Shibumi

By: Trevanian

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Nicholai Hel, born in the ravages of World War I China to an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father, raised in the spiritual gardens of a Japanese Go Master, survives the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world's most artful lover and its most accomplished and highly paid assassin. Genius, mystic, master of language and culture, Hel's secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection: shibumi.

Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his magnificent Eurasian mistress, Hel faces his most sinister enemy, a super-monolith of espionage and monopoly. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side and on the other, shibumi.

©1979 Trevanian (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Solo Narration (Male)

"It's hard to imagine a more nearly perfect spy story." (Milwaukee Journal)
"Novels about international intrigue demand intricate plotting. Shibumi delivers." (Los Angeles Times)

The most uneven

Book of the year.
Spends way to much time on erotica
And drags out a pretty good story by at least three hours more than warranted

dated, not quite PC 2017 but mind expanding& cool

Colourful characters, lots of cultural comparisons for those who enjoy that kinda stuff. 'fun' ride.

Dated but good story

Not bad, went off into some odd directions at times but overall a good listen.

Well written, thoughtful, amazing.

The narrator is wonderful - don't miss this book. The setting is our history about 40 years past. Listen, and learn not just another perspective but another way to live.

Superb thrill ride!

A superb thriller...cynical and dark..still relevant after all these years...we'll written and well read...highly recommended!

excellent book!

I would highly recommend this book. The tale that John Wick was based on! Could not stop listening

but for the narrator... trying to sound Basque

the narrator's Le Cagot voice sounded like the voice of that Great Dane cartoon character. Or that of an individual talking with a mouth full of marbles in baby talk. Otherwise a great read.

A beautiful satire

I cannot get enough of this story. It is so over the top and endlessly entertaining. I just finished my 9th listening and it was as good as the first if not better. The story and characters are deep and interesting and amazingly good. It's not for everyone and some will think of it as heavy handed and silly but you should give it a try with an open mind. It's easy to see how John Wick came from this.

Great

It took me about 1/3 of this book to really get into it. A lot of biographical information about the protagonist up front. But when the conflict came, it became exciting and engaging. I especially enjoyed the character of his Basque caving partner. That section was almost a novella in itself. Narrator did a great job of the character voices, and his gentle, understated voice reflected the protagonist and added and interesting contrast to the life-and-death subject matter. I hated to hear this one end.

Exceptional. Old style intricacy.

the nuances in detail within this book send you constantly to Wikipedia and language dictionaries to verify what is so fascinating interwoven in the story. I had read this book decades ago and now for the first time have listened to it which was even more pleasing. the book itself is a game of GO.