Book Report: Shogun

Clavell, James.
Shogun.
Delecorte Press: 1975.

Reason, Type, and Setting: Lately I have been reading and reporting on philosophical and political books, and although they are fascinating and thought provoking, they are not written to entertain. I never like to read one type of novel for too long, so I decided to pick up one of my old favorites, James Clavell's Shogun. This novel is an epic tale, full of adventure, political intrigue, swordplay, and romance, and I thought this fast paced (albeit long winded) story would be a nice break from the other books I had been reading. The novel is set in feudal Japan, near the turn of the 17th century. The island nation, which has remained untouched by the wars that ravaged Europe at the time, has had no contact with the West, save for a few friars and missionaries that traveled east from Europe to convert the great heathen nations the Marco Polo spoke of.

Plot: Shogun focuses on the life of John Blackthorne, an English ship's pilot. Blackthorne has been hired by the Dutch, England's ally in their war against the Spanish and Portuguese, to sail the ship Erasmus through the Spanish blockade and into the Strait of Magellan, a secret route used by the Portuguese to access their colonies and other assets in the East Indies. Once there, the Erasmus was to trade with the indigenous people, attempt to secure alliances and trade agreements with the local governments, and undermine the Spanish and Portuguese influence there. Unfortunately, the merchant ship was blown off course by a storm, and became beached on the shores of Japan, previously unknown to the English and Dutch. Blackthorne and his shipmates, stranded in a foreign, and largely hostile land, with no means of communicating with their captors, or escape, are faced with a bleak future. The Japanese look down on Westerners, thinking them to be barbarians, and the ones that they do tolerate, Spanish and Portuguese priests and traders dedicate themselves to persuading the Japanese to destroy Blackthorne and the rest of the crew, to deny their adversaries a foothold in what was previously their exclusive territory. Blackthorne eventually secures the safety of his compatriots by offering his services as a pilot to his jailers, only to become embroiled in a complex power struggle between two of the most influential factions in a nation that has been torn apart by civil war for centuries, and has only recently known unity. Blackthorne, although originally disgusted by the seemingly barbaric and primitive Japanese culture must assimilate into it in order to survive the coming confrontation between the two feuding Japanese warlords.

Character: The protagonist of this epic saga is John Blackthorne, English pilot and merchant. An imposing man, he possesses a shaggy blond mane, and piercing blue eyes, the likes of which the Japanese had never seen. Blackthorne, although physically intimidating, is exceptionally quick witted, has an excellent memory, is a gifted linguist, and is one of the best pilots in any nation's maritime forces. After defusing the initial threat to his safety by offering to help the warlord who captured him create a modern, European style army and navy, Blackthorne quickly begins to learn Japanese, so that he would not have to communicate through Portuguese translators, who would like nothing better than to see him be executed for a breach of etiquette. Once the barrier of language had been all but eliminated, Blackthorne not only survives in this inhospitable environment, he thrives, rising in status from a mere barbarian, to a full samurai, and retainer to the warlord, a title given to him for the services he rendered to the Japanese.

Evaluation: Despite having already read this book several years ago, it once again exceeded my expectations. The massive scope of the novel, the many interconnected plot lines, and the fascinating characters in this book make it an enduring classic, and a masterpiece of storytelling. The plot is one of the most engrossing tales that I have ever read, and I spent entire days of my break doing nothing but working my way through this brick of a novel. Despite the fact that this is one of the longest books that I have read, at over one thousand pages, it could not have been a sentence shorter, in fact, my one criticism of the book is that it could have been a bit longer, so that more plot lines could be resolved, and to give a more detailed description of the climactic battle that the entire book had been leading up to. I would recommend this novel to anyone who has a lot of free time on their hands. It has anything you could ever want in a book, blood, sex, power, ninjas, etc.

Author, Context, and Trivia: Shogun is the first book in Clavell's critically acclaimed Asian Saga, which follows the history of British entrepreneurs in Asia. This book is a bit different from the rest of those in the series, as most follow the Struan Trading Company, and the events surrounding it. The author, James Clavell, also worked on the famous World War Two P.O.W. film, The Great Escape, was a major proponent of laissez-faire capitalism, and the free market economy. He was also an admirer of Ayn Rand, and once sent her a copy of his book Noble House, accompanied by a note saying "This is for Ayn Rand – one of the real, true talents on this earth for which many, many thanks. James C, New York, 2 Sept 81."