Books

Shogun

James Clavell tells a fictional story of a westerner in medieval Japan. 

I’m taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to talk about this because I can’t get it out of my head. 

My fellow readers will know exactly what I mean when I say that I miss living in this book. I’ve felt homesick for it since I finished it a couple weeks ago. 

When I started it, I figured it was going to use the main character as a vehicle for touring around Japan saying “wow how strange it is here!”

Instead, the book takes you deep into Japanese culture. And the characters are nuanced and interesting across the board. 

Great plot, riveting character development, sophisticated themes, all set against the backdrop of one of my favorite time and place combinations. 

I’d update my wife on what was happening in the book every day, just because I was so excited that I had to get it off my chest. 

Five stars, will be tough to beat in 2025. 

Can’t wait to watch the show 🤩

The Pillars of the Earth 

Ken Follett follows the construction of a fictional cathedral across many decades. 

The cathedral is just a nexus, the book is about the power struggles, social dynamics, and sex lives of the people involved. 

It’s very good. It uses occasional archaic flourishes but for the most part, it’s totally modern English. The story arcs overlap and interlock enough to keep momentum high across the thousandish pages. The characters are all memorable, and either lovable or gratifyingly hateable. The religious crap is palatable and balanced by a few skeptical characters. 

My main gripe with the book is the mad rush in the last 15% to provide comprehensive happily-ever-after denouement. Every single thread got tied up with a tidy little bow, which felt like a minor betrayal of the complexity and intensity of the rest of the book. 

Three stars for the class it wanted to be (an enduring epic). Five stars for the class it achieved (great big soap opera).