 234577633 other characters in this one, since it's 8 bazillion pages long. Clavell has clearly studied 16th/17th century Japanese culture as this is the first of 5 epic novels in this series. His writing is at times funny, often surprising, and definitely engrossing. I'd like to press this one into my husband's hands, if he were a reader. And then we could completely transfer our vocabulary to samurai speak, as I've done with my friend Mindy, who read this tome with me.
This "epic novel of Japan" centers on captain Blackthorn, an English sailor, Lord Toronaga, a Japanese Lord with big ambitions, and Mariko, the translator. Of course there are also 234577633 other characters in this one, since it's 8 bazillion pages long. Clavell has clearly studied 16th/17th century Japanese culture as this is the first of 5 epic novels in this series. His writing is at times funny, often surprising, and definitely engrossing. I'd like to press this one into my husband's hands, if he were a reader. And then we could completely transfer our vocabulary to samurai speak, as I've done with my friend Mindy, who read this tome with me.
bjfk's review against another edition
4.0
I will probably add to this over the next few days because it's really such a long book, but for now, here's some statistics and thoughts regarding its length.
I read this book slower than anything else I have on goodreads. It took me 12 more days to read than Streets of Laredo, which was previously my slowest read (not great company because that book was super mid).
Shōgun was really long, and admittedly I didn't have a lot of time to myself while traveling for Thanksgiving, but it was still a really slow experience. I considered Lord of the Rings (475,000 words) to be going slow, and I read that in 17 days (28,000 wd/day). My average is 22,000 wd/day across all books. So I guess with LOTR, it felt slow only because it was 1000 pages and the physical progress didn't appear like it would with a 300-page book. Shōgun was 440,000 words, for a rate of 12,000 wd/day, so I was indeed going very slow. Even if you exclude the days I was in New York, and didn't even consider picking it up, the rate wouldn't go above 15,000 wd/day.
By the end, as much as I was enjoying it, I kept catching myself subconsciously speeding up, missing things, and then having to reread as a result. I think the weight I felt leaving this epic story unfinished for over a month was beginning to take its toll.
It's really interesting how different book shapes, sizes, font sizes, and publication methods all impact the experience. If Shōgun had been split into a trilogy, I probably would have read it faster. The Thrawn Trilogy was 340,000 words, and I finished it in 8 days (42,000 wd/day). But, if Shōgun was published in 3 parts, I think I probably would've kept putting it off because I didn't want a series. I wanted an epic. One huge story. Boy, did I get exactly that...
I read this book slower than anything else I have on goodreads. It took me 12 more days to read than Streets of Laredo, which was previously my slowest read (not great company because that book was super mid).
Shōgun was really long, and admittedly I didn't have a lot of time to myself while traveling for Thanksgiving, but it was still a really slow experience. I considered Lord of the Rings (475,000 words) to be going slow, and I read that in 17 days (28,000 wd/day). My average is 22,000 wd/day across all books. So I guess with LOTR, it felt slow only because it was 1000 pages and the physical progress didn't appear like it would with a 300-page book. Shōgun was 440,000 words, for a rate of 12,000 wd/day, so I was indeed going very slow. Even if you exclude the days I was in New York, and didn't even consider picking it up, the rate wouldn't go above 15,000 wd/day.
By the end, as much as I was enjoying it, I kept catching myself subconsciously speeding up, missing things, and then having to reread as a result. I think the weight I felt leaving this epic story unfinished for over a month was beginning to take its toll.
