Rating: *** (3/5)
Published: Dell, 1975
Format: Pocket Paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Personal Collection
1200+ pages and six weeks later, I was super disappointed in the ambiguous ending of Shogun. I was expecting a grand battle and a decisive victory for our protagonists. Not so much. The conclusion was more of a vague inference as to how things could have turned out.
John Blackthorne, an English navigator of a Dutch ship ends up in Japan with his crew. The novel follows Blackthorne’s exposure to the foreign culture. It took me a quarter of the book to really figure out who everyone was and their roles in the Japanese samurai hierarchy. By then I was vested in the characters, especially Mariko, the beautiful and graceful interpreter between Blackthorne and her liege lord.
The book was at times arduous, but it also had its redeeming qualities. I enjoyed when Blackthorne and his Japanese companions learned things from one another, like when he taught them how to dive. I appreciated how Blackthorne adapted to Japan and embraced their customs. But darn it, I wish I knew his ultimate destiny!
JulzReads 