Shogun

Shogun – by James Clavell

“Love is a Christian word, Anjin-san. Love is a Christian thought, a Christian ideal. We have no word for ‘love’ as I understand you to mean it.”

James Clavell’s Shogun is one of those rare books that manages to suck you directly into the pages of the story. At times, you don’t feel you're reading about the alien country of Japan in the year 1600, but you feel as though you’re actually there experiencing the history, the politics, the geography and these strange, unfamiliar people.  I use words such as ‘strange’, ‘alien’ and ‘unfamiliar’, because from a European perspective in 1600, such a land may as well have been on another planet.

John Blackthorne is a Dutch captain of a trading ship that is the first from his country to attempt to sail to Japan. His goal is to reap the commerce of Asia. The ship is swallowed up by a storm and wrecks off the shore of Japan, and he and his remaining crew are taken prisoner by these strange indigenous people.  It seems as though the Japanese don’t welcome such foreigners on their land – regardless of the reason. Immediately the crew goes through various degrees of captivity and torture.  It is soon discovered, though, that John Blackthorne just might be smart and educated enough to serve the Japanese and their broader purpose.

It’s here that the book reveals the main storyline.  The Japanese people are quite barbaric, and there is an unending quest for power and domination amongst the different habitants. Through the bizarre system, the country is essentially divided into two loyalties. One, is Lord Toranaga, the president of the Council of Regents. The other, his rival on the council, named Ishido. Both Toranaga and Ishido have the goal of becoming the ultimate leader in Japan, the Shogun. Toranaga has a bit of a disadvantage, yet slowly starts to see how this ‘barbarian’ Blackthrone (called ‘Anjin-san’ by the Japanese, as they can’t pronounce his real name) can aid him get the upper hand with this lifelong struggle. So Blackthorne becomes a very valuable pawn for Toranaga in a bloody, brutal, never-ending chess game.

I’ve basically described the plot, but there is oh so much more here. The paperback edition clocks in at over 1,200 pages. In addition to love, betrayal, religious schisms, lots of suicide (called ‘seppeku’), and ongoing manipulation, we’re exposed to what makes Japan such a strange, baffling country. Blackthorne simply can’t understand many of these brutal customs. At one point, his translator-friend-lover Mariko explains to him that ‘love’ as he knows it simply doesn’t exist for her and her people.  In 16^th century Japan, there is honor, loyalty, duty, and subjugation, but nothing that closely resembles love. Of course, the sentiment goes the other way as well.  The Japanese can’t comprehend European thought either. Example: it’s a sacrilege to them that a European would go for a week (or in the case of these characters, several years) without bathing.  They also can’t fathom how Blackthorne can actually eat something as hideous as ‘meat’ in his diet.  When he tries to explain to his kitchen staff how to prepare a pheasant for cooking, several of the natives run out of the kitchen to be sick.

So in addition to the political cat-and-mouse story going back and forth, we also see Blackthorne slowly becoming ‘Japanese’, and his companion Mariko starts to slowly become westernized as well.  When I finished this book, I couldn’t help but reflect that this wasn’t exactly a book chock-filled with adventure. Nor did the story seem to take place over a long period of time. You might expect this to be the case with a 1,200-page book, but most of what was in these pages was slow-moving reflections, careful dialog, and the ability for the reader to comfortably let the time and place of Japan slowly be absorbed into their veins. 

There are a few other European characters scattered about the story – mostly Portuguese Jesuits that have their own agenda, but there are a ton of different Japanese characters. It’s a bit difficult to keep track of who is who. We also have instances where many of the main characters are only referred to in the book as opposed to actually showing up in the story. I found myself having to constantly ask “Who is this guy again?” Fortunately, this never took away from my overall enjoyment of the story.  In fact, as someone who tries to read 40-50 books per year, I can honestly say this book easily catapulted itself into my top 10 (or maybe top 5) of all time.  This book was master storytelling.

Zachary Taylor: Soldier of the Republic

Zachary Taylor: Soldier of the Republic – by Prof. Holman Hamilton

Another ‘tick’ off my bucket list of reading at least one biography of every U.S. President. As I’ve stated in my other reviews, the lesser known the President, the harder the bios are to find. Good bios, anyway.  Was this book good?  Well, yes. I guess. Sort of.  I’ve noticed that books, particularly biographies, that were written quite some time ago are a bit harder to digest. My theory is that as people’s attention spans have gotten shorter, publishers now demand that books be more concise and ‘sexy’.  This book was written in 1940, and really wasn’t either.

Then, one must be cautious since this book is only the first volume of a two-volume set.  I’m not sure why. This entire book isn’t even 300 pages. I’m guessing the author came to a stopping point, needed a break, and he and his publisher decided to go ahead and put out a volume 1. This isn’t an anomaly, but this book didn’t seem to warrant two separate works due to its limited subject matter.

I guess you could argue that ‘subject’ wise, there are two different areas of Zachary Taylor’s life to focus. This book focuses on the ‘soldier’ whereas the follow-up focuses on the ‘president’.  There’s a lot of soldiering here. The book really didn’t seem to dwell too much on the man’s personal life and background. 

