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Musashi
The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Musashi is a novel in the best tradition of Japanese story telling. It is a living story, subtle and imaginative, teeming with memorable characters, many of them historical. Interweaving themes of unrequited love, misguided revenge, filial piety and absolute dedication to the Way of the Samurai, it depicts vividly a world Westerners know only vaguely.
970 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1935
About the author
Eiji Yoshikawa
454 books697 followersPen-name of Yoshikawa Hidetsugu. Yoshikawa is well-known for his work as a Japanese historical fiction novelist, and a number of re-makes have been spawned off his work.
In 1960, he received the Order of Cultural Merit.
Eiji Yoshikawa (吉川 英治, August 11, 1892 – September 7, 1962) was a Japanese historical novelist. Among his best-known novels, most are revisions of older classics. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, many of which he retold in his own style. As an example, the original manuscript of Taiko is 15 volumes; Yoshikawa took up to retell it in a more accessible tone, and reduced it to only two volumes. His other books also serve similar purposes and, although most of his novels are not original works, he created a huge amount of work and a renewed interest in the past. He was awarded the Cultural Order of Merit in 1960 (the highest award for a man of letters in Japan), the Order of the Sacred Treasure and the Mainichi Art Award just before his death from cancer in 1962. He is cited as one of the best historical novelists in Japan.
In 1960, he received the Order of Cultural Merit.
Eiji Yoshikawa (吉川 英治, August 11, 1892 – September 7, 1962) was a Japanese historical novelist. Among his best-known novels, most are revisions of older classics. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, many of which he retold in his own style. As an example, the original manuscript of Taiko is 15 volumes; Yoshikawa took up to retell it in a more accessible tone, and reduced it to only two volumes. His other books also serve similar purposes and, although most of his novels are not original works, he created a huge amount of work and a renewed interest in the past. He was awarded the Cultural Order of Merit in 1960 (the highest award for a man of letters in Japan), the Order of the Sacred Treasure and the Mainichi Art Award just before his death from cancer in 1962. He is cited as one of the best historical novelists in Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,539 reviews
April 20, 2024
Overall, I enjoyed this long novel very much. It was very entertaining, easy to read, with plenty of hilarious moments, and a large cast of eccentric and colourful characters from a variety of walks in life.
It did have its issues, naturally. The characterisation isn't quite that deep for most characters, with the exception of the protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi, and perhaps a couple of others. But given the scope and breadth of the story, it'd have been extremely difficult to make everyone multi-layered, and tedious, too. Another bump was that the second half of the novel doesn't flow as smoothly or reads as fun as the first half; it tends to philosophise a lot, and characters start to act a wee bit erratically sometimes, as well as that some plot threads not getting tied up properly left small plotholes. And, finally, the end-of-the-road change of heart for a certain character didn't ring all that true or believable to me.
Nevertheless, it's a great story, and I'm happy to not focus too much on these little flaws, as they were to me weighed against the overall story. It was worth the time I spent reading it.
Update April 2024: For all of you "Shogun" fans out there, this novel picks up right were Clavell & the FX show left: the Battle of Sekigahara that Lord Toranaga is getting ready to fight by the end of the book & show, so feel free to jump into this cart right away!
Or, alternately, you can read the manga adaptation of this novel, "Vagabond" by Takehiko Inoue. But be warned that the adaptation is unfinished, with no date of completion, and that there are notable differences between this novel and the manga. So if GRRM/Rothfuss/Lynch have traumatised you, read only "Musashi" and not "Vagabond."
It did have its issues, naturally. The characterisation isn't quite that deep for most characters, with the exception of the protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi, and perhaps a couple of others. But given the scope and breadth of the story, it'd have been extremely difficult to make everyone multi-layered, and tedious, too. Another bump was that the second half of the novel doesn't flow as smoothly or reads as fun as the first half; it tends to philosophise a lot, and characters start to act a wee bit erratically sometimes, as well as that some plot threads not getting tied up properly left small plotholes. And, finally, the end-of-the-road change of heart for a certain character didn't ring all that true or believable to me.
Nevertheless, it's a great story, and I'm happy to not focus too much on these little flaws, as they were to me weighed against the overall story. It was worth the time I spent reading it.
Update April 2024: For all of you "Shogun" fans out there, this novel picks up right were Clavell & the FX show left: the Battle of Sekigahara that Lord Toranaga is getting ready to fight by the end of the book & show, so feel free to jump into this cart right away!
Or, alternately, you can read the manga adaptation of this novel, "Vagabond" by Takehiko Inoue. But be warned that the adaptation is unfinished, with no date of completion, and that there are notable differences between this novel and the manga. So if GRRM/Rothfuss/Lynch have traumatised you, read only "Musashi" and not "Vagabond."
September 8, 2007
A breathtaking fictionalization of the life of one of the world's greatest warriors and renaissance men. Yoshikawa takes us on a mezmorizing voyage to a crossroads in Japanese history that changed all the rules and gave birth to a legend. The book opens in the year 1600 at the end of the infamous battle of Sekigahara, where the armies of east and western Japan met to decide who would govern: Toyotomi or Tokugawa. In the end to Tokugawa emerged victorious and the 150 year period of civil war came to an end.
The young son of a country samurai, Shinmen Takezo, goes to fight for the Toyotomi at Sekigahara and opens the book prostrate on the ground with two bullets in his thigh. He escapes the carnage of the battle to his home province and emerges from this ordeal not as the noble warrior he intended, but rather as a savage bandit. However, through the intervention of an old friend he is brought to justice and given a second chance and a new name. He is locked in a room of the Lord's castle for three years straight with only treatises on war, religion, and the classics of both Japan and China. From this incarceration he emerged a new man.
Musashi is offered a position as reatiner to the Tokugawa governor, but instead decides to journey across Japan to hone his swordsmanship. To do this Musashi does more than practice drawing and swinging a sword. To achieve this he studies calligraphy, painting, sculprture, agriculture, and music, all in the the pursuit of perfection as a swordsman.
The book takes us through the highlights of Musashi's career from Sekigahara , to his legendary feud with the Yoshioka sword school of Kyoto to it's culmination at the Duel of the Spreading Pine, finalizing with his infamous duel with the sword saint, Sasaki Kojiro, on Funajima Island.
Musashi evolves constantly as a character, as does his rival, Kojiro. Both men are near facsimilies of each other, the difference of which makes the book and the unfolding of both the aforementioned's destinies so tantalizing.
The young son of a country samurai, Shinmen Takezo, goes to fight for the Toyotomi at Sekigahara and opens the book prostrate on the ground with two bullets in his thigh. He escapes the carnage of the battle to his home province and emerges from this ordeal not as the noble warrior he intended, but rather as a savage bandit. However, through the intervention of an old friend he is brought to justice and given a second chance and a new name. He is locked in a room of the Lord's castle for three years straight with only treatises on war, religion, and the classics of both Japan and China. From this incarceration he emerged a new man.
Musashi is offered a position as reatiner to the Tokugawa governor, but instead decides to journey across Japan to hone his swordsmanship. To do this Musashi does more than practice drawing and swinging a sword. To achieve this he studies calligraphy, painting, sculprture, agriculture, and music, all in the the pursuit of perfection as a swordsman.
The book takes us through the highlights of Musashi's career from Sekigahara , to his legendary feud with the Yoshioka sword school of Kyoto to it's culmination at the Duel of the Spreading Pine, finalizing with his infamous duel with the sword saint, Sasaki Kojiro, on Funajima Island.
Musashi evolves constantly as a character, as does his rival, Kojiro. Both men are near facsimilies of each other, the difference of which makes the book and the unfolding of both the aforementioned's destinies so tantalizing.
March 24, 2023
4.8
top 5 fiction book for me—simple but in a good way, easy and fun read
top 5 fiction book for me—simple but in a good way, easy and fun read
July 16, 2023
This is a quick and easy read despite its length. The prose is straightforward and there's plenty of action.
Unfortunately, to me it feels as though the characters are mostly two-dimensional (at best), and the plot is sort of repetitive in places which resulted in tedious bits. And I never really emotionally connected with the characters or the story.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.
If you're interested in samurais and Japanese culture, definitely give it a try. It’s absolutely worth a read.
Unfortunately, to me it feels as though the characters are mostly two-dimensional (at best), and the plot is sort of repetitive in places which resulted in tedious bits. And I never really emotionally connected with the characters or the story.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.
If you're interested in samurais and Japanese culture, definitely give it a try. It’s absolutely worth a read.
February 4, 2009
wow...that is the first thing that came to mind when i finished this book. it is easily the best historical fiction i have ever read. it is also the largest and most difficult book i have ever read. it is very japanese therefore some of the names and places tend to get mixed up in the nearly 1000 page epic. however...that is the only negative i have after reading this book. it will go down as one of my favorite reads of all time. it focuses on the life (very dramatized by the fantastic eiji yoshikawa-san) of musashi miyamoto, a wandering ronin (samurai) during the edo period (1600's) of feudal japan. this is the time when samurai were still prevalent by the advent of muskets was starting to take over. the story the yoshikawa-san unfurls is a fantastic epic of the nature of the way of the sword. it was of fairness, fierceness, and unyielding strength, and musashi was the height of that ideal. i highly recommend this to those (like me) who have a fascination with japanese history and the way of the samurai in general. also, there is a beautiful love story mixed in the pages (also highly dramatized but wonderful non-the-less) that makes one believe that true love may actually exist out there. if you read it...please give it the time because it is slow at points...but the end result is well worth the time and effort...and that is just how musashi would have it!
February 27, 2022
God, he's so good. In my list of knights without fear and reproach, which every girl creates by stringing a garland of book and film characters on a virtual thread (even if she has not been a girl for a long time, and the heroes are not quite knights): Ivanhoe. Robin Hood, Alan from "Kidnapped", de Bussy and Athos, Mr. Rochester, Mr. Darcy, Heathcliff, Gatsby - my list of additions.
This is a samurai whose full name sounds like Shinman Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Harunobu, but he is better known to the world by the short Miyamoto Musashi and, despite that. that the person is legendary, quite existed in reality. He lived in the sixteenth century, became famous as an invincible swordsman, on his account a record number of duels won.
However, he is more valuable than material history by creating his own school of two-handed combat using long (katana) and short (wakizashi) swords, which no one had done before him. The theoretical justification of this practice is the "Book of the Five Rings". Also, his frequent use of short swords as throwing weapons is considered a precursor to ninja shurikens.
