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Summary: Unique and Unforgettable
Review: Written with a light touch and a great deal of grace, the story takes place in a feudal Japan of 1860. In addition to all the battles of honor and reputation within Japan, however, there is a new threat posed by The Outsiders. Amidst these intrigues, American missionaries Emily, Matthew and Zephaniah are hosted by Genji, the last lord of the Okanashi clan, reknowned for their great gifts of prophecy and foresight.Takashi Matsuoka's Cloud of Sparrows is unique and unforgettable: in fact, I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. Matsuoka provides genuine insight into feudal Japanese culture and more importantly, allows us to see our own culture through the eyes of others. The Americans are very much The Outsiders in this novel, and their actions become almost as foreign to the reader as they are to the Japanese. A wonderful read.
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Summary: Bringing it all back home
Review: Well written and engaging, this book keeps you reading through the enormous inventiveness of its plot. The book revolves around the conflict between tradition and modernization, and the possibilty of continunity within change. Set primarily in the 1860s and 1870s, it is a revenge novel, a samurai tale, a western, an elegy for a lost time, and (lightly) a meditation on the future. Although its primary action is set in Japan at the time of the opening to the outside world, a significant subplot is set in Texas. Main characters include an American monk at a Buddhist shrine, missionaries, diamyos, gunmen, swordsmen, and visionaries. "Bringing it all back home"? Well, consider how effortlessly Matsuoka merges the Texas subplot with the main action in Japan. I couldn't help thinking of how Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" was turned into the "Magnificent Seven", as I watched this book return the favor.
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Summary: An excellent read
Review: I found this novel to be suprisingly enjoyable. When I purchased this book I was afraid that it would be a knockoff of Shogun. I think that Cloud of Sparrows rates well in it's own right. I really got into the storyline and rapidly came to care for the characters. It was an effort for me to put the book down. I am really looking forward to reading more by this author.
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Summary: Tip-top historical adventure
Review: This is a fast-moving, well-written tale with enough intrigue, history, romance, mysticism,and Samurai lore and gore to please just about any reader. Shortly after the opening of Japan to the west, young Lord Genji is sent to the docks of Edo to greet three Christian missionaries. Most of his countrymen see the outsiders as repugnant and their ideas as ridiculous, but Genji intuitively understands the influence they will have on his country's future. The missionaries are a strange trio who bring their own load of intrigue. Matthew Starke is an ex-gunslinger-at least he says it's a former profession. Emily's beauty has only brought her grief in the United States, and she feels liberated by how ugly the Japanese find her. Zephaniah, their leader, is on fire for Christ but not Emily, even though she is his fiancée. Genji and the beautiful geisha Heiko are thrown in with the missionaries at first because they allegedly speak English (although no one is more amused than they to hear the difference between their book-learned language and the way people actually talk); and then because of the threat they all face from factions attempting to overthrow Genji's ancient clan. Author Takashi Matsuoka writes with confidence and verve, creating lively, intricate characters whom he places in exciting situations. A great deal of history is imparted, neatly meshed into the narrative, and both Japanese and American characters are fully realized. Nice touches of cross-culture influence are provided in the form of an American who has become a Buddhist monk, and a samurai whose life is transformed by the concept of the pursuit of happiness. "Cloud of Sparrows" is an excellent addition to the historical adventure genre.
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Summary: A jr. version of Clavell's Shogun
Review: I expected a story as in depth and detailed as Shogun by James Clavell (altho his story had some flaws, too). Cloud of Sparrows is less in almost every respect. Less details, less story, less character development. Most importantly, Cloud of Sparrows does not have that core value which makes a novel great. At most, it stresses the inevitablitiy of things to come. Perhaps its a personal preference, but I rather enjoyed the vision of man's potential for limitless ambition, suberfuge, adventure, and love that was contained within Shogun.
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Summary: A REAL Page-Turner
Review: Cloud of Sparrows is an epic saga of Japan in the moments of its first exposure to Western culture. It has everything: love, intrigue and violent struggles for power -- in a truly exotic setting. Takashi Matsuoka is a powerful writer, and this is a real page -turner. I couldn't put it down
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Summary: A fantastic book!
