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mariafoxvulpe's review against another edition
5.0
An epic read for anyone passionate by history or Japanese culture.
epictetsocrate's review against another edition
4.0
Campania lui Hideyoshi în provinciile apusene, campania lui Mitsuhide din Tamba şi îndelungatul asediu al castelul Itami erau, de fapt, operele lui Nobunaga. Campania din apus şi asediul de la Itami erau încă blocate şi numai în Tamba aveau loc unele acţiuni minore. Zi de zi, din aceste trei zone veneau multe scrisori şi rapoarte. Documentele erau selecţionate de către ofiţerii de stat major şi secretarii particulari, astfel că Nobunaga nu le vedea decât pe cele mai importante.
Printre ele se afla şi o scrisoare de la Sakuma Nobumori. Nobunaga o citi şi o aruncă în lături, cu o expresie extrem de nemulţumită. Persoana care avea datoria de a aduna scrisorile aruncate era pajul de încredere al lui Nobunaga, Ranmaru. Crezând că ordinele lui Nobunaga fuseseră nesocotite, Ranmaru citi, pe furiş, scrisoarea. Nu conţinea nimic care să-l fi putut supăra pe Nobunaga. Scria astfel:
Spre surprinderea mea, Hanbei încă nu a luat nici o măsură spre a vă duce ordinele la îndeplinire. În calitate de mesager al dumneavoastră, i-am atras atenţia asupra erorii faptelor lui, informându-l că, dacă nu respectă ordinul, voi fi acuzat de neglijenţă. Cred că ordinul dumneavoastră va fi îndeplinit curând. A fost extrem de obositor pentru mine şi, cu umilinţă, apelez la mărinimia dumneavoastră în această chestiune.
Printre ele se afla şi o scrisoare de la Sakuma Nobumori. Nobunaga o citi şi o aruncă în lături, cu o expresie extrem de nemulţumită. Persoana care avea datoria de a aduna scrisorile aruncate era pajul de încredere al lui Nobunaga, Ranmaru. Crezând că ordinele lui Nobunaga fuseseră nesocotite, Ranmaru citi, pe furiş, scrisoarea. Nu conţinea nimic care să-l fi putut supăra pe Nobunaga. Scria astfel:
Spre surprinderea mea, Hanbei încă nu a luat nici o măsură spre a vă duce ordinele la îndeplinire. În calitate de mesager al dumneavoastră, i-am atras atenţia asupra erorii faptelor lui, informându-l că, dacă nu respectă ordinul, voi fi acuzat de neglijenţă. Cred că ordinul dumneavoastră va fi îndeplinit curând. A fost extrem de obositor pentru mine şi, cu umilinţă, apelez la mărinimia dumneavoastră în această chestiune.
stellasono's review against another edition
5.0
My sister owns this book in two languages: English and Bahasa Indonesia, in the end she always recommends me to read the Indonesian translation for every Asian literature. Bahasa Indonesia version conveys Eastern cultural expression more naturally, in which I couldn’t agree more after tried reading Three Kingdoms in two languages. Thus, for Asian-speaking reader, I suggest you to follow this advice. If you are new to Japanese culture, I advice you to learn it from lighter (but relevant) media such as anime, manga or Japanese movies. Otherwise, their mindset seem to be alien for you and you will find this book not making sense to you.
This book is based on true life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi that I wish I’d read this before visited Osaka Castle. Taiko contains 10 books of how Hideyoshi matured from a peasant to an influential leader together with other ambitious figures(Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieatsu, Akechi Mitsuhide and more) revolutionize and shape nation. There are always new things I learn from this book:
1. Different from Chinese’s approach on dealing rebellion, which uses divide and conquer tactic or occasionally uses women’s seduction to spy on their opponents, Japanese tends to communicate with them first, understanding their reason, persuade to conciliate and initiate war if necessary. Japanese somehow treats their opponent them as a rival, rather than an enemy.
2. Hideyoshi has an excellent quality of leadership. He never punishes thieves bandits, instead he recruited them as a soldier and ninja to serve nation; He motivates hundreds of people to build castle in few days. Although I find him a little bit manipulative, but it is the quality that every leaders should have.
3. During feudal time, European technology, and education started to penetrate Japan. Although Nobunaga is very proud of his own nation, he is open minded with western advancement and utilize it to improve his own nation. If you read other book by Eiji Yoshikawa, Minamoto no Yoritomo where horse riding becomes their primary skill, in this book the modern weapon and technology have entered Japan, which is an interesting hint that leads to the next important event in Japan history: establishment of Shinsegumi army, where there is pro or contra on Shogunate and pro or contra western culture.