And of course, if the science of killing had been Musashi's primary contribution to history, he would not have occupied the place in the culture of modern Japan that rightfully belongs to him, revered as a saint. His opponents could perceive the sword as a murder weapon, as a marker of belonging to a certain privileged stratum, as a noble weapon, as a symbol of strength and skill - for Miyamoto Musashi, the sword was a symbol of the spirit.
Путь Бусидо
Воды Закона
Мелеют день за днем.
И близок день, когда
Над голыми вершинами Хиэй
Задует студеный ветер.
Боже, как он хорош. В моем списке рыцарей без страха и упрека, который каждая девочка создает нанизывая на виртуальную нить гирлянду книжных и киноперсонажей (даже если она уже давно не девочка, а герои не вполне рыцари): Айвенго. Робин Гуд, Алан из "Похищенного", де Бюсси и Атос, мистер Рочестер, мистер Дарси, Хитклиф, Гэтсби - в моем списке пополнение.
Это самурай, полное имя которого звучит, как Шинмен Мусаси-но-Ками Фудзивара-но-Харунобу, однако миру он более известен под коротким Миямото Мусаси и, несмотря на то. что личность это легендарная, вполне существовал в реальности. Жил в шестнадцатом веке, прославился как непобедимый фехтовальщик, на его счету рекордное число выигранных поединков.
Однако более матери-истории ценен созданием собственной школы двуручного боя с использованием длинного (катаны) и короткого (вакидзаси) мечей, чего до него никто не делал. Теоретическим обоснованием этой практики "Книгой пяти колец". Также частое использование им коротких мечей как метательного оружия считают преддверием сюрикенов ниндзя.
И конечно, если бы наука убивать была преимущественным вкладом Мусаси в историю, он не занял бы в культуре современной Японии того места, которое по праву принадлежит ему, почитаемому как святому. Его противники могли воспринимать меч как орудие убийства, как маркер принадлежности к определенному привилегированному слою, как благородное оружие, как символ силы и мастерства - для Миямото Мусаси меч был символом духа.
Книгу о нем классика японской литературы Эйдзи Ёсикавы вернее было бы отнести к жанру псевдоисторического романа и беллетризованной биографии, чем к собственно историческому и биографическому. С одной стороны, хронология жизни Мусаси есть, и довольно подробная, с другой - касается она главным образом значимых поединков, рассказывая о личной жизни до смешного скупо; с другой - Мусаси стал легендой и культовым персонажем еще при жизни и немудрено, что его имя на протяжении половины тысячелетия обросло кучей небылиц.
Впервые мы встречаем шестнадцатилетнего героя после битвы при Сэкигахаре (1600 год), когда раненые, они с другом некоторое время укрываются в доме вдовы самурая, промышляющей мародерством. Заканчивается книга поединком с Сасаки Кодзиро, когда Мусаси было двадцать восемь. Ему предстоит прожить еще тридцать четыре года, создать свою школу и обессмертить имя, усыновить и вырастить ребенка. пережив его смерть, и совершить множество значимых деяний, которые останутся за рамками романа.
То есть, фактически, "Мусаси" охватывает двенадцать лет жизни героя, три из которых он провел в монастырском заточении, в полной тишине, имея однако доступ к библиотеке настоятеля, рассказ об этом промежутке умещается в коротенькую главку. Что не отменяет факта - "Мусаси" грандиозный роман. Во всех смыслах: объема (больше тысячи страниц), яркости и точности воссоздания исторического контекста, глубины и сложности характеров, мощи философского содержания.
Личность героя раскрывается во взаимодействии со множеством второстепенных, но не менее значимых персонажей: идеальной возлюбленной Оцу, преданным учеником (что не мешает ему быть изрядным обормотом) Дзётаро, другом-завистником Матахати, и его мстительной гарпией-мамашей Осуги, девицей не самых строгих моральных правил Акэми - всеми сквозными персонажами, с которыми судьба то и дело сталкивает Мусаси в его странствиях.
Большая книга, которую неплохо иметь в читательском активе, если вы интересуетесь буддизмом, Японией и кодексом Бусидо.
This is a samurai whose full name sounds like Shinman Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Harunobu, but he is better known to the world by the short Miyamoto Musashi and, despite that. that the person is legendary, quite existed in reality. He lived in the sixteenth century, became famous as an invincible swordsman, on his account a record number of duels won.
However, he is more valuable than material history by creating his own school of two-handed combat using long (katana) and short (wakizashi) swords, which no one had done before him. The theoretical justification of this practice is the "Book of the Five Rings". Also, his frequent use of short swords as throwing weapons is considered a precursor to ninja shurikens.
And of course, if the science of killing had been Musashi's primary contribution to history, he would not have occupied the place in the culture of modern Japan that rightfully belongs to him, revered as a saint. His opponents could perceive the sword as a murder weapon, as a marker of belonging to a certain privileged stratum, as a noble weapon, as a symbol of strength and skill - for Miyamoto Musashi, the sword was a symbol of the spirit.
Путь Бусидо
Воды Закона
Мелеют день за днем.
И близок день, когда
Над голыми вершинами Хиэй
Задует студеный ветер.
Боже, как он хорош. В моем списке рыцарей без страха и упрека, который каждая девочка создает нанизывая на виртуальную нить гирлянду книжных и киноперсонажей (даже если она уже давно не девочка, а герои не вполне рыцари): Айвенго. Робин Гуд, Алан из "Похищенного", де Бюсси и Атос, мистер Рочестер, мистер Дарси, Хитклиф, Гэтсби - в моем списке пополнение.
Это самурай, полное имя которого звучит, как Шинмен Мусаси-но-Ками Фудзивара-но-Харунобу, однако миру он более известен под коротким Миямото Мусаси и, несмотря на то. что личность это легендарная, вполне существовал в реальности. Жил в шестнадцатом веке, прославился как непобедимый фехтовальщик, на его счету рекордное число выигранных поединков.
Однако более матери-истории ценен созданием собственной школы двуручного боя с использованием длинного (катаны) и короткого (вакидзаси) мечей, чего до него никто не делал. Теоретическим обоснованием этой практики "Книгой пяти колец". Также частое использование им коротких мечей как метательного оружия считают преддверием сюрикенов ниндзя.
И конечно, если бы наука убивать была преимущественным вкладом Мусаси в историю, он не занял бы в культуре современной Японии того места, которое по праву принадлежит ему, почитаемому как святому. Его противники могли воспринимать меч как орудие убийства, как маркер принадлежности к определенному привилегированному слою, как благородное оружие, как символ силы и мастерства - для Миямото Мусаси меч был символом духа.
Книгу о нем классика японской литературы Эйдзи Ёсикавы вернее было бы отнести к жанру псевдоисторического романа и беллетризованной биографии, чем к собственно историческому и биографическому. С одной стороны, хронология жизни Мусаси есть, и довольно подробная, с другой - касается она главным образом значимых поединков, рассказывая о личной жизни до смешного скупо; с другой - Мусаси стал легендой и культовым персонажем еще при жизни и немудрено, что его имя на протяжении половины тысячелетия обросло кучей небылиц.
Впервые мы встречаем шестнадцатилетнего героя после битвы при Сэкигахаре (1600 год), когда раненые, они с другом некоторое время укрываются в доме вдовы самурая, промышляющей мародерством. Заканчивается книга поединком с Сасаки Кодзиро, когда Мусаси было двадцать восемь. Ему предстоит прожить еще тридцать четыре года, создать свою школу и обессмертить имя, усыновить и вырастить ребенка. пережив его смерть, и совершить множество значимых деяний, которые останутся за рамками романа.
То есть, фактически, "Мусаси" охватывает двенадцать лет жизни героя, три из которых он провел в монастырском заточении, в полной тишине, имея однако доступ к библиотеке настоятеля, рассказ об этом промежутке умещается в коротенькую главку. Что не отменяет факта - "Мусаси" грандиозный роман. Во всех смыслах: объема (больше тысячи страниц), яркости и точности воссоздания исторического контекста, глубины и сложности характеров, мощи философского содержания.
Личность героя раскрывается во взаимодействии со множеством второстепенных, но не менее значимых персонажей: идеальной возлюбленной Оцу, преданным учеником (что не мешает ему быть изрядным обормотом) Дзётаро, другом-завистником Матахати, и его мстительной гарпией-мамашей Осуги, девицей не самых строгих моральных правил Акэми - всеми сквозными персонажами, с которыми судьба то и дело сталкивает Мусаси в его странствиях.
Большая книга, которую неплохо иметь в читательском активе, если вы интересуетесь буддизмом, Японией и кодексом Бусидо.
May 29, 2023
This book has fundamentally changed me.
Review to come.
Review to come.
February 3, 2023
Having finished this, it feels like I've been on an epic journey. It was an intimidatingly long book, but after six months or so I'm finally done.
This novel tells the story of Japan's most famous samurai, Musashi Miyamoto, his best friend Matahatchi, his love interest Otsu and the many many other characters he encounters as he attempts to master the Way of the Sword.
The main reason I picked this up was because it seems like the manga adaptation "Vagabond" is never going to be completed. Aside from finally getting a conclusion to Musashi story, I also was given the chance to experience the original story, and I'm so glad I did.
Not only do we get to learn firsthand about Musashi's thoughts and actions it also delves into his many friends and enemies so by the end we have a pretty well rounded view of the characters in this world.
There are elements that feel quite alien to me, although since this takes place in early 17th century Japan, that is not surprising. For the most part it was fun diving into this whole new world.
As with the manga it does sometimes feel like characters are simply walking in a giant circle. Great chunks of this book are just characters looking for each other, catching up, losing each other and starting the cycle all over again. Honestly it's frustrating when you consider the length of this thing.
Some characters also just come and go. Musashi takes on pupils, they worship him, and he seems to care for them too only to completely disregard them. His relationship with Otsu is interesting at the heart of it, but there is so much faffing about that it falls into that repetitive trap.
When Musashi and Otsu are allowed to spend time together it is a fairly compelling love story, and it highlights how well some of these characters are written. They're complex and contradictory, and in that sense feel very real.
The themes the book explores focus on tradition, family, revenge and acceptance. All very grand in design but work in context of the story. Characters I hate early on become targets of pity, while characters I love turn into villains.
While I love both the manga and this book in equal measure, the one thing I'd say the adaptation does better is the depiction of Musashi's friend and eventual nemesis Kojiro Sasaki. He's simply a more charming and arrogant version of Musashi here, which was probably quite novel at the time but it feels a little tiresome now.
