"Shōgun" by James Clavell

During a casual conversation somebody recently have mentioned "Shōgun" and instantly I remember how much I always admired this novel and was planning to re-visit it again but always got distracted with something else. Once, long time ago, I clearly remember thinking about it and the very same day I found second hand copy on Amsterdam's famous flea market but for some reason never truly finished it, probably because it is a massive, more than a thousand pages long saga and at that time I was  too impatient for such effort. Now the right time came. And even the meeting with a person who mentioned it might not have been an accident because I truly believe things happen when they are supposed to happen, obviously I just needed a right moment for the idea to form in my thoughts - "yes, I should read that novel again, this time properly."

""In 1600, an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai". 

This was a sentence from Clavell's daughter schoolbook that inspired this novel. Clavell himself encountered Japanese and their life habits during WW2 when he barely survived as a prisoner of war in some of the most notoriously brutal Japanese concentration camps, the experience inadvertently serving as inspiration for several of massively successful historical novels of which "Shōgun" is by far the most beloved, in fact Clavell himself admits that it was the book made his name and he will forever be associated with. It is hands down, without a doubt the best historical fiction novel I have ever read and although it goes on for more than a thousand pages, I could gladly read another thousand, because it was so gripping, evocative and even informative about 17th century Japan. The only thing I remembered from reading it the first time around was the staggering shock that happened during first encounter of Japanese locals and European sailors, each side perceiving another as barbarians because their lifestyles, civilisations and the whole perspective of lives were so vastly different. Reading it now for the second time - as it usually happens, with completely different frame of mind - I become so engrossed in the story that for two weeks it became literary impossible to do anything else but to completely surrender to this dream inside of a dream (phrase from the novel) and even with supporting cast of hundreds, the novel was just perfection and masterpiece from the first to the last page. In fact, honestly I wouldn't mind if it had a few chapters more.

What makes "Shōgun" so special? First, its a escapism of the highest order. When the novel completely takes over and brings the reader safely out of ordinary life into another realm where typhoon whip the ships, where cruel Japanese lord orders European prisoner to be boiled alive simply for his amusement and where culture demands proper respectful bows or lack of it might be perceived as insult (and therefore resulting with a instant murder) and when you can't wait to go back to your reading chair and dive again into this fantastic world, than you know you have been enchanted. Nothing can be further from our lives and customs - it might as well be another planet - yet nothing could make you part with this book once you started. I got so engrossed in it that if anyone wanted to steal it from me, I would probably pull a sword and say "so sorry but you will die now". Second, its not "only" a fiction as most of us will found out that Clavell got his inspiration from real, historical people who actually lived, loved and died in that time - John Blackthorne existed and there is a statue of him in Nagisacho, Japan but the real name was William Adams. Wonderful, unforgettable Mariko Toda was a real-life Japanese samurai woman remembered as Hosokawa Gracia. Lord Toranaga and everything about him is true - even to the fact that he was famously enthusiastic about falconry and some of his real-life quotes are in the novel - except that his name was Tokugawa Ieyasu. Than there are literary hundreds of supporting characters who are all unique and important as chess figures in this huge war saga, even down to some samurai guard who happened to witness the treachery and several chapters later springs out of nowhere just to point at the traitor. As much as warriors themselves are brutal and dangerous, women are equally - or even more - lethal because they are fearless, cunning and shrewd. Take for example great royal widow Lady Ochiba or seemingly amusing Gyoko, the Mama-san who initiates the tradition of geisha girls but at the end of the novel we find out she might be one of the most dangerous characters. Third, the plot - oh what a plot - magnify Byzantine intrigues times ten and you get the world where basically guileless Blackthorne found himself as just another weapon in lord Toranaga's war - occasionally Blackthorne disappears in the background when Clavell excitedly spreads the whole banner over this multi-layered historical saga and suddenly we see much larger picture that looms over cities, mountains and the whole empire. The novel actually made me daydreaming about being Japanese and watching rocks grow.