4. Although in wikipedia and other sources, Mitsuhide is considered to betray Nobunaga, I found this quiet misunderstood. I somehow see his action as a rebellion than betrayal. Mitsuhide sensed the change in the shogunate that is different from his primary vision before joining the shogunate. He finally chose to withdraw himself from being Nobunaga’s follower and built his own army to oppose Nobunaga. In his final day, he wrote a poem where he says “There is no betrayal or faithfulness, because we both are samurai that serve one Tenno”. Unlike from any betrayal that one could pretend to be friend and kill in a slight chance, Mitsuhide opposes Nobunaga in a fair manner.
There are more things you will learn from this book that could change your perspective in Japanese mindset. Eiji Yoshikawa is consistent with his writing style and able to visualize Japanese politics, warfare, tradition, history, and philosophy without being too confusing for non-Japanese that don’t need footnote to elaborate.
I nominate this book as one of Asian classic literature that you must read other than Three Kingdoms.
This book is based on true life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi that I wish I’d read this before visited Osaka Castle. Taiko contains 10 books of how Hideyoshi matured from a peasant to an influential leader together with other ambitious figures(Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieatsu, Akechi Mitsuhide and more) revolutionize and shape nation. There are always new things I learn from this book:
1. Different from Chinese’s approach on dealing rebellion, which uses divide and conquer tactic or occasionally uses women’s seduction to spy on their opponents, Japanese tends to communicate with them first, understanding their reason, persuade to conciliate and initiate war if necessary. Japanese somehow treats their opponent them as a rival, rather than an enemy.
2. Hideyoshi has an excellent quality of leadership. He never punishes thieves bandits, instead he recruited them as a soldier and ninja to serve nation; He motivates hundreds of people to build castle in few days. Although I find him a little bit manipulative, but it is the quality that every leaders should have.
3. During feudal time, European technology, and education started to penetrate Japan. Although Nobunaga is very proud of his own nation, he is open minded with western advancement and utilize it to improve his own nation. If you read other book by Eiji Yoshikawa, Minamoto no Yoritomo where horse riding becomes their primary skill, in this book the modern weapon and technology have entered Japan, which is an interesting hint that leads to the next important event in Japan history: establishment of Shinsegumi army, where there is pro or contra on Shogunate and pro or contra western culture.
4. Although in wikipedia and other sources, Mitsuhide is considered to betray Nobunaga, I found this quiet misunderstood. I somehow see his action as a rebellion than betrayal. Mitsuhide sensed the change in the shogunate that is different from his primary vision before joining the shogunate. He finally chose to withdraw himself from being Nobunaga’s follower and built his own army to oppose Nobunaga. In his final day, he wrote a poem where he says “There is no betrayal or faithfulness, because we both are samurai that serve one Tenno”. Unlike from any betrayal that one could pretend to be friend and kill in a slight chance, Mitsuhide opposes Nobunaga in a fair manner.
There are more things you will learn from this book that could change your perspective in Japanese mindset. Eiji Yoshikawa is consistent with his writing style and able to visualize Japanese politics, warfare, tradition, history, and philosophy without being too confusing for non-Japanese that don’t need footnote to elaborate.
I nominate this book as one of Asian classic literature that you must read other than Three Kingdoms.
cindyc3689's review against another edition
5.0
tarik napas lega saat menutup cover hc-nya. akhirnya selesai juga.
Yoshikawa sensei memilih untuk menuntaskan kisah ini saat Hideyoshi mencapai puncak kekuasaannya sebagai Kampaku. Bukan saat ia "mengkhianati" Hidegutsu. Bukan saat ia terkalahkan dalam penyerangan terhadap Korea. Bukan pula saat Perang Sekigahara. Dan untuk itu, aku bersyukur dan rela memberikan bintang 5 penuh kepadanya.
Buku Taiko ini benar-benar novel tentang kemenangan Hideyoshi.
Review lengkap ada di
https://readbetweenpages.blogspot.co.id/2016/05/taiko.html
Yoshikawa sensei memilih untuk menuntaskan kisah ini saat Hideyoshi mencapai puncak kekuasaannya sebagai Kampaku. Bukan saat ia "mengkhianati" Hidegutsu. Bukan saat ia terkalahkan dalam penyerangan terhadap Korea. Bukan pula saat Perang Sekigahara. Dan untuk itu, aku bersyukur dan rela memberikan bintang 5 penuh kepadanya.
Buku Taiko ini benar-benar novel tentang kemenangan Hideyoshi.
Review lengkap ada di
https://readbetweenpages.blogspot.co.id/2016/05/taiko.html