The book doesn't shy from the hypocrisy of the Way of the Samurai either. I was expecting all the samurai to be upstanding citizens who prize honour above all else, but they're mostly conniving and selfish which helps make Musashi's journey all the more interesting.
This novel tells the story of Japan's most famous samurai, Musashi Miyamoto, his best friend Matahatchi, his love interest Otsu and the many many other characters he encounters as he attempts to master the Way of the Sword.
The main reason I picked this up was because it seems like the manga adaptation "Vagabond" is never going to be completed. Aside from finally getting a conclusion to Musashi story, I also was given the chance to experience the original story, and I'm so glad I did.
Not only do we get to learn firsthand about Musashi's thoughts and actions it also delves into his many friends and enemies so by the end we have a pretty well rounded view of the characters in this world.
There are elements that feel quite alien to me, although since this takes place in early 17th century Japan, that is not surprising. For the most part it was fun diving into this whole new world.
As with the manga it does sometimes feel like characters are simply walking in a giant circle. Great chunks of this book are just characters looking for each other, catching up, losing each other and starting the cycle all over again. Honestly it's frustrating when you consider the length of this thing.
Some characters also just come and go. Musashi takes on pupils, they worship him, and he seems to care for them too only to completely disregard them. His relationship with Otsu is interesting at the heart of it, but there is so much faffing about that it falls into that repetitive trap.
When Musashi and Otsu are allowed to spend time together it is a fairly compelling love story, and it highlights how well some of these characters are written. They're complex and contradictory, and in that sense feel very real.
The themes the book explores focus on tradition, family, revenge and acceptance. All very grand in design but work in context of the story. Characters I hate early on become targets of pity, while characters I love turn into villains.
While I love both the manga and this book in equal measure, the one thing I'd say the adaptation does better is the depiction of Musashi's friend and eventual nemesis Kojiro Sasaki. He's simply a more charming and arrogant version of Musashi here, which was probably quite novel at the time but it feels a little tiresome now.
The book doesn't shy from the hypocrisy of the Way of the Samurai either. I was expecting all the samurai to be upstanding citizens who prize honour above all else, but they're mostly conniving and selfish which helps make Musashi's journey all the more interesting.
April 29, 2012
Perhaps my expectations were too high but I was a bit disappointed by this book. I am really interested in (traditional) Japanese culture and looked forward to reading Musashi. Although it is an entertaining read and I did gain some inspiration from it, I found it really missed the depth you'd expect from such a saga.
Apart from Musashi himself, all the other characters in the book are fairly one-dimensional and as a consequence, the story does not really seem to progress or unravel after the first few chapters (the meetings with Sasaki Kojirō are probably an exception to this).
I realize the simplicity of the writing might fit the underlying Japanese values but I think it really did not reflect the complexities of the society and the characters it is trying to describe. It seems to me people in traditional Japan would have more on their mind than Miyamoto alone...
But mostly, after a couple of hundred pages, I became annoyed with the fact that while walking all over Japan, Musashi seems to run into the exact same people everywhere.
Apart from Musashi himself, all the other characters in the book are fairly one-dimensional and as a consequence, the story does not really seem to progress or unravel after the first few chapters (the meetings with Sasaki Kojirō are probably an exception to this).
I realize the simplicity of the writing might fit the underlying Japanese values but I think it really did not reflect the complexities of the society and the characters it is trying to describe. It seems to me people in traditional Japan would have more on their mind than Miyamoto alone...
But mostly, after a couple of hundred pages, I became annoyed with the fact that while walking all over Japan, Musashi seems to run into the exact same people everywhere.
July 2, 2017
5 stars for sheer enjoyment and immersion in another time and culture. This book has easily landed on my favourites list. Despite its nearly thousand pages I was fully immersed in the story of Miyamoto Musashi and never felt like I was slogging through an enormous tome. To be fair the beginning is a little rough, but Eiji Yoshikawa does an excellent job at keeping things moving as we follow the famous ‘sword-saint’ of early Tokugawa-era Japan in his growth from a callow, bullying youth into a man attempting to attain perfection in both body and spirit through the Way of the Sword.
Yoshikawa paints on a broad canvas indeed, immersing the reader into the world of feudal Japan by showing us characters from all walks of life. We meet not only the daimyo and samurai who ruled in this world, but also the merchants, craftsmen, peasants, and priests all of whom gave to the era and country its unique character and flavour. While the story centers on the life and growth of its titular protagonist Miyamoto Musashi it is truly an epic saga, following the intertwined lives of many characters as they criss-cross Japan searching for (or trying to escape from) each other. Indeed there are so many coincidental meetings and near misses that it becomes something of a commonplace in the story. In some ways I was reminded of Dumas while reading this book: both authors first wrote in a serialized format that was later transferred to tomes of kitten-squishing size; many characters walk across the epic stage of history as plots and sub-plots unfold to follow the life of our protagonist; and despite its epic size and scope the prose is eminently readable and it’s definitely a real page-turner of romanticized historical fiction.
The characters themselves are varied and colourful, their stories brought to vivid life from the irascible old dowager Osugi and her feckless son Matahatchi who seek Musashi's downfall, to the virginal Otsu and rambunctious Jotaro who become something of a family in their shared devotion to the vagabond swordsman. Then of course there is Musashi himself the man destined to become the great sword-saint and a man of intriguing complexity: at times seeming little more than a ragged vagabond with slight knowledge of the ways of the world, and at others like an insightful philosopher finding wisdom and perceiving connections where others see nothing at all. Of course one cannot fail to mention two of the most colourful characters in the story: Sasaki Kojiro the great swordsman whose cocksure confidence and wily intellect, along with his unequaled martial prowess, make him Musashi's only possible peer and a real threat for the sword-saint; and Takuan the Buddhist monk who at times can seem little more than a carefree and even clownish figure, while at others he exhibits the harsh and uncompromising nature of a man of great intellectual and moral acuity. Both prove to be interesting foils for Musashi and provide an intriguing study in similarity and contrasts to him.
As he travels the roads and fields of Japan, Musashi takes advantage of every opportunity he can to learn. He is especially keen to gain from the experiences of those he meets who appear to have sounded the depth of a particular art, whether they be a craftsman obsessed with the creation of ceramics, a courtesan versed in the art of music, or an old woman expert in the niceties of the tea ceremony. All who have viewed some aspect of life and art with honesty and rigour can teach him something which he is able to apply to the of the way of the sword. It is this open-mindedness that allows Musashi to avoid being a slave to any one style of martial arts and only in his eagerness to learn from all of his experiences is he able to overcome his many opponents and develop from nameless vagabond to the 'sword-saint' of legend.
While this is ostensibly the story of Musashi he is often absent from the pages for extended periods of time (seemingly deserting the reader as he does the other characters in the story). Luckily for us the characters that take over the narrative at these times are, as noted above, vivid and intriguing making the time spent with them never seem either wasteful or a slog. It is through these absences that we truly come to see the extent of the influence Musashi has on the other characters. Indeed the story is as much about the effect Musashi has on them, both by his presence and his absence (perhaps even moreso the latter), as it is about his life and deeds as such. In this I was reminded of the character of Able from Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight. Both men are searchers after truth and wisdom through the way of the warrior, whose actions have a profound effect on the people whose lives they touch. Musashi’s chi or spirit is so strong that not only is he able to master the sword and intimidate his opponents, but he is also able to instill in others a sense of devotion and awe.
This makes Musashi sound like little more than a superhero, but this is far from the case. Yoshikawa still manages to make Musashi very human in his foibles and sense of inadequacy. Indeed, despite his prowess Musashi does not come across as very much like a typical action hero at all, that role is reserved for the suave and supremely confident Sasaki Kojiro. Musashi is more like a wide-eyed innocent looking for the path to perfection, but always certain it has escaped his grasp. The book thus treads a fine line between romanticizing the Samurai ideology in the figure of Musashi and portraying some of the harsh realities of the warrior culture that allowed bullies and braggarts to rule. Thus while we see one man’s attempt to achieve the ideal represented by bushido the story acknowledges the harsh truths that were all too often the reality.
A really enjoyable book that is recommended to all lovers of historical fiction looking for an immersive and compelling experience of Tokugawa era Japan.
Yoshikawa paints on a broad canvas indeed, immersing the reader into the world of feudal Japan by showing us characters from all walks of life. We meet not only the daimyo and samurai who ruled in this world, but also the merchants, craftsmen, peasants, and priests all of whom gave to the era and country its unique character and flavour. While the story centers on the life and growth of its titular protagonist Miyamoto Musashi it is truly an epic saga, following the intertwined lives of many characters as they criss-cross Japan searching for (or trying to escape from) each other. Indeed there are so many coincidental meetings and near misses that it becomes something of a commonplace in the story. In some ways I was reminded of Dumas while reading this book: both authors first wrote in a serialized format that was later transferred to tomes of kitten-squishing size; many characters walk across the epic stage of history as plots and sub-plots unfold to follow the life of our protagonist; and despite its epic size and scope the prose is eminently readable and it’s definitely a real page-turner of romanticized historical fiction.
The characters themselves are varied and colourful, their stories brought to vivid life from the irascible old dowager Osugi and her feckless son Matahatchi who seek Musashi's downfall, to the virginal Otsu and rambunctious Jotaro who become something of a family in their shared devotion to the vagabond swordsman. Then of course there is Musashi himself the man destined to become the great sword-saint and a man of intriguing complexity: at times seeming little more than a ragged vagabond with slight knowledge of the ways of the world, and at others like an insightful philosopher finding wisdom and perceiving connections where others see nothing at all. Of course one cannot fail to mention two of the most colourful characters in the story: Sasaki Kojiro the great swordsman whose cocksure confidence and wily intellect, along with his unequaled martial prowess, make him Musashi's only possible peer and a real threat for the sword-saint; and Takuan the Buddhist monk who at times can seem little more than a carefree and even clownish figure, while at others he exhibits the harsh and uncompromising nature of a man of great intellectual and moral acuity. Both prove to be interesting foils for Musashi and provide an intriguing study in similarity and contrasts to him.
As he travels the roads and fields of Japan, Musashi takes advantage of every opportunity he can to learn. He is especially keen to gain from the experiences of those he meets who appear to have sounded the depth of a particular art, whether they be a craftsman obsessed with the creation of ceramics, a courtesan versed in the art of music, or an old woman expert in the niceties of the tea ceremony. All who have viewed some aspect of life and art with honesty and rigour can teach him something which he is able to apply to the of the way of the sword. It is this open-mindedness that allows Musashi to avoid being a slave to any one style of martial arts and only in his eagerness to learn from all of his experiences is he able to overcome his many opponents and develop from nameless vagabond to the 'sword-saint' of legend.
