Shōgun, Part One

The Asian Saga

By: James Clavell

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

By the #1 New York Times bestselling author and unparalleled master of historical fiction, James Clavell’s Shogun is soon to be a major FX/Hulu TV series!

Shogun, the classic epic novel of feudal Japan that captured the heart of a culture and the imagination of the world, is now available for the first time in serial format. Part One contains the first half of the complete novel.

After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen—Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom. As internal political strife and a clash of cultures lead to seemingly inevitable conflict, Blackthorne’s loyalty and strength of character are tested by both passion and loss, and he is torn between two worlds that will each be forever changed.

Powerful and engrossing, capturing both the rich pageantry and stark realities of life in feudal Japan, Shogun is a critically acclaimed powerhouse of a book. Heart-stopping, thrilling action melds seamlessly with intricate historical detail and raw human emotion. Endlessly compelling, this sweeping saga captivated the world to become not only one of the best-selling novels of all time but one of the highest-rated television miniseries, as well as inspiring a nationwide surge of interest in the culture of Japan. Shakespearean in both scope and depth, Shogun is, as the New York Times put it, ‘'not only something you read—you live it.’‘

Also available: Shogun: Part Two

©1975 James Clavell (P)2015 Blackstone Publishing

Nice romanticized view of Japan (Americanized)

First of all I wanted to start by applauding research that went into the book. The customs, costume descripitons and cultural differences are really nicely summarized. Is it realistic? Surprise, surprise none of modern descriptions of feudal Japan are. The view we have of samurais is an effect of Meiji restoration and our current view on Bushido and Samurai caste is based on Japan's own reflections.

When it comes to writing itself it leaves something to be desired. The book is mainly he said, she said, he thought. It's sometimes hard to follow on who's POV the writer takes. It's not amazing, but it's fine. American writers rarely are great when it comes to craft of this kind. It reads a little bit like a script for a movie or tv show.

The story itself draws on reality and makes some changes, but nothing major (at least until the end of book 1)

Performance of James Clavell is exceptional and I highly respect the Japanese reading.

Overall while there are some bad aspects the book gets my respect for taking very difficult subject and popularizing it for modern audience.

not as good as the (80s) show

a friend first introduced me to the original TV show and somehow I thought the book it was based on would be good too. its kinda meh, characters are quite unbelievable. I find it hard to believe one of a group of Samurai would jump head first to his death off a cliff, just in order to gain the attention of their master down below..

Very good!

Really interesting story and a good performance from the narrator. Unfortunately though, the audio quality has been compromised. It is as if the end of each sentence has been abruptly cut. One can still understand the entirety of the sentence but, given that audio is a big part of this medium, the end result leaves a sour aftertaste.

Watch the 2024 series in stead

There are a few things that grate both in the performance as well as the story. For some reason, the audio volume of the last word in a large number of sentences is really low, to the point of being inaudible. Furthermore, while the narrator is great, he doesn't speak japanese. The book is littered with japanese words and sentences, and he can only muster some phonetic interpretation. While this really puts us in the shoes of the anjin, it's also quite annoying.
On the side of the story, it's clear that it is written in the 70's by an american. While the historic events the book is based on are utterly fascinating, the worldbuilding and characters as written by mr Clavell feel like dated pastiches.
Listening to this book just makes me appreciate the work the people put into the tv series even more.

Let down by the narrator

As other reviewers have mentioned, the narrator tends to fizzle out, making the last few words of many sentences almost inaudible. For me this is a deal-breaker as my audiobook consumption is entirely in my car, to while away long drives. I gave up eight hours into the first volume, and won't bother with the rest of it, or the second volume.

I know the story is good and the research and setting is excellent. But I cannot recommend this title to anyone who plans to listen in the car.