Shogun by James Clavell

Simply put this is one of the most fantastic books I’ve ever read. I’m not going to go too deep because it’s been out for a long time but it is absolutely epic in every sense of the word. The intricate plot, the almost unfathomable depth and development of the characters, the wonderful immersion into the Japanese samurai culture and so much more. When I turned the final page my only thoughts were “Fuck me THAT was a book”. It was more than a story it was an experience and never have I found myself more at ease with 1200 pages even with a huge amount of historical context and the abundant use of a foreign, in this case Japanese, language.

It’s hard not to relate to the protagonist Blackthorne who is an English Captain who washes up on Japanese shores after his boat is caught in a fearsome storm. Everything is unfamiliar. The clothes, the cleanliness, the manners, the ceremony, the language, the weapons, the threats. Everything. The people of Japan are presented as wild and dangerous, samurai cutting people down for the slightest infraction, women bowing in constant deference to men. The amazing thing is there is so much detail that by the end it is the other world that seems dirty, uncultured and foreign even though it is the one I know.

One thing I came to absolutely love was the relationships between the men and women which at first seemed grossly misweighted. It becomes very clear however that despite their lower social status the women are the smart ones. They must be clever, calculating, shrewd, ingenious and able to contain their emotions at all time with an eye on the long game that would secure their children a safe and prosperous future. All a man had to do to be clever was listen to his goddamn wife and do what she goddamn tells him and what actually separates those clever men is those that know and understand this fact and those that need to be placated and fooled.

“I hope your spirit’s just awaiting Buddha’s forty days for rebirth somewhere here. I pray your spirit comes into my family. Please. But again as a lady – not as a man. We could not afford to have you as a man. You’re much too special to waste as a man”.

All in all this was an absolute monster of a book and it is definitely one of my favourites of 2020.

10/10