While this is ostensibly the story of Musashi he is often absent from the pages for extended periods of time (seemingly deserting the reader as he does the other characters in the story). Luckily for us the characters that take over the narrative at these times are, as noted above, vivid and intriguing making the time spent with them never seem either wasteful or a slog. It is through these absences that we truly come to see the extent of the influence Musashi has on the other characters. Indeed the story is as much about the effect Musashi has on them, both by his presence and his absence (perhaps even moreso the latter), as it is about his life and deeds as such. In this I was reminded of the character of Able from Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight. Both men are searchers after truth and wisdom through the way of the warrior, whose actions have a profound effect on the people whose lives they touch. Musashi’s chi or spirit is so strong that not only is he able to master the sword and intimidate his opponents, but he is also able to instill in others a sense of devotion and awe.
This makes Musashi sound like little more than a superhero, but this is far from the case. Yoshikawa still manages to make Musashi very human in his foibles and sense of inadequacy. Indeed, despite his prowess Musashi does not come across as very much like a typical action hero at all, that role is reserved for the suave and supremely confident Sasaki Kojiro. Musashi is more like a wide-eyed innocent looking for the path to perfection, but always certain it has escaped his grasp. The book thus treads a fine line between romanticizing the Samurai ideology in the figure of Musashi and portraying some of the harsh realities of the warrior culture that allowed bullies and braggarts to rule. Thus while we see one man’s attempt to achieve the ideal represented by bushido the story acknowledges the harsh truths that were all too often the reality.
A really enjoyable book that is recommended to all lovers of historical fiction looking for an immersive and compelling experience of Tokugawa era Japan.
January 25, 2021
Musashi written by Eji Yoshikawa in the 1930s is only loosely considered to be "historical fiction". Many of the famous characters, including Musashi himself, did indeed exist. But this is primarily a fiction novel that tells the story of Miyamoto Musashi.
In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Sekigahara, two very young samurai friends rise to consciousness and find they are injured but have survived the battle. Shinmen Takezō, in time, will find himself a ronin and a violent one at that. He is finally beaten by a monk named Takuan, tied up for several days, and, finally, spending 3 years in captivity studying and reading. When Takezō emerges, he adopts the name Miyamoto Musashi and undertakes an epic journey to find the Way of the Sword. The book ends with his famous battle against Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryujima.
This dense story (900 + pages with little type) is an adventure through the Japan of the Shgunate. As the Shogun starts a campaign for control and develops the capital of Edo, Japan is undergoing massive changes. This is the world of Musashi.
The style reminded me of "Don Quixote" by Cervantes. An epic adventure following the main character as they travel all throughout their native lands. Musashi is full of violence and humor and can often be very deep in terms of life lessons or even Zen ideas. As Musashi learns more about the arts, he learns more about himself. In time he will use this knowledge to develop a two-sword style that was utterly new for the period.
There is also a large cast of side characters. Some are incredibly annoying and others are rather humorous or wise. This functions as an adventure story that also tells a deep moral tone. Yet it is also exciting, as the bloody violence of this time period is never far away.
Perhaps along with "Shogun" this is one of the most well-known books steeped in the history and concepts of Japan in the time of the Shoguns. I truly enjoyed all aspects of it- from the story, to the martial arts ideas and even insights into humanity. But it is also a great adventure, a coming of age and, darkly, a tale of humor.
If you are interested in the Mushashi story or just enjoy the setting of Shugnate Japan, you will absolutely love this Japanese folk classic.
In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Sekigahara, two very young samurai friends rise to consciousness and find they are injured but have survived the battle. Shinmen Takezō, in time, will find himself a ronin and a violent one at that. He is finally beaten by a monk named Takuan, tied up for several days, and, finally, spending 3 years in captivity studying and reading. When Takezō emerges, he adopts the name Miyamoto Musashi and undertakes an epic journey to find the Way of the Sword. The book ends with his famous battle against Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryujima.
This dense story (900 + pages with little type) is an adventure through the Japan of the Shgunate. As the Shogun starts a campaign for control and develops the capital of Edo, Japan is undergoing massive changes. This is the world of Musashi.
The style reminded me of "Don Quixote" by Cervantes. An epic adventure following the main character as they travel all throughout their native lands. Musashi is full of violence and humor and can often be very deep in terms of life lessons or even Zen ideas. As Musashi learns more about the arts, he learns more about himself. In time he will use this knowledge to develop a two-sword style that was utterly new for the period.
There is also a large cast of side characters. Some are incredibly annoying and others are rather humorous or wise. This functions as an adventure story that also tells a deep moral tone. Yet it is also exciting, as the bloody violence of this time period is never far away.
Perhaps along with "Shogun" this is one of the most well-known books steeped in the history and concepts of Japan in the time of the Shoguns. I truly enjoyed all aspects of it- from the story, to the martial arts ideas and even insights into humanity. But it is also a great adventure, a coming of age and, darkly, a tale of humor.
If you are interested in the Mushashi story or just enjoy the setting of Shugnate Japan, you will absolutely love this Japanese folk classic.
February 14, 2019
26th book for 2019.
This much loved epic, which originally appeared as a series of Japanese newspaper installments in the 1930s, chronicles the rise of one of Japan's greatest samurai and swordsmen, Miyamoto Musashi.
Despite it's nearly 1000-page length, I found it a fun, quick(ish) read, which enriched my understanding of samurai warrior code and culture this grew out of. It has influenced numerous films and books relating to Japanese culture; even the final battle scene in Kill Bill 1 seems to mashup homage to various incidents within the book.
I look forward to reading Musashi's own A Book of Five Rings in due course.
4-stars.
This much loved epic, which originally appeared as a series of Japanese newspaper installments in the 1930s, chronicles the rise of one of Japan's greatest samurai and swordsmen, Miyamoto Musashi.
Despite it's nearly 1000-page length, I found it a fun, quick(ish) read, which enriched my understanding of samurai warrior code and culture this grew out of. It has influenced numerous films and books relating to Japanese culture; even the final battle scene in Kill Bill 1 seems to mashup homage to various incidents within the book.
I look forward to reading Musashi's own A Book of Five Rings in due course.
4-stars.
April 30, 2013
Mostly this book is like Pokemon. A young man wandered around the wilderness in his quest to be the greatest samurai/Pokemon master and runs into others who he does battle with to increase his power. He gains new techniques from kindly old masters and visits temples where he participates in more battles.
The story does start to be more engaging in about the last third of the book. You can tell that it was originally released serially and should probably be consumed with the attitude one has towards consuming a season of television.
The story does start to be more engaging in about the last third of the book. You can tell that it was originally released serially and should probably be consumed with the attitude one has towards consuming a season of television.
August 12, 2008
I didn't like this book. It consisted of boring parts, punctuated by parts where the main character and maybe other characters, would go do something really stupid because of their bizarre moral codes or lack thereof.
The book is old enough that the levels of sexism in it are absurd, and parts of it got me so annoyed that I was really distracted from the plot.
I suppose it's interesting to get a perspective on a VERY different culture, but half the time I couldn't fathom any conceivable logical or moral reason why the characters would be doing what they were doing, and this only got worse as the book went along.
Also, the main character puts himself on too much of a pedestal for my liking (I know some people will want to deny that he does this, but he DOES). That, like pretty much everything else about Musashi (and here I mean both the character and the book itself) was annoying in the extreme.
The book is old enough that the levels of sexism in it are absurd, and parts of it got me so annoyed that I was really distracted from the plot.
I suppose it's interesting to get a perspective on a VERY different culture, but half the time I couldn't fathom any conceivable logical or moral reason why the characters would be doing what they were doing, and this only got worse as the book went along.
Also, the main character puts himself on too much of a pedestal for my liking (I know some people will want to deny that he does this, but he DOES). That, like pretty much everything else about Musashi (and here I mean both the character and the book itself) was annoying in the extreme.
November 14, 2020
I have spent the last 9 months listening, on and off, to the audiobook of Musashi and I can safely say that I am glad that I didn't try a print version, for I am certain that it would have been a DNF for me.
At it's core, Musashi is the story of a young man from Japan who grows up to be a renowned master of the way of the sword. Over the course of the 50+ hour long story, he encounters new sword fighting techniques and learns the skills and attributes that are required and expected of an honourable Ronin.
He studies philosophy, is taught humility, modesty, trust and how to train and teach others by a variety of other characters that he meets whilst on his journey for self-improvement and self-mastery.
This premise is what sold me on the book. I wanted a slow-burn Samurai adventure story. And, in a way, I got too much of what I was looking for - as well as some things that I definitely could have done with less of.
To start off with the obvious; 53 hours is too long. I feel as though this story could have been cut down into 20 hours and it would have still had all of it's major beats and all the more exciting and important events still in there.
There is so much repetition and going in circles, as well as huge chunks of the book in which it feels as though no forward progress is made.
The characters were also entirely two-dimensional. And don't even get me started on the sickeningly weak romance that is played out throughout the entire 1000 pages!
Otsu, a childhood friend of Mushashi (who is then known as Takezo), follows him across the country, trying to find him, win him over and convince him to show her love.
He declines and turns her away multiple times, not because he doesn't love her in return, rather simply because he doesn't wish for their relationship to get between him and his personal goal of mastering the sword.
But yes... she continues to trail him, with fate, destiny, coincidence and dumb luck bringing them together over and over again. It got so terribly boring and predictable.
Musashi also has two separate pupils at different times in the story, Jotaro and "Jotaro.2" - I label the character as such because I have completely forgotten the second character's actual name and he is ostensibly the same person as the original Jotaro.
There are dozens and dozens of characters and none of them felt like real people at all.
Plus the female characters are all either just pawns in the men's games, simple and shallow love interests or they are manipulative and bitter old crones - scheming against our honourable and virtuous male characters.
As for the setting and the themes, they are definitely the strongest part of the story. Those that are interested in period Japanese culture or want to see the morals and ethics of Sun Tzu's 'The Art Of War' exemplified in a fictional epic - you will certainly find more in this book than I did. But be aware, as stated above, that there is a LOT of fluff and filler surrounding that which you are looking for.
For those of you here for the action, similarly, there is certainly good quality swordplay and dueling, as well as moments of covert and military strategy, but these scenes are always relatively short lived and buried within the wider scope of book in general.