If it did talk about his youth, I don’t remember much. We learn he was a gallant, respectable officer that fought in the War of 1812, the (lesser known) Black Hawk War, and the Mexican-American War in which he served as the General of the entire army.  My problem with books about wars is when they drone on in detail about particular battles. It’s a bit much for my brain to keep straight all of the names of the soldiers, the strange towns, the detailed strategies and the rampant comings and goings.  I’ve made this observation about a lot of ‘war’ books, so perhaps the problem isn’t the book, but rather me.

When this book took a 50,000-foot view of the conflict, however, is when I enjoyed the book the most.  I’ve never actually read an account of the Black Hawk War, and this book did a decent job summing up the high points. The parts of the Mexican-American War that I found most interesting were not the monotonous battle descriptions, but rather the political aspect of the conflict. The Commander in Chief, James Polk, is a Democrat. General Zachary Taylor seems to lean towards an affiliation with the rival Whig party and is becoming vastly popular among the population due to his success in the war. If you’re the president, I guess you can’t let the other guy on the other team look too good, so it seems as though Taylor is pushed out of the top position in the army to make room for someone not as good (General Winfield Scott – ironically also a Whig but not as strong).  Why worry about winning a war when there’s politics to be fought over as well?

As I write this review, I’m about 20% through the second volume, and that one is about the same. It gives the details as it should but doesn’t really add a lot of excitement to the narrative.  Although this book was less than 300 pages, I think it could have been better had it be scaled back even more, and then maybe combined with volume 2.  Maybe such things weren’t thought of in the book publishing world 75 years ago.  Also, I really should reserve judgement until after I have completed the second installment.  Overall a decent account, but it tended to be rather dry in places.

Ireland

Ireland – by Frank Delaney

Ronan O’Mara is a nine-year old boy who lives in rural Ireland with his mother, father, and aunt. The year is 1951. One day, a mysterious stranger – an older man – appears at the doorstep. Who is he? We don’t know. We know his visit is expected. Neighbors come over, and the stranger tells the family and their neighbors a story. Several stories actually. It seems this is the gift of the stranger. A storyteller. Ronan wishes the man could stay forever, but his impatient mother feels he’s outstayed his welcome after a few days, and the stranger leaves.  There’s something about this man that has touched Ronan’s soul though, and Ronan can’t rest easy with the stranger no longer in his life. So Ronan begins a twelve year quest to find the stranger.

Now, before I go further, let’s go back to the stories that the old man told Ronan and company. These stories are quite a pleasant diversion from our “main” story. The stories that the stranger tells are about the people’s homeland and history -the history of Ireland. True, there’s a lot of myth, fable, and tradition within these yarns, but the storyteller knows how to enrapture an audience. It doesn’t surprise us in the least that Ronan can’t rest until he finds out where the man is after he leaves. At the very least, it would be nice to find out who he is. 

Reading this wonderful novel allows you to suspend any sort of disbelief you may have.  Is it really common to invite a complete stranger into your house for a week simply because he can tell stories? Is this man even real? Or is he a figment of young Ronan’s imagination?  Does the existence of this character serve only to aid Ronan discover his destiny?  Good stories really are rare, and Frank Delaney simply entertains us to the point that we simply don’t want to add too much logic within the pages we’re reading.  These stories of Ireland that are juxtaposed through the pages are simply wonderful tales, and many times altogether too brief.

As Ronan embarks on his journey, he seems to be forever one or two steps behind the storyteller. But this doesn’t stop Ronan from hearing more of the stranger’s stories. Wherever Ronan goes, it seems he’s allowed to hear more stories from the stranger in many different forms. Sometimes, he hears the stories secondhand. Other times, the story teller leaves Ronan written tales that the storyteller composed for him to enjoy. It seems the stranger knows Ronan might be searching for him.

What makes this novel more pleasurable as that we also get to know Ronan and his family quite well. Had these extra tales not been thrown into the main storyline, this still would have been a terrific book. Ronan, like all of us, has his own life to live, and as the story progresses, we learn more about his own personal history and the events that shape his character.  So maybe a great way to describe this book is “several wonderful stories told within a story”.

Although this book takes place in Ireland and all of the stories are about Ireland’s history, the overall feel is quite light. This isn’t a densely packed James Michener type of book. I feel that had author Frank Delaney wanted to write such a book, he could have easily done so, however.  But overall, this book is rather light on the historical narratives of the country. The main objective here is Ronan, and his quest to find his calling.

I loved this book. As someone who reads quite a bit of fiction, I never take great writing for granted. The story is the point of a good book, but more important is how the author tells the story. How else could John Grisham become so popular?  On the surface, dozens of books about the law profession don’t sound very exciting, but Grisham is a great storyteller.   

And so is Frank Delaney. After reading this book (Summer 2018) I was sad to discover that Mr. Delaney passed away about a year ago. Fortunately, he has several other books that he penned (all seem to be somewhat related to Ireland), and I’m eagerly looking forward to reading more by this author.