It's really interesting how different book shapes, sizes, font sizes, and publication methods all impact the experience. If Shōgun had been split into a trilogy, I probably would have read it faster. The Thrawn Trilogy was 340,000 words, and I finished it in 8 days (42,000 wd/day). But, if Shōgun was published in 3 parts, I think I probably would've kept putting it off because I didn't want a series. I wanted an epic. One huge story. Boy, did I get exactly that...
whim85's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kimberly_b's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe this just wasn't the right time for me to read Shogun, because I could just not get into it. I've been to Japan and loved it so I was really expecting to enjoy this read, but I reached page 425 and hit a brick wall. I just couldn't read it anymore. I skim read the rest, read the last 5 pages or so and called it good. The characters are okay, but the constantly shifting points of view left me feeling like I knew all of the characters a little bit but none of them really well. There was a decent amount of action, but it wasn't suspenseful. Overall, it was very ho-hum. I must say that the constant fart references were distracting for me. I'm not a prude by any means, but the constant fart references just seemed juvenile and dumb. Sorry to all those out there that really love this book. I know my opinion is in the minority.
blueoranges's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
mo7189's review against another edition
Epic historical fiction doesn't seem to be my jam.
kibadreams's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this! After spending so long reading it, fraction by fraction each day, its hard to condense a saga as epic as this down into a simple review. It feels weird that there's no more of it.
The work has a strange feeling of claustrophobia in the background. You get the sense through the dialogue just how trapped and powerless Blackthrone is at all times, and this culminates at the end when his 'fate' is finally determined. It's definitely a weird feeling, knowing his fate after all this time.
There was a character whose death REALLY surprised me, and I was so shocked when this character didn't make it out of the situation alive - it really, really, hit me that I would have to finish the rest of the book without them and it left me with a kind of weird discomfort. I'n sure if someone else has read this they know exactly who i mean.
And the sheer amount of 'casual' death set the tone for the novel, and what Clavell's impression of Japanese life at the time was. Reading this as a British person who moved to Japan myself, the book resonated with me in a strange way I couldn't understand. I felt close to Blackthorne, felt his conflicts, his language struggles, the things he missed and the things he just couldn't make sense of no matter how hard he tried.
It would also interest me to know Clavell's religion, considering the amount of debate over christianity denominations, buddhism and shintoism etc that can be found in this book, and also which country he truly believes has the 'better' ways. The way the book highlighted both the good and bad sides of each country, and watching Blackthorne go through a familiar rose-tinted glasses period with the country where everything seemed so much better compared to 'back home' felt so realistic to me; I loved his character development, watching him unconciously adjusting and becoming 'more Japanese'. And I was so interested to see how he felt like an outsider in his own people after a time. It really makes me ponder over his future - does Toranaga succeed in what he promises? It doesn't say that, and I love how it ends. Not shrouded in mystery, but potential. Wow! a fantastic long read.
The work has a strange feeling of claustrophobia in the background. You get the sense through the dialogue just how trapped and powerless Blackthrone is at all times, and this culminates at the end when his 'fate' is finally determined. It's definitely a weird feeling, knowing his fate after all this time.
There was a character whose death REALLY surprised me, and I was so shocked when this character didn't make it out of the situation alive - it really, really, hit me that I would have to finish the rest of the book without them and it left me with a kind of weird discomfort. I'n sure if someone else has read this they know exactly who i mean.
And the sheer amount of 'casual' death set the tone for the novel, and what Clavell's impression of Japanese life at the time was. Reading this as a British person who moved to Japan myself, the book resonated with me in a strange way I couldn't understand. I felt close to Blackthorne, felt his conflicts, his language struggles, the things he missed and the things he just couldn't make sense of no matter how hard he tried.
It would also interest me to know Clavell's religion, considering the amount of debate over christianity denominations, buddhism and shintoism etc that can be found in this book, and also which country he truly believes has the 'better' ways. The way the book highlighted both the good and bad sides of each country, and watching Blackthorne go through a familiar rose-tinted glasses period with the country where everything seemed so much better compared to 'back home' felt so realistic to me; I loved his character development, watching him unconciously adjusting and becoming 'more Japanese'. And I was so interested to see how he felt like an outsider in his own people after a time. It really makes me ponder over his future - does Toranaga succeed in what he promises? It doesn't say that, and I love how it ends. Not shrouded in mystery, but potential. Wow! a fantastic long read.