As I have already mentioned, the story's unspoken reliance on extraordinary coincidences is probably my biggest problem with Musashi as a whole. With an entire country to explore, the way our protagonist bumps into the same 4 or 5 characters dozens of times throughout the story just led to such a stale overarching sense of progress and development.
I know that I am in the minority regarding these opinions, but this book just wasn't for me. The fact that it took me 9 months to listen to it says enough, it wasn't what I wanted it to be and I know that's on me.
I am sure many people will enjoy (or have enjoyed) such an epic, and I am happy for them, but I cannot say that I enjoyed my time with this audiobook.
___________________________
Thank you for reading my review.
Musashi has been in my 'currently reading' for so long and I am relived to have finally finished it and to be able to start a new audiobook to listen to alongside all my physical reads.
Up next for review will either be The Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski or Book 4 in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King; Wizard and Glass, depending on which one I finish first.
I hope that anyone reading this is doing well and that you are enjoying whatever book you are reading at the moment!
At it's core, Musashi is the story of a young man from Japan who grows up to be a renowned master of the way of the sword. Over the course of the 50+ hour long story, he encounters new sword fighting techniques and learns the skills and attributes that are required and expected of an honourable Ronin.
He studies philosophy, is taught humility, modesty, trust and how to train and teach others by a variety of other characters that he meets whilst on his journey for self-improvement and self-mastery.
This premise is what sold me on the book. I wanted a slow-burn Samurai adventure story. And, in a way, I got too much of what I was looking for - as well as some things that I definitely could have done with less of.
To start off with the obvious; 53 hours is too long. I feel as though this story could have been cut down into 20 hours and it would have still had all of it's major beats and all the more exciting and important events still in there.
There is so much repetition and going in circles, as well as huge chunks of the book in which it feels as though no forward progress is made.
The characters were also entirely two-dimensional. And don't even get me started on the sickeningly weak romance that is played out throughout the entire 1000 pages!
Otsu, a childhood friend of Mushashi (who is then known as Takezo), follows him across the country, trying to find him, win him over and convince him to show her love.
He declines and turns her away multiple times, not because he doesn't love her in return, rather simply because he doesn't wish for their relationship to get between him and his personal goal of mastering the sword.
But yes... she continues to trail him, with fate, destiny, coincidence and dumb luck bringing them together over and over again. It got so terribly boring and predictable.
Musashi also has two separate pupils at different times in the story, Jotaro and "Jotaro.2" - I label the character as such because I have completely forgotten the second character's actual name and he is ostensibly the same person as the original Jotaro.
There are dozens and dozens of characters and none of them felt like real people at all.
Plus the female characters are all either just pawns in the men's games, simple and shallow love interests or they are manipulative and bitter old crones - scheming against our honourable and virtuous male characters.
As for the setting and the themes, they are definitely the strongest part of the story. Those that are interested in period Japanese culture or want to see the morals and ethics of Sun Tzu's 'The Art Of War' exemplified in a fictional epic - you will certainly find more in this book than I did. But be aware, as stated above, that there is a LOT of fluff and filler surrounding that which you are looking for.
For those of you here for the action, similarly, there is certainly good quality swordplay and dueling, as well as moments of covert and military strategy, but these scenes are always relatively short lived and buried within the wider scope of book in general.
As I have already mentioned, the story's unspoken reliance on extraordinary coincidences is probably my biggest problem with Musashi as a whole. With an entire country to explore, the way our protagonist bumps into the same 4 or 5 characters dozens of times throughout the story just led to such a stale overarching sense of progress and development.
I know that I am in the minority regarding these opinions, but this book just wasn't for me. The fact that it took me 9 months to listen to it says enough, it wasn't what I wanted it to be and I know that's on me.
I am sure many people will enjoy (or have enjoyed) such an epic, and I am happy for them, but I cannot say that I enjoyed my time with this audiobook.
___________________________
Thank you for reading my review.
Musashi has been in my 'currently reading' for so long and I am relived to have finally finished it and to be able to start a new audiobook to listen to alongside all my physical reads.
Up next for review will either be The Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski or Book 4 in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King; Wizard and Glass, depending on which one I finish first.
I hope that anyone reading this is doing well and that you are enjoying whatever book you are reading at the moment!
October 21, 2015
I am a huge fan of the old Criterion Collection samurai movies and I loved Toshiro Mifune's portrayal of Musashi, so I thought I'd give this a read. I found it VERY slow at the beginning, but I powered through. It took me as long to read this as it did to read Don Quixote….coincidentally, Musashi lived at the same time as Cervantes, so it was interesting to compare what was going on in Japan in the time of Shakespeare and Cervantes.
The story is epic in scope and follows Musashi Myamoto's life from the time when he was a 17 year old punk to his final battle with Ganryu, which cemented his fame. It is a great introduction to Japanese history and has me itching to some follow up non-fiction reading on Japan.
As far as rating it, I could go anywhere from a 3 to a 5. The story itself is captivating and completely hooks you after a while. The writing seemed immature and choppy at the beginning, but then got more and more sophisticated. I don't know if this is a translation thing, but it kind of works. It seems as if the author or translator used this as a story telling device, that is, as the main characters matured and became wiser, so did the text and the way it was written. Maybe I am imagining this?
The story is epic in scope and follows Musashi Myamoto's life from the time when he was a 17 year old punk to his final battle with Ganryu, which cemented his fame. It is a great introduction to Japanese history and has me itching to some follow up non-fiction reading on Japan.
As far as rating it, I could go anywhere from a 3 to a 5. The story itself is captivating and completely hooks you after a while. The writing seemed immature and choppy at the beginning, but then got more and more sophisticated. I don't know if this is a translation thing, but it kind of works. It seems as if the author or translator used this as a story telling device, that is, as the main characters matured and became wiser, so did the text and the way it was written. Maybe I am imagining this?
May 16, 2019
A great novel that reads easier than its length or age might make you believe (The epic sword fights didn't hurt, either). The only negative that I found was that it has "Walter Scott" syndrome, where the main (and thus most interesting) character disappears for long stretches of time throughout.
December 2, 2021
Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era - Eiji Yoshikawa
موساشي رواية طويلة لـ إيجي يوشيكاوا ( 1892م – 1962م) وهو كاتب وصحفي ياباني اشتهر برواياته التاريخية التي يعيد فيها سرد بعض الأعمال الكلاسيكية اليابانية الشهيرة بأسلوبه الخاص، ورواية موساشي هي ملحمة من عصر الساموراي وتروي قصة المبارز الشهير مياموتو موساشي.
ترافقني رواية موساشي منذ أكتوبر، رافقت الشخصيات في أحداث تمتد لأكثر من 12 عامًا وأشعر الآن بعد توديعهم بفراغ هائل. ..
السرد جميل ومتماسك حتى مع طول الرواية (+900 صفحة)، والأسلوب محبب وبسيط والتنقل بين الأحداث خاطف وسلس والترجمة لها دور كبير جدًا وهناك الكثير من الاقتباسات المذهلة التي تملأ الكتاب من لحظات الحزن إلى الفرح والشعر والحكم والمواقف الظريفة .
مأخذي الوحيد على العمل أنه ذكوري لدرجة تثير الاشمئزاز، لكنه مفهوم في سياقه طبعًا، العمل تجري أحداثه في اليابان في القرن السابع عشر.
موساشي رواية طويلة لـ إيجي يوشيكاوا ( 1892م – 1962م) وهو كاتب وصحفي ياباني اشتهر برواياته التاريخية التي يعيد فيها سرد بعض الأعمال الكلاسيكية اليابانية الشهيرة بأسلوبه الخاص، ورواية موساشي هي ملحمة من عصر الساموراي وتروي قصة المبارز الشهير مياموتو موساشي.
ترافقني رواية موساشي منذ أكتوبر، رافقت الشخصيات في أحداث تمتد لأكثر من 12 عامًا وأشعر الآن بعد توديعهم بفراغ هائل. ..
السرد جميل ومتماسك حتى مع طول الرواية (+900 صفحة)، والأسلوب محبب وبسيط والتنقل بين الأحداث خاطف وسلس والترجمة لها دور كبير جدًا وهناك الكثير من الاقتباسات المذهلة التي تملأ الكتاب من لحظات الحزن إلى الفرح والشعر والحكم والمواقف الظريفة .
مأخذي الوحيد على العمل أنه ذكوري لدرجة تثير الاشمئزاز، لكنه مفهوم في سياقه طبعًا، العمل تجري أحداثه في اليابان في القرن السابع عشر.
September 29, 2021
I first read The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, a book on the martial arts, written by the Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi around 1645. That booked then sparked my interest in the life of Miyamoto Musashi. After a short amount of research I found this book, which is a predominantly fictional tale about the life of the great Japanese Ronin Miyamoto Musashi written by Eiji Yoshikawa. It was originally released as a serial in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, between 1935 and 1939. Which can be felt in the pacing of this novel. Which feels chapter to chapter quite episodic.
I have never had an experience with a book quite like I had with Musashi. The first half of the book had me intoxicated. The world of the Edo period in Japan seems real and tangible here because of the extremely simple and modern translation into english. The story flows at a delightful pace. The balance between action, and the development of Musashi's Character. My devouring of the material started to slow in the middle of the book though. As the storyline started to feel monotonous. I ended up skipping a few chapters and reading their summaries online in the middle. I am usually not bothered by a book being so long, but in this case it became quite a trudge through the second half of the book. Overall, it was entertaining though, and I am able to forgive my grievances due to the majority of the story being worthwhile.
I have never had an experience with a book quite like I had with Musashi. The first half of the book had me intoxicated. The world of the Edo period in Japan seems real and tangible here because of the extremely simple and modern translation into english. The story flows at a delightful pace. The balance between action, and the development of Musashi's Character. My devouring of the material started to slow in the middle of the book though. As the storyline started to feel monotonous. I ended up skipping a few chapters and reading their summaries online in the middle. I am usually not bothered by a book being so long, but in this case it became quite a trudge through the second half of the book. Overall, it was entertaining though, and I am able to forgive my grievances due to the majority of the story being worthwhile.
June 11, 2023
Musashi offers two stories beautifully interwoven into a single narrative. The first is a rollicking adventure complete with nemeses, battles, and, true love. The second is a man's quest for enlightenment. The genius of the novel is that both stories are often furthered by the same events. When viewed one way, these happenings are a straightforward action story. But, from a different perspective, they show Musashi's advancement along the path to enlightenment and contrast this to the ordinary lives of the other characters. Each tale, alone, is worth reading. Together, they are unmissable.
