Shogun: A Novel of Japan – The First Novel in The Asian Saga
I have long been intrigued by the mere thought of James Calvell‘s “Asian Saga”, a collection of tomes only loosely connected that follow the history of certain regions in the Near and Far East. For one reason, I love Asia and am fascinated by its history, not to mention the fact that novels 1200 pages long often make me feel like I’m enjoying a 9-season long miniseries in just a short few months.
Besides this, Clavell also comes highly recommended by two couples in my church, both of whom are ultra-busy doctors at one of our region’s major hospitals, and both of whom had also recommended that I read James Michener, whom I love. Whatever it is about epic novels that piques the interest of the uber-educated who rarely find free time, I don’t know, but I figured Clavell would be worth a try.
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Previously, I’d only experienced James Clavell through his fantasy-rich kids’ book, Thrump-o-Moto (The Little Samurai). This summer, I came across the stack of “Asian Saga” books that I had long ago purchased and figured that now was as good a time as any to give them a try. Sixty-six pages later, I feel bad for having held onto them for so long.
Secrets told, I gave up on Shogun so quickly due to the language of virtually every character inside. Literally no one in the universe curses Jesus as often or as creatively as Clavell assumes this group of sailors did. Nearly every paragraph offered some new combination of words to blaspheme Jesus, all under the guise that Protestants who think they are better than Catholics really aren’t. OK, James, we get it. Why the need to hammer it home so mercilessly?
The story also tried to introduce Japan’s differences from the Portuguese by posing the Japanese as animalistic in both their sexuality and their brutality. Everyone knows that Japan is a world all its own and has a history of atrocities that few modern nations can parallel, but if I want to learn about their history from an historical novel set three hundred years in the past, I don’t want to begin with all the stereotypes being immediately proven true. Even if those stereotypes were true so long ago, any author worth his salt should patiently work his and the reader’s way there, rather than spoon-feed them to us so blatantly: a samurai chopping off some innocent dissident’s head without emotion; some Japanese grandmother querying about the size of a foreigner’s erection.
With the film Silence recently released, I feel like I could watch the movie and get a sense of the world Clavell was attempting to convey without having to enslave myself to his gratuitous violence, sexuality, and blasphemy. Thank God.
If you’re a fan of Clavell and I’ve misrepresented him here, my apologies. Please let me know where I’m wrong. Until then, I’m going to stick with my gut instincts and never lay hands on his books again.
©2017 E.T.
Dear Elliot
I tried to read Nobel House by James Cavell and found it indigestible – the slanderous abundance of vile comments by Chinese characters and the continual egregious use of the word fornicating, etc and the crude references to female and male genitals are tedious. I also found the juxtaposition of chapters and scenes confusing. Like you, I won’t attempt to read any more of his novels. Ironically, one reviewer likened the pleasure of reading this book to the enjoyment of Gone with the Wind, which is way superior. No! GWTW is super and the movie is my all time number 1 movie.