Shōgun, Part Two

The Asian Saga

De: James Clavell

Narrado por: 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 Two contains the second 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, edge-of-your-seat 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 One

©1975 James Clavell (P)2015 Blackstone Publishing

Amazing story great narrator

Absolutely astonishing and teaches a lot about Japan culture, captivating and exciting, really a wonderful read

Japanese culture and subtlety.

Subtle traditions of the japanese shinto and the Wha. The Enlightenment of Anjin-san. Writing is captivating and rich. Also reading was on point.

Amazing Tale

I read this book in the late 80’s and this audiobook helped me remember this epic and remarkable semi-historical tale

I Thoroughly Enjoyed This

This was quite a different book from my usual fantasy and Sci fi genres that I enjoy but I absolutely loved it. I only wish there was more. The story was captivating, the characters so well developed and the Japanese helped immerse you into this other world.

The description of Japan in the 1600s

Amazing story and you live with each character as its told. Brilliant and accurate depiction of Japan and Its culture at the time.

What a bitter disappointment

SPOILERS: The whole novel, more than 50 hours of listening is leading to the climatic battle of Sekigahara between Ishido and Toranaga. 50 hours of sacrifice, suffering, death and love, all described in beautiful and luxurious languid detail. A concentration on the most minute parts of Japanese life, brought to life in our minds by the author's loving depictions. 50 hours of every detail of the planning, the lies, the deceit and the double crosses. 50 hours well spent, Except the apogee of the novel's arc is rendered into a 1 minute and 47 second afterward. After all those hours of listening, the satisfying ending you're looking for is snatched away, and you're left with basically nothing.

If I had my time again, I would not listen to this book. The narration was superb, but the ending just seemed the most anti climatic cheat I could ever have imagined.

Do not listen to this, watch the FX series instead. You get all the high points, without the feeling you just wasted two whole days!

Anticlimactic

The story ends in a very abrupt manner, which I did not like. The plot thickens and intensifies, leading to a crescendo that essentially ends with a cover-book-summary. Up to that point the plot is interesting. Furthermore, the audio quality is sub par as the same audio issues persist from the first part of the book (each sentence has been clipped too soon even removing almost entirely the final word of the sentence at some points). That’s a pity since the narrator does a very descent job.