July 9, 2008
This is easily my favorite book. It's very long and translated from Japanese resulting in some rough spots, but nevertheless, I could not put this one down. I recommend this to anyone...well, anyone who loves sword fighting.
December 17, 2007
Ini buku pertama yang banyak memberikan inspirasi dalam hidup saya. Dimana perubahan 180° bisa terjadi dalam hidup kita.
Buku ini tidak semata-mata darah dan pertarungan tapi lebih pada Semangat dalam pencarian dan pengembangan jati diri, Kesetiaan dan Kepasrahan Cinta, Keindahan dan Seni.
Saya memberikan rating penuh untuk buku ini, bukan karena akan dusukai oleh semua orang. Tapi lebih banyak ke pribadi saya yang tidak akan melupakan sihir dari buku ini pada kehidupan saya.
Buku ini tidak semata-mata darah dan pertarungan tapi lebih pada Semangat dalam pencarian dan pengembangan jati diri, Kesetiaan dan Kepasrahan Cinta, Keindahan dan Seni.
Saya memberikan rating penuh untuk buku ini, bukan karena akan dusukai oleh semua orang. Tapi lebih banyak ke pribadi saya yang tidak akan melupakan sihir dari buku ini pada kehidupan saya.
August 18, 2019
Being an enormous fan of the manga Vagabond I decided to read Eiji Yoshikawa's version on Musashi, and I have to admit that story-wise the novel is way better than the manga. Of course, one can expect that when comparing a novel to a manga, but still, here the characters and story acquire so many different dimensions it's mind blowing. Adding to the fact that events aren't as exaggerated as in the manga (as the art usually does), this gives the story a much more real, much more serious vibe, actually transporting you in life threatening situations while enveloping you with Japanese culture, morals, and predicaments.
But enough with comparing the manga with the novel; each one is a masterpiece for its own reasons. Let's delve a little further into the book and why it's such a profound piece of art.
For those who aren't familiar with Edo period Japan and the path of the sword, as well as those who're only familiar with them through anime and manga, it'd be good to understand that, although things weren't as wild and inhumane as in medieval Japan. we're talking about an era and culture where the roles in society were still fixed and hopeless. There were lords, farmers, vendors, and samurai, each having their own advantages and disadvantages. A samurai for example was identified with his honor and he was free to exercise his right to kill whoever insulted him, however light this so-called insult might have been (you could sneeze at the wrong time and lose your head!).
Kiri-sute gomen[1] (斬捨御免 or 切捨御免, "authorization to cut and leave [the body of the victim]") is an old Japanese expression dating back to the feudal era right to strike (right of samurai to kill commoners for perceived affronts). Samurai had the right to strike with sword at anyone of a lower class who compromised their honour.
So in a world where Kiri-sute gomen existed and where Samurai ruled the common folk unless there was a lord around, where half the people carried a katana and were ready to use it, in a world where the hive mentally reigned supreme, there came Musashi: the epitome of reason and masculinity.
Nowadays we hear people talking about toxic masculinity. It's true that toxicity can affect every aspect of the human experience, even the most basic ones such as masculinity. But what's the opposite of toxic masculinity and does it exist?
Musashi proves it does. In a society where the strongest warriors are kings, Musashi--arguably the strongest samurai that has ever lived--walks through the world as a beggar. He doesn't take advantage of his skills to wine and whore, neither to make money and fame. Instead he's focused and pure. His sole goal is to walk the path of the sword with all his heart until the very end, to face the strongest and become the most powerful samurai in Japan, to beat the game and find out what's waiting for him on the other side.
Eiji Yoshikawa does an excellent job weaving concepts of Zen and Saki (blood-thirst) as well as the ups and downs of the human experience into masterfully crafted scenes filled with great dialogue and serious action. In doing so, he also shows us what the pure feminine feels and looks like and how overpowering it is in its subtleness and beauty: Otsū.
Otsu is the main female character and although she's all about Musashi and reuniting with him, she's very farm from being a bore. Whenever a scene is dedicated to her she lights the whole novel up. She's something inexplicable. In a culture where unprotected women are used, raped and killed, she strives by just being herself. A woman all heart and tenderness that gives life even to the dying master Yagyu Sekishusai.
Odyssey, one of the greatest epic poems of ancient Greece tells the story of Odysseus and his crew, as for more than ten years pass through all kinds of mysterious and mythical hardships, losing their minds, losing their friends, losing all hope, trying to get back to Ithaca, Penelope waiting for the only man she's ever loved as she fights all sorts of lecherous men off her. We've all heard the story.
In Musashis we have something similar but quite reverse. Here Odysseus leaves his Ithaca on his own free will. He delves head-on into the hardest of hardships a samurai can face: famine, poverty, insulting the honor of the most famous samurai clan in Japan. Even living in heaven there's no heaven unless you've faced hell, so our hero does exactly that. Meanwhile, his Penelope is not waiting but looking for him because there's neither an island nor a kingdom for them to return to. They only have each other. But unless the path of the sword is genuinely walked to its very end, they will both keep on walking through hell, searching and avoiding each other until hell falls apart.
This is a story of Yin and Yang, of love and blood, of people on a path among people with plans, of the pure trying to find itself through the impure, of zen and now. In my humble opinion this is the most spiritual and humane novel one can read while enjoying some good action. In other words, a true masterpiece.
If you like listening to audiobooks then it's good to know that Brian Nishii (Narrator) has done an astonishing job in this one as well. Personally I can't imagine a better audio book version than this one, as the narrator has a great gamut of emotional expressions and is both fluent in Japanese and Chinese, perfect for the story. For people like me who're very picky when choosing an audio version of a book, it's truly a great privilege to have works like that at my disposal. Excellent.
Finally, to those that complained that the main characters kept bumping on each other in every city they happened to arrive, you have to understand that: a) the story is taking place throughout many years, b) there weren't that many people around four hundred years ago, c) not many people dared to roam about when the world was filled with blood and steel, so if you Did dare to travel around, you belonged to the minority and minorities Do tend to stumble upon themselves.
“In battle, if you you make your opponent flinch, you have already won.”
― Miyamoto Musashi
But enough with comparing the manga with the novel; each one is a masterpiece for its own reasons. Let's delve a little further into the book and why it's such a profound piece of art.
For those who aren't familiar with Edo period Japan and the path of the sword, as well as those who're only familiar with them through anime and manga, it'd be good to understand that, although things weren't as wild and inhumane as in medieval Japan. we're talking about an era and culture where the roles in society were still fixed and hopeless. There were lords, farmers, vendors, and samurai, each having their own advantages and disadvantages. A samurai for example was identified with his honor and he was free to exercise his right to kill whoever insulted him, however light this so-called insult might have been (you could sneeze at the wrong time and lose your head!).
Kiri-sute gomen[1] (斬捨御免 or 切捨御免, "authorization to cut and leave [the body of the victim]") is an old Japanese expression dating back to the feudal era right to strike (right of samurai to kill commoners for perceived affronts). Samurai had the right to strike with sword at anyone of a lower class who compromised their honour.
So in a world where Kiri-sute gomen existed and where Samurai ruled the common folk unless there was a lord around, where half the people carried a katana and were ready to use it, in a world where the hive mentally reigned supreme, there came Musashi: the epitome of reason and masculinity.
Nowadays we hear people talking about toxic masculinity. It's true that toxicity can affect every aspect of the human experience, even the most basic ones such as masculinity. But what's the opposite of toxic masculinity and does it exist?
Musashi proves it does. In a society where the strongest warriors are kings, Musashi--arguably the strongest samurai that has ever lived--walks through the world as a beggar. He doesn't take advantage of his skills to wine and whore, neither to make money and fame. Instead he's focused and pure. His sole goal is to walk the path of the sword with all his heart until the very end, to face the strongest and become the most powerful samurai in Japan, to beat the game and find out what's waiting for him on the other side.
Eiji Yoshikawa does an excellent job weaving concepts of Zen and Saki (blood-thirst) as well as the ups and downs of the human experience into masterfully crafted scenes filled with great dialogue and serious action. In doing so, he also shows us what the pure feminine feels and looks like and how overpowering it is in its subtleness and beauty: Otsū.
Otsu is the main female character and although she's all about Musashi and reuniting with him, she's very farm from being a bore. Whenever a scene is dedicated to her she lights the whole novel up. She's something inexplicable. In a culture where unprotected women are used, raped and killed, she strives by just being herself. A woman all heart and tenderness that gives life even to the dying master Yagyu Sekishusai.
Odyssey, one of the greatest epic poems of ancient Greece tells the story of Odysseus and his crew, as for more than ten years pass through all kinds of mysterious and mythical hardships, losing their minds, losing their friends, losing all hope, trying to get back to Ithaca, Penelope waiting for the only man she's ever loved as she fights all sorts of lecherous men off her. We've all heard the story.
In Musashis we have something similar but quite reverse. Here Odysseus leaves his Ithaca on his own free will. He delves head-on into the hardest of hardships a samurai can face: famine, poverty, insulting the honor of the most famous samurai clan in Japan. Even living in heaven there's no heaven unless you've faced hell, so our hero does exactly that. Meanwhile, his Penelope is not waiting but looking for him because there's neither an island nor a kingdom for them to return to. They only have each other. But unless the path of the sword is genuinely walked to its very end, they will both keep on walking through hell, searching and avoiding each other until hell falls apart.
This is a story of Yin and Yang, of love and blood, of people on a path among people with plans, of the pure trying to find itself through the impure, of zen and now. In my humble opinion this is the most spiritual and humane novel one can read while enjoying some good action. In other words, a true masterpiece.
If you like listening to audiobooks then it's good to know that Brian Nishii (Narrator) has done an astonishing job in this one as well. Personally I can't imagine a better audio book version than this one, as the narrator has a great gamut of emotional expressions and is both fluent in Japanese and Chinese, perfect for the story. For people like me who're very picky when choosing an audio version of a book, it's truly a great privilege to have works like that at my disposal. Excellent.
Finally, to those that complained that the main characters kept bumping on each other in every city they happened to arrive, you have to understand that: a) the story is taking place throughout many years, b) there weren't that many people around four hundred years ago, c) not many people dared to roam about when the world was filled with blood and steel, so if you Did dare to travel around, you belonged to the minority and minorities Do tend to stumble upon themselves.
“In battle, if you you make your opponent flinch, you have already won.”
