Shōgun, Part Two

The Asian Saga, Book 1.2

De: James Clavell

Narrado por: Ralph Lister

Duración: 29 h y 16 m

Resumen del Editor

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

Great story, simply incredible narration

The story is fun, intriguing, and stoked my curiosity in Japan and Japanese history. Between this and Musashi I’ve been able to begin exploring Japanese history/culture in a very approachable way. The narrator does a superb job, voices really bringing you into the story and being extremely distinctive.

My New Favorite Book

Masterful story telling with everything you could want from a story. The narrator was superb and kept me enthralled in each character.

Great depiction of feudal Japan and religious and political tensions.

Narrator had a distractingly awful way of making characters sound unlikable. It was difficult to get through

excellent narration

Shogun was an amazing experience. One of the best narration performances that I have heard. Captivating story, twisting plot. A must read

Beautiful. Brilliant. Immense. Unmissable. And that’s just the Narration!!

A story that should not be ignored by anyone. Audiobooks has the benefit of narration and s this book has one of best I’ve heard out of hundreds of others. Amazing.

Worth listening to again and again

I read this book the first time when I was about 12, and since then, many more times thereafter. Clavell’s novel is not a short beach read, but trust me—it’s worth the trip. The depth of his historical research into 1600s Japan is evident on every page, and our central character Blackthorne acts as our eyes and ears, mystified as many of us would be by the richness and complexity of this culture and time.

But long after the Game of Thrones conflict for power is over, it’s the characters that stay with you—the canny strategist Toranaga, the incredibly disciplined and decisive negotiator Mariko, the reckless Yabu—all of these characters will stay in your memory because you until you feel as if you’ve lived this plot with them.

If I have any complaint, it is not about the novel, but the narrator. While recognizing that voicing a 50-60 hour novel with dozens of named characters is no mean feat, I found Lister’s pronunciation of Japanese names and words a distraction at times, as when he voices working-class Japanese characters as vaguely Cockney, or pronounces Fujiko as “Hujiko.” As I do not speak Japanese, I concede this may be the correct Japanese pronunciation of that name, but I do know the word “samurai” is not pronounced “Sam-yooo-rai.”

That brief quibble said, this work is outstanding, and more than worth the investment of time. You will not be sorry—and in fact, I’ll bet you find it hard to put down.

Reader was awesome

The ending was disappointing in that there was no wrap up on what happened to the characters

Magical and riveting start to finish both part one and two. Worth a 1000 koku!

The worst thing was that it had to end. I hope and pray for a Part 3.

The thoroughness of the narrator’s story telling. Top notch.

I liked the cultural aspects of the story. I did not like the way the story ended. I agree with the ending but I wish Clavell had written more. The ending was anti-climactic.

Great telling. voices were distinct.

Some sentences were clipped off at the last syllable. Occasionally it made phrases unintelligible.