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Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era

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Not knowing what to expect, I came away from each sitting contemplating the chapter(s) I had just read, feeling there were lessons to learn.

read Vagabond or Musashi (the novel) first? Should I read Vagabond or Musashi (the novel) first?

He declines and turns her away multiple times, not because he doesn't love her in return, rather simply because he doesn't wish for their relationship to get between him and his personal goal of mastering the sword.There is also a large cast of side characters. Some are incredibly annoying and others are rather humorous or wise. This functions as an adventure story that also tells a deep moral tone. Yet it is also exciting, as the bloody violence of this time period is never far away. In Musashis we have something similar but quite reverse. Here Odysseus leaves his Ithaca on his own free will. He delves head-on into the hardest of hardships a samurai can face: famine, poverty, insulting the honor of the most famous samurai clan in Japan. Even living in heaven there's no heaven unless you've faced hell, so our hero does exactly that. Meanwhile, his Penelope is not waiting but looking for him because there's neither an island nor a kingdom for them to return to. They only have each other. But unless the path of the sword is genuinely walked to its very end, they will both keep on walking through hell, searching and avoiding each other until hell falls apart. House of Yagyu – a powerful family known for their style of swordsmanship who serves the House of Tokugawa Being an enormous fan of the manga Vagabond I decided to read Eiji Yoshikawa's version on Musashi, and I have to admit that story-wise the novel is way better than the manga. Of course, one can expect that when comparing a novel to a manga, but still, here the characters and story acquire so many different dimensions it's mind blowing. Adding to the fact that events aren't as exaggerated as in the manga (as the art usually does), this gives the story a much more real, much more serious vibe, actually transporting you in life threatening situations while enveloping you with Japanese culture, morals, and predicaments. The book is old enough that the levels of sexism in it are absurd, and parts of it got me so annoyed that I was really distracted from the plot.

Musashi: An Epic Novel Of The Samurai Era (Hardback)

I Shall Taunt You: Musashi, seeing a battle as beginning before the actual fight, does this. He was famous for it in real life. Diabolus ex Machina: After the duel at Ichijoji, Musashi and Matahachi meet up and reconcile, with Matahachi appearing to realize how foolish he's been throughout the novel. They separate, and Kojirō suddenly comes out of nowhere, lures Matahachi into a brothel, and convinces him to turn against Musashi. A map was used to show the locations of all the towns and cities, which are just as numerous as the characters.

Unfortunately, to me it feels as though the characters are mostly two-dimensional (at best), and the plot is sort of repetitive in places which resulted in tedious bits. And I never really emotionally connected with the characters or the story. Defiled Forever: With Akemi, the novel goes to great lengths to show that no, non-virtuous girls (even if they aren't really responsible for their lot in the first place) don't deserve a good life. Also played with with notorious whoremongering Matahachi, who ends up with said defiled Akemi, while Musashi gets virtuous Otsū. It did have its issues, naturally. The characterisation isn't quite that deep for most characters, with the exception of the protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi, and perhaps a couple of others. But given the scope and breadth of the story, it'd have been extremely difficult to make everyone multi-layered, and tedious, too. Another bump was that the second half of the novel doesn't flow as smoothly or reads as fun as the first half; it tends to philosophise a lot and characters start to act a wee bit erratically sometimes, as well as that some plot threads not getting tied up properly left small plotholes. Also, the end-of-the-road change of heart for a certain character didn't ring all that true to me. Perhaps along with "Shogun" this is one of the most well-known books steeped in the history and concepts of Japan in the time of the Shoguns. I truly enjoyed all aspects of it- from the story, to the martial arts ideas and even insights into humanity. But it is also a great adventure, a coming of age and, darkly, a tale of humor. Perhaps my expectations were too high but I was a bit disappointed by this book. I am really interested in (traditional) Japanese culture and looked forward to reading Musashi. Although it is an entertaining read and I did gain some inspiration from it, I found it really missed the depth you'd expect from such a saga.

Musashi Book One: The Way of the Samurai - Goodreads

The lone Samurai is a book about Musashi – as much as history permits us to know. There isn’t enough information to complete a picture of Musashi. Some trivial information exists, like, Musashi having eczema. Because of this The Lone Samurai fills the gaps of Musashi’s life with Japanese history and cross-referenced works of parallel figures. So in a world where Kiri-sute gomen existed and where Samurai ruled the common folk unless there was a lord around, where half the people carried a katana and were ready to use it, in a world where the hive mentally reigned supreme, there came Musashi: the epitome of reason and masculinity. As for the setting and the themes, they are definitely the strongest part of the story. Those that are interested in period Japanese culture or want to see the morals and ethics of Sun Tzu's 'The Art Of War' exemplified in a fictional epic - you will certainly find more in this book than I did. But be aware, as stated above, that there is a LOT of fluff and filler surrounding that which you are looking for. For those who aren't familiar with Edo period Japan and the path of the sword, as well as those who're only familiar with them through anime and manga, it'd be good to understand that, although things weren't as wild and inhumane as in medieval Japan. we're talking about an era and culture where the roles in society were still fixed and hopeless. There were lords, farmers, vendors, and samurai, each having their own advantages and disadvantages. A samurai for example was identified with his honor and he was free to exercise his right to kill whoever insulted him, however light this so-called insult might have been (you could sneeze at the wrong time and lose your head!). I am a huge fan of the old Criterion Collection samurai movies and I loved Toshiro Mifune's portrayal of Musashi, so I thought I'd give this a read. I found it VERY slow at the beginning, but I powered through. It took me as long to read this as it did to read Don Quixote….coincidentally, Musashi lived at the same time as Cervantes, so it was interesting to compare what was going on in Japan in the time of Shakespeare and Cervantes.No samurai could best Musashi in combat. His Two Heavens as One philosophy was too much for any mortal. July 1981), Musashi (hardcover), Trans. Charles S. Terry, United States: HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0-06-859851-0 One of the best classic fiction series that I have read. There is plenty of action, and adventure, however what surprised me the most was how witty and humorous the book is throughout. Also, the book ends in a way to make you immediately open book 2. As I have already mentioned, the story's unspoken reliance on extraordinary coincidences is probably my biggest problem with Musashi as a whole. With an entire country to explore, the way our protagonist bumps into the same 4 or 5 characters dozens of times throughout the story just led to such a stale overarching sense of progress and development. Think of this room as your mother's womb and prepare to be born anew. If you look at it only with your eyes, you will see nothing more than an unlit, closed cell. But look again, more closely. Look with your mind and think. This room can be the wellspring of enlightenment, the same fountain of knowledge found and enriched by sages in the past. It is up to you to decide whether this is to be a chamber of darkness or one of light." (p. 184)

Musashi - Archive.org Musashi - Archive.org

At it's core, Musashi is the story of a young man from Japan who grows up to be a renowned master of the way of the sword. Over the course of the 50+ hour long story, he encounters new sword fighting techniques and learns the skills and attributes that are required and expected of an honourable Ronin.

Entretenido primer volumen de una de las clásicas novelas niponas de samurais. Algunas partes enganchan más que otras, pero por lo general mi visión del libro es muy positiva. Estoy ansioso por leer el resto de volúmenes.

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