― Miyamoto Musashi
July 7, 2018
There were portions of this novel that I really enjoyed, but other sections I found somewhat tedious. This is not because of a lack of action; on the contrary, there seems to be action in every single chapter. Rather it's because of the large number of poorly developed characters, settings, and side stories. Half the time, I found myself not caring.
About halfway through the book I learned it had been written and published in serialized format in a Japanese newspaper. This is why each chapter feels like an individual short story and why some of the action in each chapter feels forced and aribtrary.
I still enjoyed the book overall, especially the first half. I feel like the novel hung together really well up until The Spreading Pine chapter. Musashi's early journeys and battles are very entertaining. And The Spreading Pine chapter is, in some ways, the first of the book's two major climaxes.
After The Spreading Pine, though, the book is not as cohesive. In almost every chapter new characters are introduced. Even the final two chapters introduce new characters. And the characters are rarely developed much, so they are hard to visualize, hard to remember.
The end of the novel is sufficiently gratifying, although I wish it wasn't so cursory. Conflicts that have lasted for 800+ pages are given a few paragraphs to resolve with no follow-up. It was almost like Yoshikawa got tired of writing and decided to tie up all the loose ends in a single chapter.
Although I'm glad I read this novel and still think it's worth reading, I feel it would have been better if:
* Characters were fewer and developed better.
* A map was used to show the locations of all the towns and cities, which are just as numerous as the characters.
* Some of the plot had been tightened up.
* The conclusion of the novel had been given more thorough treatment.
About halfway through the book I learned it had been written and published in serialized format in a Japanese newspaper. This is why each chapter feels like an individual short story and why some of the action in each chapter feels forced and aribtrary.
I still enjoyed the book overall, especially the first half. I feel like the novel hung together really well up until The Spreading Pine chapter. Musashi's early journeys and battles are very entertaining. And The Spreading Pine chapter is, in some ways, the first of the book's two major climaxes.
After The Spreading Pine, though, the book is not as cohesive. In almost every chapter new characters are introduced. Even the final two chapters introduce new characters. And the characters are rarely developed much, so they are hard to visualize, hard to remember.
The end of the novel is sufficiently gratifying, although I wish it wasn't so cursory. Conflicts that have lasted for 800+ pages are given a few paragraphs to resolve with no follow-up. It was almost like Yoshikawa got tired of writing and decided to tie up all the loose ends in a single chapter.
Although I'm glad I read this novel and still think it's worth reading, I feel it would have been better if:
* Characters were fewer and developed better.
* A map was used to show the locations of all the towns and cities, which are just as numerous as the characters.
* Some of the plot had been tightened up.
* The conclusion of the novel had been given more thorough treatment.
January 19, 2016
As a fan of epic fantasy, I was surprised by how much this was right in my wheelhouse, and I think this should be better-known among SF fans. It's a classic bildungsroman with epic battles, tragic romances, fun if somewhat archetypal characters, and a tremendous amount of cultural flavor and historical information.
It was published serially, and as a result is extremely episodic, which isn't a flaw precisely, although it does slow down the pacing and make it a trifle choppy. It's also got a bit of a problem *ending* things - villains in the first chapter persist through the entire 1000 pages, even though they suffer multiple defeats. (Which is not atypical of epic fantasy - witness Robert Jordan's Incredible Resurrectable Villains, an equally annoying example of the form.)
But for its flaws, I found it thoroughly entertaining and totally readable, and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't have an allergy to doorstops.
It was published serially, and as a result is extremely episodic, which isn't a flaw precisely, although it does slow down the pacing and make it a trifle choppy. It's also got a bit of a problem *ending* things - villains in the first chapter persist through the entire 1000 pages, even though they suffer multiple defeats. (Which is not atypical of epic fantasy - witness Robert Jordan's Incredible Resurrectable Villains, an equally annoying example of the form.)
But for its flaws, I found it thoroughly entertaining and totally readable, and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't have an allergy to doorstops.
April 3, 2020
Notes:
Brian Nishii is great! He really made the long journey come to life in the audio. I'm sure I only caught 1/3 of the references and things the story held because I'm not Japanese, but what I did grasp was pretty great and I can see why this is a classic. The movies only give a glimpse of the facets & ideas from the book. I'm glad I read it and I'm sure I'll read it again.
The story comes across as being very simple but it is the layers of common things that make up a complex whole.
Brian Nishii is great! He really made the long journey come to life in the audio. I'm sure I only caught 1/3 of the references and things the story held because I'm not Japanese, but what I did grasp was pretty great and I can see why this is a classic. The movies only give a glimpse of the facets & ideas from the book. I'm glad I read it and I'm sure I'll read it again.
The story comes across as being very simple but it is the layers of common things that make up a complex whole.
March 2, 2021
I’d like to put this forward as the Japanese Lord of the Rings.
It’s not that this is a fantasy, at least not in the sense that LOTR is. There are, of course, lots of swords and lots of people journeying across the land, but it’s in a generally historic, actual place, not an invented one.
Instead, I see this as a similarly anti-Modernist work. Tolkien, whatever else he was doing, set out to assert an alternative to the Modernism all around him. If, half a generation earlier, W.B. Yeats had observed that “things fall apart,” Tolkien determined to hold them together – or at least to imagine a world where they would hold together in the face of a defined and recognizable evil. He took many of the conventions of the Romantic era, married them to the method of the Victorian novel, and invented a whole new genre.
Here, Yoshikawa is doing something comparable. In the face of a moment all too “Modern” – Japan’s militarization leading up to World War II – he turned to the stuff of a distant past to imagine a way of recovering and celebrating lost values. If Tolkien looked to a vision of Norse mythology and a theological sense of good vs. evil, Yoshikawa looked to the way of the Samurai as a means of imagining a reinvigorated Japan.
I don’t now Japanese literature and culture well enough, but I get the impression that, as a consequence, he also created a new genre of Japanese literature. I see all sorts of familiar tropes here, characters and themes I recognize out of Saturday morning karate movies by way of Kurosawa. In some ways, this is the blueprint for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, complete with the hero who follows the way of the sword, his chaste lover, and the old crone who’s sworn vengeance on him.
All told, then, this is a big, ambitious book that works throughout to entertain. It’s fun, almost relentlessly fun, but it also pushes its underlying faith: in a confusing, Modern world, we have something to learn from the best of the generations before us.
(Incidentally, both Yoshikawa and Tolkien are born in 1892. The Hobbit came out in 1937, while Musashi came out in 1935.))
So, that’s the big reason to read this.
There are lots of small ones, though. Our hero, Musashi, is an “ordinary” man who has committed himself to excellence. He follows the “way of the sword,” and tries to learn from everyone he meets. The novel opens with him nearly dying after the battle that has established the shogunate once and for all. He manages to limp to recovery, and then he slowly builds his reputation.
Some of his early conflicts seem contrived, but that’s part of the game. He challenges one dojo because he doubts its method of the sword, and there’s a great showdown where he takes on 15 warriors and inadvertently develops the two-sword technique for which he is best remembered today.
And there are some fun, bad-ass scenes once he comes into his own. One of my favorites comes when a thug tries to push him around as he is eating his meal. While he’s talking, he grabs first one, then another, and then another insect out of the air with his chopsticks. He doesn’t say anything else, but he freaks the aggressor out.
Musashi himself is almost boringly perfect. He works to make himself the greatest swordsman in the land, and he learns sometimes bland lessons along the way: become one with the wind or the water, lose a sense of self, honor your parents, be loyal. But Yoshikawa is clever in the way he demonstrates them. There are fight scenes here where Musashi “wins” just because his gaze is so fierce and unflinching. Other times we get to see Musashi discover some new element of technique at just the right moment. As crazy long as this is, the fight scenes come with sustained freshness throughout.
Yoshikawa is also skilled at juggling his characters. For a 900-page work that moves from place to place, there are surprisingly few. Someone we meet early will come back in the middle and then the end. Minor characters meet one another and carry the story forward; it’s a solid narrative technique, reminiscent of what Tolkien does, and it gives a sense of expanse to the world that he envisions.
Once you pick up on the aesthetic here – and, as I say it’s an aesthetic that Kurosawa refined from this as well as from the same sources Yoshikawa was working with – it rolls along as a lot of fun. Some of the digressions with other characters get old, and there’s reason to complain about a sexism, especially in the character of the old woman who hounds him throughout. Still, it keeps you reading, and it offers a fun samurai style swashbuckling series of adventures.
This was originally written in serial form, and that’s a good thing early. We get a narrative payoff with enjoyable frequency throughout the first half or two-thirds. You can feel a conflict build up and then climax. There’s an episodic quality, almost as if this is a TV show.
In the final hundred or so pages, though, things slow down. Almost like the final season of many a TV show (I’m looking at you, How I Met Your Mother), things slows down as Yoshikawa seems reluctant to say goodbye to his characters. The final payoff is great, but I’d like it more without fifty sometimes tedious pages building up to it.
Don’t go reading this because you expect another Lord of the Rings, but, if you do get to this, look for the way it celebrates virtues out of step with its time. With a different kind of magic, it tries to imagine heroes for a time when heroes seem dead. It isn’t perfect, and there’s room to question its underlying politics in a Japan preparing for war, but there’s no denying it’s fun.
It’s not that this is a fantasy, at least not in the sense that LOTR is. There are, of course, lots of swords and lots of people journeying across the land, but it’s in a generally historic, actual place, not an invented one.
Instead, I see this as a similarly anti-Modernist work. Tolkien, whatever else he was doing, set out to assert an alternative to the Modernism all around him. If, half a generation earlier, W.B. Yeats had observed that “things fall apart,” Tolkien determined to hold them together – or at least to imagine a world where they would hold together in the face of a defined and recognizable evil. He took many of the conventions of the Romantic era, married them to the method of the Victorian novel, and invented a whole new genre.
Here, Yoshikawa is doing something comparable. In the face of a moment all too “Modern” – Japan’s militarization leading up to World War II – he turned to the stuff of a distant past to imagine a way of recovering and celebrating lost values. If Tolkien looked to a vision of Norse mythology and a theological sense of good vs. evil, Yoshikawa looked to the way of the Samurai as a means of imagining a reinvigorated Japan.
I don’t now Japanese literature and culture well enough, but I get the impression that, as a consequence, he also created a new genre of Japanese literature. I see all sorts of familiar tropes here, characters and themes I recognize out of Saturday morning karate movies by way of Kurosawa. In some ways, this is the blueprint for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, complete with the hero who follows the way of the sword, his chaste lover, and the old crone who’s sworn vengeance on him.