Review: This book is so much more than a samurai story. Cloud of Sparrows is a view into a fascinating period of history, a compelling account of clashing cultures, a love story, an adventure, a journey. The author deftly weaves Japanese values and even Zen Buddhist precepts into a story that will keep you reading late into the night. I highly recommend it!
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Summary: Cloud of Sparrows
Review: Cloud of Sparrows was given to me by a family member. I didn't think I'd like it because I'm not into large and long books like that and even though I like Rurouni Kenshin and it's the same time period, I wasn't sure. However, now I've finished it and started Autumn Bridge. I've even passed the books around to my friends, both older and younger. It's a book for anyone who enjoys learning about the past in other countries and in this one. It's a combination of fact and fiction that will catch any reader's eyes and their heart.
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Summary: Cormac McCarthy Meets James Clavell!
Review: "Cloud of Sparrows," the first novel from Takashi Matsuoka, spins a complex yarn set in 1861 Japan -- this is a classic East Meets West tale, but it is told with brutal clarity and riveting poetry that sets it apart from more mundane works.
While Matsuoka's characters are initially bound by their rigid perceptions of each other (the Japanese see Westerners as uncivilized oafs while the Westerners see the Japanese as heathen wretches crying out for salvation), Matsuoka uses flashbacks and current crises to highlight the underlying similarities between the two cultures. Both groups, Japanese and American, are capable of and commit acts of horrifying barbarity as well as acts of exquisite kindness. Revenge and honor motivate both groups, as well -- the goals are merely pursued in different ways.
The story focuses on the rise of Lord Genji, a Japanese Prince Hal character (who apparently served as his own Falstaff) who must overcome his playboy reputation and lead his clan to victory. The victory he seeks is the conclusion of the Battle of Sekigahara, which was fought over 250 years ago. Lord Genji, cursed and blessed with the gift of prophecy, knows that the balance of Japanese history will be determined by these Westerners, with their lethal machinery and perpetual focus on the future. Japan, as Genji sees it, has cursed itself with its dedication to tradition, honor, and ritualism. And so Genji seeks out the company of the new arrivals, three American missionaries who will each affect the history of Japan in their own way.
Two of the three Americans are characters for the ages. Emily Gibson is a beautiful missionary who has fled to Japan hoping that the Japanese will see her as ugly, since her beauty has only caused her misery back in America. The other American of note is Matthew Stark, who wears a missionary's habit but whose mission is murder. Their fates grow entwined with Genji's as the wheels of fate and consequence turn inexorably.
Also riding shotgun with Genji is his deranged uncle, the mightiest swordsman in Japan since Musashi (and who is also cursed with prophecies of Japan's ultimate fate), and a beautiful geisha/ninja whose darkest secret is unknown even to her.
This is a Japan where men still slit their own throats after learning they have insulted the wrong man, where plots of vengeance grow over decades, and where men and women can still learn astounding new truths about each other and the world around them. Through it all, Matsuoka writes with a brilliant clarity, which brings to life both his visions of beauty and his horrifying battle scenes -- scenes which rival the wonderful Cormac McCarthy in their stark realism.
This novel reads like the first novel in a series, as many loose ends are unresolved at the end. "Autumn Bridge" is apparently the next book in the series, and I can't wait to check it out. Dive in, and enjoy!
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Summary: Cloud of Sparrows
Review: I remembered found this book in a supermarket nearby my house almost a year ago. After reading the first pages, I just can't put it down. I finished the book in less than four days, and was enthrilled by the story.
It was truly a Zen story. The way Matsuoka-san describes life and death, was truly a Zen way (no wonder, he used to live among the monks, right?). I was so impressed how this Japanese ex-monk can be so accurate in describing American culture (through Emily and Stark) and yet weaving the grace of the Way in between the pages.
Through Matsuoka-san actually I learned more about meditation and acceptance. How to let go what should be gone. How to overcome fear over death; for death is but another door to another life (through Shigeru's and Jimbo's death). And I learned that it is true that we'd rather not knowing what's in the future. Rather, just enjoy life as it is at present moment. For, past and future are not real. Present moment is.
I should be saying something about the novel, but I cannot say anything but that this novel is one of the best novel I've read about Japan (in addition to Eiji Yoshikawa's Musashi). The fact that both novels (Musashi and Cloud of Sparrow) teach me about life is what made them my precious collections.
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