Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa

[Soul Blade]

Hi Guys

Just wondering if anyone has read the book.
It was given to me for a gift and just wanted thoughts on the book if anyone has read..


Cheers


Pete

[KhawMengLee]

Hi Guys

Just wondering if anyone has read the book.
It was given to me for a gift and just wanted thoughts on the book if anyone has read..


Cheers


Pete

A good book. I found it in a branch of Elizabeth's Second Hand Books. Its quite a long read but has very rich imagery of japanese culture, the ending for me wasa bit brief.

[Kenshin Axel]

An awesome book!!!
I read it 5 times!!!
I did not find one part boring, Eiji Yoshikawa is truly a great author, too bad he passed away about 40 years ago.
I also read another book by him, it was called Taiko, it was very good also, but not as good as Musashi, Musashi is truly a work of art.
I got the very old hard back edition, One of my Dad's friends didnt want it anymore, so I got it!!
Yes, the ending was quite brief, but who cares!!
It was one of the best books I've ever read. :beard:

[Soul Blade]

Thanks Guys

I just finished reading the Book of 5 rings, which I found quite inspriational. I looking forward to reading Musashi now.

It is a huge book, but bet its worth every page...

Cheers


Pete

[JSchmidt]

Bear in mind that Yoshikawa's book is fiction, based losely on Mushashi's life.
It's probably best described as the Japanese version of 'Gone with the Wind' :)

Jakob

[Mordechai]

Im actually about 200 pages into this book, and Ive throughly enjoyed every word of it so far...It has a style all of its own

[Soul Blade]

Yeah I read that at the back of the book..

[mingshi]

I speed-read thru the 7 volumes (Chinese translation) in a week... Nothing too impressive as I've read better stuff about martial artists in Chinese. I find Musashi has a plain storyline with too many unnecessary branches... (eg the romance part...)

For historical correctness I should have spend time on Shiba Ryoutaro or Yamaoka Souhachi.... :p

[KhawMengLee]

I liked Taiko better. Tho' Yoshikawa's less known novel "The Erotic Adventures of Musashi in Funky Town Edo" is the best. :wink:

[Andoru]

Tho' Yoshikawa's less known novel "The Erotic Adventures of Musashi in Funky Town Edo" is the best. :wink:

Oooooooooooh....is it illustrated? :D

[DCPan]

I speed-read thru the 7 volumes (Chinese translation) in a week... Nothing too impressive as I've read better stuff about martial artists in Chinese. I find Musashi has a plain storyline with too many unnecessary branches... (eg the romance part...)
:p

Ditto. I've read both the English version and the Chinese version. Was kind of dry, like reading Lord of the Rings :rolleyes:

Frankly, I've found reading "Musashi after Ganryu Island" by Koyama?/Oyama? to be much for fun and to my liking.

[emitbrownne]

still struggling through it.....

its good but not brill.

[DCPan]

Author: Koyama Katsukiyo
Title: Sore kara no Musashi

[gsx1100s]

Yup read "Musashi" , the "Gone With The Wind " label is fitting in some ways.I also read "Taiko" and loved it . Probably because it gave me a greater understanding of Japanese history, although a lot of poetic licence was used it was still pretty amazing


cheers Michael

[Caveira]

I find Musashi has a plain storyline with too many unnecessary branches... (eg the romance part...)

you have to consider that the book was originally published in several chapters in a news paper, and a common thing when doing this(if its selling well) is trying to make more chapters, the conclusion: some parts are unnecesary.

[kanyil]

you found a Chinese version of "Musashi"? I went to the largest bookstore chain (Eslite) in Taiwan a few months ago and they told me the series was discontinued long time ago.

[Budokan]

If you liked Musashi or the Book of Five Rings, youll love Takehiko Inoue's (http://www.itplanning.co.jp/fwhate.html) Vagabond. heres a snippet from the site that talks about it:

"Vagabond, based on Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi, is a fictional account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645.) Miyamoto Musashi, author of the philosophical strategy guide A Book of Five Rings, was a master of the sword and revered as a 'sword-saint.' He founded the Niten Ichi style of sword fighting which is typified by fighing with both long and short swords at once."

The manga can be described as 'Musashi: The Early Years' and its hero, Takezo, doesn't earn the name Musashi until the third volume (but everybody still calls him Takezo.) The story begins with 17-year-old Takezo and his childhood friend Matahachi surviving the Battle of Sekigahara. They soon find themselves in the middle of feud between bandits, which serves to set Takezo on the path to becoming "invincible under the sun."

I dont neccesarilly like manga all that much but these are absolutely amazing, they left me speechless, not to mention the beautiful artwork. It leaves you wanting more, ive only finished through number 12 because I do not know where to get anymore. I dont think they releases any after #12 in america yet, hopefully soon they will. I absolutely love the feeling you get from reading a great book, or in this case manga.

here is a link:
http://www.absolutetrouble.com/vagabond/

[shotoblogger]

you have to consider that the book was originally published in several chapters in a news paper, and a common thing when doing this(if its selling well) is trying to make more chapters, the conclusion: some parts are unnecesary.
Yes, if anyone is reading the book and gets bored, just skip the chapters about Matahachi and Osugi--the entire subplot can be removed without effecting the rest of the story. You can even skip the chapter(s) where Osugi captures Otsu and it doesn't effect Otsu's character to not know what happened.

[kendoistheword]

i think the book isn't too bad. it's a little slow, but i didn't read the book first. i saw the movies first based (loosely) on the book. i actually wish i had read the book before seeing the movies because it explains a lot more about whats going on than the movie does.
but i really love the movies. toshiro mifune is always good though i guess. if you don't feel like reading the long book you should at least check out the movies on dvd. its a pretty good story.
you can rent the dvds on netflix if you have that, thats what i did.

[Zaphiel]

i did read the book....did you know that this book is a shortend form to the real novel....which is about 15 books long............well at least this is written at the backside of my book....

[devourment77]

I really liked this book, especially when musashi kills that child... not to sure why but I liked that part...

this is what I am reading now The Lone Samurai: the life of Miyamoto Musashi (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/477002942X/qid=1097723342/sr=8-3/ref=pd_csp_3/104-9010564-8142322?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by William Scott Wilson (same guy who translated the book of five rings).

he does a great job at seperating the fact and fiction from Miyamoto-dono's life. It was interesting to read that Musashi killed that child in real life too!

[DCPan]

you found a Chinese version of "Musashi"? I went to the largest bookstore chain (Eslite) in Taiwan a few months ago and they told me the series was discontinued long time ago.

Really? I was just in Taichung and Tainan for the last two weeks. I saw the Musashi books in those bookstores in the department stores (Kinokuniya, Elite, and Goldstone)

I'll bet you can still find it here and there....probably unsold copies if nothing else.

The original Eiji Yoshikawa translations were re-released in 2000. The Sorekara no Musashi (Chinese -> "Musashi after Ganryu Island") is still being printed I think.

^_^