All told, then, this is a big, ambitious book that works throughout to entertain. It’s fun, almost relentlessly fun, but it also pushes its underlying faith: in a confusing, Modern world, we have something to learn from the best of the generations before us.
(Incidentally, both Yoshikawa and Tolkien are born in 1892. The Hobbit came out in 1937, while Musashi came out in 1935.))
So, that’s the big reason to read this.
There are lots of small ones, though. Our hero, Musashi, is an “ordinary” man who has committed himself to excellence. He follows the “way of the sword,” and tries to learn from everyone he meets. The novel opens with him nearly dying after the battle that has established the shogunate once and for all. He manages to limp to recovery, and then he slowly builds his reputation.
Some of his early conflicts seem contrived, but that’s part of the game. He challenges one dojo because he doubts its method of the sword, and there’s a great showdown where he takes on 15 warriors and inadvertently develops the two-sword technique for which he is best remembered today.
And there are some fun, bad-ass scenes once he comes into his own. One of my favorites comes when a thug tries to push him around as he is eating his meal. While he’s talking, he grabs first one, then another, and then another insect out of the air with his chopsticks. He doesn’t say anything else, but he freaks the aggressor out.
Musashi himself is almost boringly perfect. He works to make himself the greatest swordsman in the land, and he learns sometimes bland lessons along the way: become one with the wind or the water, lose a sense of self, honor your parents, be loyal. But Yoshikawa is clever in the way he demonstrates them. There are fight scenes here where Musashi “wins” just because his gaze is so fierce and unflinching. Other times we get to see Musashi discover some new element of technique at just the right moment. As crazy long as this is, the fight scenes come with sustained freshness throughout.
Yoshikawa is also skilled at juggling his characters. For a 900-page work that moves from place to place, there are surprisingly few. Someone we meet early will come back in the middle and then the end. Minor characters meet one another and carry the story forward; it’s a solid narrative technique, reminiscent of what Tolkien does, and it gives a sense of expanse to the world that he envisions.
Once you pick up on the aesthetic here – and, as I say it’s an aesthetic that Kurosawa refined from this as well as from the same sources Yoshikawa was working with – it rolls along as a lot of fun. Some of the digressions with other characters get old, and there’s reason to complain about a sexism, especially in the character of the old woman who hounds him throughout. Still, it keeps you reading, and it offers a fun samurai style swashbuckling series of adventures.
This was originally written in serial form, and that’s a good thing early. We get a narrative payoff with enjoyable frequency throughout the first half or two-thirds. You can feel a conflict build up and then climax. There’s an episodic quality, almost as if this is a TV show.
In the final hundred or so pages, though, things slow down. Almost like the final season of many a TV show (I’m looking at you, How I Met Your Mother), things slows down as Yoshikawa seems reluctant to say goodbye to his characters. The final payoff is great, but I’d like it more without fifty sometimes tedious pages building up to it.
Don’t go reading this because you expect another Lord of the Rings, but, if you do get to this, look for the way it celebrates virtues out of step with its time. With a different kind of magic, it tries to imagine heroes for a time when heroes seem dead. It isn’t perfect, and there’s room to question its underlying politics in a Japan preparing for war, but there’s no denying it’s fun.
June 17, 2020
Miyamoto Musashi, which was one of several names of a very important figure in Japanese history, lived from the end of the sixteenth into the seventeenth century. He was a true renaissance man in that he was an exceptional strategist, swordsman and social philosopher who also painted, sculpted and wrote. I cannot think of a comparable figure from the West with the possible exception of Leonardo Da Vinci. He and Musashi were incredibly accomplished in a variety of areas but their emphases were clearly quite different.
Eiji Yoshikawa is probably the most highly regarded 20th century author of Japanese historical fiction. His work includes, in addition to Musashi, Taiko (which I have also read twice, separated by 30 or so years) which follows the life of one of the three great unifiers of feudal Japan.
Writing a review of this work seems a fool's errand somewhat equivalent to reviewing Gone With the Wind, so I will not attempt to do so.
Both Taiko and Musashi are very long (1000+ pages each), very engaging but very Japanese, so at times, they can be a bit difficult to understand, not because of their complexity but rather in terms of the motivation of the characters. I had intended to read Musashi in pieces (it is divided into a series of "books" since it originally appeared in serial form) but I became so engrossed in the book that I read it cover to cover, over a couple of weeks.
It's difficult to know who to recommend the book to since it is so unique but, clearly, one must have a strong interest in Japan and its history to enjoy either Musashi or Taiko. I have been to Japan many times and, once there is a vaccine to COVID-19, my wife and I will travel to Mongolia, Korea and Japan, staying in the latter for a couple of months, so, clearly, we have a strong interest in the country, it's culture and history. If you choose to read both , Musashi begins where Taiko ends although they are two quite different stories and one is not meant as a sequel to the other.
The End
Eiji Yoshikawa is probably the most highly regarded 20th century author of Japanese historical fiction. His work includes, in addition to Musashi, Taiko (which I have also read twice, separated by 30 or so years) which follows the life of one of the three great unifiers of feudal Japan.
Writing a review of this work seems a fool's errand somewhat equivalent to reviewing Gone With the Wind, so I will not attempt to do so.
Both Taiko and Musashi are very long (1000+ pages each), very engaging but very Japanese, so at times, they can be a bit difficult to understand, not because of their complexity but rather in terms of the motivation of the characters. I had intended to read Musashi in pieces (it is divided into a series of "books" since it originally appeared in serial form) but I became so engrossed in the book that I read it cover to cover, over a couple of weeks.
It's difficult to know who to recommend the book to since it is so unique but, clearly, one must have a strong interest in Japan and its history to enjoy either Musashi or Taiko. I have been to Japan many times and, once there is a vaccine to COVID-19, my wife and I will travel to Mongolia, Korea and Japan, staying in the latter for a couple of months, so, clearly, we have a strong interest in the country, it's culture and history. If you choose to read both , Musashi begins where Taiko ends although they are two quite different stories and one is not meant as a sequel to the other.
The End
July 27, 2020
In effetti mi mnancava qualche mattone classico fuori dal continente europeo, e il Giappone mi ha sempre affascinata.
Beh, non da sempre: da quando ho scoperto manga e anime, come molti della mia generazione (e non solo). Ma Musashi, di Eiji Yoshikawa, trascende questa passione nata durante l'infanzia: scritto negli anni '30, questo volumone che conta più di 800 pagine scritte piccolissimo, è la versione romanzata della vita di Miyamoto Musashi, figura storica e riconosciuto come uno dei più grandi samurai della storia giapponese.
Ma Yoshikawa va ben oltre la mera biografia: inizia a raccontare la storia di Musashi dopo la prima battaglia a cui ha preso parte, armato solo di forza bruta e tremendo carattere, ma è quasi come se fosse un pretesto. Siamo nel '600, il tempo dei grandi feudi giapponesi sta giungendo al termine, Musashi si appresta a divenire samurai in una nazione che sta consolidando il mutamento, dove le grandi guerre sono già state combattute, perse e vinte. Sembrerebbe uno spreco, non fosse che così l'ambizione di Musashi a divenire samurai diventa quasi più pura, assoluta: cercare la forza e la saggezza per sé stesso, per migliorare sé stesso, e non per mettersi a servizio di un signore.
Tutto portandoci con lui in un viaggio nel tempo e nello spazio di filosofie, combattimenti, personaggi pittoreschi, e un Giappone che ormai non esiste più, e valori tanto più affascinanti perché diversi dai nostri.
Oh, ed è la prova che le grandi menti a volte pensano uguale, perché comincia con una frase pronunciata da un soldato che è la parafrasi di "Si sta come d'autunno sugli alberi le foglie", e quante saranno le probabilità che Yoshikawa abbia letto Ungaretti?
Beh, non da sempre: da quando ho scoperto manga e anime, come molti della mia generazione (e non solo). Ma Musashi, di Eiji Yoshikawa, trascende questa passione nata durante l'infanzia: scritto negli anni '30, questo volumone che conta più di 800 pagine scritte piccolissimo, è la versione romanzata della vita di Miyamoto Musashi, figura storica e riconosciuto come uno dei più grandi samurai della storia giapponese.
Ma Yoshikawa va ben oltre la mera biografia: inizia a raccontare la storia di Musashi dopo la prima battaglia a cui ha preso parte, armato solo di forza bruta e tremendo carattere, ma è quasi come se fosse un pretesto. Siamo nel '600, il tempo dei grandi feudi giapponesi sta giungendo al termine, Musashi si appresta a divenire samurai in una nazione che sta consolidando il mutamento, dove le grandi guerre sono già state combattute, perse e vinte. Sembrerebbe uno spreco, non fosse che così l'ambizione di Musashi a divenire samurai diventa quasi più pura, assoluta: cercare la forza e la saggezza per sé stesso, per migliorare sé stesso, e non per mettersi a servizio di un signore.
Tutto portandoci con lui in un viaggio nel tempo e nello spazio di filosofie, combattimenti, personaggi pittoreschi, e un Giappone che ormai non esiste più, e valori tanto più affascinanti perché diversi dai nostri.
Oh, ed è la prova che le grandi menti a volte pensano uguale, perché comincia con una frase pronunciata da un soldato che è la parafrasi di "Si sta come d'autunno sugli alberi le foglie", e quante saranno le probabilità che Yoshikawa abbia letto Ungaretti?
May 11, 2021
Not as good as I thought it would be. The first part of the book was a lot of fun and I almost thought this could end up being a five star read for me, but I was so turned off by Jotaru and the way Otsu followed Musashi around begging him to like her that I simply got disgusted. Girl, grow a spine! He does not want you, find someone who will appreciate you! Don't waste your life on that loser! Jotaru was simply horrendous to read about, what an annoying little dude. Plus, I was really turned off by the constant battles that meant nothing. I get that this was a serial and the author had to keep people interested from week to week, but it did not work for me in book form. It felt like nothing at all happened for huge swaths of the book and I got more and more bored. Also, the way Musashi treated Otsu and Jotaru did not endear him to me so I found myself not caring at all what happened to him since he was so unlikeable. Oh is he battling someone again? Maybe this time he will get his butt kicked, it would be nice for some karma to bite him. But no dice, he's a perfect Gary Stu when it comes to fighting. Not at all fun to read. However, the scenes of everyday life in feudal Japan were simply amazing and almost made the horrible characters worth it, but not quite.
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