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Summary: A window into a different time and place.
Review: This is a beautifully written tale of the life of the orphaned son of a samurai. It is filled with the dramatic changes of fortune that are commonplace in times of war, and imbued with the alien values and atmosphere of ancient Japan.In the space of a day, the petted son of a noble samurai loses not only his family, but all his status. Rather than being killed with the rest, he unintentionally charms a samurai of the lord who killed his father and family, and is allowed to live - as a servant. Throughout his life, the boy seeks to return to the heights from which he descended. He meets wonderful friends, and learns many hard lessons - always in a state of war, or on the edge of it. This is an excellent tale, filled with adventure and contemplation both. As is obvious by the schoolkids reviews on this site, it is not necessarily for the average child. But an intelligent kid, who is a good reader, and capable of understanding the differences between cultures, will enjoy this coming-of-age adventure.
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Summary: The Samurai'sTale
Review: This is a great book to do fo a report. If your teacher wants you to read a book about the Medieval period read this book it covers a lot about medieval Japan. I liked this book because I'm into learning about samurai and this book being a fictional book actually tells you a lot about how a samurai starts out
and how hard work can actually get you places. so if you want to read a good book I suggest this one
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Summary: The Samurai's Tale
Review: This is a really great book. It took a while for me to get into it, but after a few chapters I couldn't stop. I really loved the book, except that all the names were confusing at first.
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Summary: Fine Juvenile Novel
Review: This very well written novel is set at the beginning of the period that saw the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate. There is an excellent and unsentimental depiction of feudal life and the often horrifying warfare of that period. Haugard is able to make his characters sympathetic without sacrificing their historical reality. As with many fine juvenile novels, the maturation of the main character is a central element. In this book, the concept of loyalty and the conflicts between feudal loyalty and family loyalty are important themes. Recommended strongly for early teens.
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Summary: I am already 13 and I still had to read this book
Review: This was a fairly easy book to read, although I wouldn't even have picked it up if my language arts teacher hadn't assigned it. Of course, it is what most teachers would call "Good Literature". But, I would still read this even if it isn't assigned to me.
But, if you are an aldult looking for a really good book to buy for your kids, I would strongly suggest this book because for one thing, it teaches you about many of the cultural things in Japan during the feudal area. Although you may not have to answer questions after each chapter like we did, you would probably still benefit from buying this book. So, go ahead, buy it. After all, it isn't that expensive, and it is also like one of those "learning experiences" that adults talk so much about.
It has been fun to know you, and if you have the chance, e-mail me at the address shown (the leo does NOT stand for Leonardo DiCaprio... it stands for the horoscope sign leo... yeah.. lion...)
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Summary: Great Book for people interested in Medieval Japan.
Review: This was an excellent book showing the life of a young peasant climbing up the social ladder to becoming a samurai. Most schools require this book read. I don't blame them. Lot's O' Battles. Great book.
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Summary: Worst book ever!
Review: This, if you can call it that, book has to be the most boring thing I've ever read in my life! My entire 7th grade class had to read it and not ONE person enjoyed it. It should be banned or burned! It did not deserve the 1 star I gave it! I also DON'T reccomend "Treasure Island" and "The Outsider's".
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Summary: Experience the life of a young boy during medieval Japan.
Review: War! Terror! Blood. This was the setting of the book, The Samurai's Tale. The young noble boy, Taro, turns from a samurai's son to a lowly servant. In one day his parents are dead and his name is gone. Slowly, he fights to raise his status in the feudal system and to regain his noble place. He goes through many perilous adventures and battles and meets new people through the treacherous journey of his life. We recommend this book to people who like challenges, adventures, action and romance. As J.P. Carroll says, "I learned many new words such as 'seppuku' which means ritual suicide." Another person, Nishant Krishnan, states, "This book is extremely interesting and highly educational." This book, authored by Erik Christian Haugaard, was very well written with many interesting details and high level vocabulary words! We all recommend it highly.
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Summary: Great book for people interested in feudal Japan.
Review: We read this book in 6th grade. It is a turbulent book about feudal Japan. This book was exciting in the beginning. We enjoyed the part when Taro became an orphan. He was really young. We felt like we were his servent, Yone, when she and Taro hid in the closet because two samurais were killing his family. His parents were killed and he had to redeem himself to become a samurai like his father. We would highly recommend this book to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. it has high vocabulary and it is confusing because of the Japanese names, but it is worth reading.
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