Reviews with content warning for Racism - Shōgun

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Shōgun by James Clavell

6 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

I first came to know about this story as a child when I had a little crush on Richard Chamberlain and accidentally came across Shogun on TV. I was too young to understand the full story, but I got the basics. In actuality, I didn't care about the story. I was glued to the TV because it was the first time I was seeing Asian faces on TV in a positive light (aside from the Hong Kong Kong kung fu productions with the dubbed voices that played on Saturday afternoons). The only other "Asians" I'd seen on TV until then were yellow face actors in The Pearl and Breakfast at Tiffany's, terrible characters from Thoroughly Modern Millie, and exaggerated accents by Pat Morita in Happy Days and Karate Kid. I don't actually remember how the Japanese were portrayed in Shogun back then, but I remember it was the first time Asians were being taken seriously and on their turf. This was all while kids at school taunted me that I should go back to China (I'm Korean).

This show opened up a world of new possibilities for me - about how I could see myself in the world and how the world could receive me other than a misfit. It was also the first time I saw a white person trying to fit into a world that looked a lot like mine and not at all like his. It never occurred to me that the reverse could be true. Fast forward many years, one of my college majors being in Asian studies, several years of living in Japan, gaining fluency in Korean, Japanese, and (hopefully someday soon) Hindi, and lots of travel all over Asia, and I feel like this story was what germinated my ongoing pursuit of expanding my appreciation of the nations that make up my origins. So, even though this book was SO long, I was happy to read it. (In truth, I was unsuccessfully trying to find a book longer than Stephen King's It so that I wouldn't have to see it as my longest book of 2024 every time I revisited my 2024 reading list.)

What I liked most - Mariko. Such a great hero. And Toranaga was a close second. These characters are so well developed. And the choice to write this at a time where samurai could choose to fight by the Bushido code and the respect of the sword or lean into modernized weaponry was brilliant. Between Christianity and guns, it seems no country was safe from westernization. I expect the rest of the war in the other books might demonstrate the generational trauma caused by these impositions, but I will need to wait and see until I can get to those other books.

It's clearly written by a white man. Even if I hadn't known the author's name, that much was obvious to me. I read that Clavell considered these works to be very pro-Japanese. I think he achieved that, but there is also evidence of his perspective as an outsider trying to be an insider (which I think culminated in the Blackthorne character). The only concern I have is that those who don't fully understand or appreciate how the Japanese value life will misunderstand the depth of respect Japanese actually have for life, given the number of characters who attempt, threaten, or go through with seppuku. It's actually quite the opposite.

If you are intimidated by the size of the book, it might be easier to read if you watch in the FX remake. It follows the book really well and did an impressive job with the sets and costumes. It deserved every Emmy it got this year.

Content Warnings

zarazera's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

josiah17's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective slow-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? Yes

4.5

Edit 2/29/24: Bumping to 4.5 stars. I've been thinking about this book a lot, especially with the amazing premiere of the FX TV adaptation. It's a historical epic that I will surely revisit sometime down the road.

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I'm very glad I finally read this book. From the brief research that I've done, it seems to be a fairly accurate depiction of 17th century feudal Japan. You have the daimyos fighting over their regions and the Shogunate. The religious clash between Buddhism, Christians, and Catholics. The different gender roles of men and women and the formalities of respect and obedience when interacting with each other. It seems Clavell did his due diligence with studying the historical Japanese culture. However there's definitely some exaggeration of some cultural aspects for the sake of the fictional narrative, such as the absurd frequency of seppuku.

In regards to the overall narrative, it was quite compelling. The political tension was very well written. There's plenty of double-crossing, betrayal, and dishonesty for personal and regional gain. Blackthorne's story also kept me engaged once the whole book started to pick up. At first he's this deplorable Englishmen who views the Japanese in a very negative light, but then comes to appreciate the Japanese culture and becomes accustomed to the ways of the land. And there's even a surprisingly wonderful romance later on with his story.

"How beautiful life is and how sad! How fleeting, with no past and no future, only a limitless now.”

There are some other really great characters too. Toranaga, Mariko, Yagu, Omi, Fujiko. Particularly Toranaga and Mariko. Just excellent character work from Clavell.

I've said this many times before, but a Japanese setting is just one of my favorite settings. I love the aesthetic, and I love how the setting and culture is at the forefront of this novel as Blackthorne is thrusted into this foreign land and forced to adapt and learn. It never felt like I was reading a history book or a cultural textbook. It felt almost seamless because the reader is also learning alongside Blackthorne.

"Only by living at the edge of death can you understand the indescribable joy of life.”

For criticisms, I would say it took me about 200 pages to feel immersed. But I was interested, it was just felt like a lot at the beginning. But maybe that was a me thing and just what I was feeling when I picked up the book. But also, the prose is a little off-putting at first. It's not a knock on Clavell, it's just how the dialogue is because he's writing as Japanese, Portuguese, and Latin translated to English. So the dialogue can often feel disjointed or unusual, but I did get pretty used to it. Otherwise I think Clavell writes pretty well. The action scenes were maybe a little lackluster though, although there were not that many for a 1300 page book which was completely fine.

Altogether, a very intriguing and valuable read. I think I'll continue reading the rest of Clavell's Asian Saga.