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Cloud of Sparrows Takashi Matsuoka 9780385336406 Books

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Cloud of Sparrows Takashi Matsuoka 9780385336406 Books

Like a puzzle with too many pieces, the book pulls together characters and events that push it more into fantasy than fiction. A foreign power shells palaces, and there are no consequences; a noble lord holds a bloody missionary while his missionary fiancée takes a garden break; a renegade cowboy learns fluent Japanese in a year and becomes a Zen monk; 25 samurai flee before a single samurai; the noble lord, to save face, destroys an Eta village with no consequences; a geisha aka ninja destroys warriors evidently without any practice of her ninja skills, yet we’re told the cowboy with her practices his draw daily so he is able to defeat skilled opponents in a contest of iaido; and so on. Assumptions of the improbable to make the story possible. And yet. And yet. This guy really knows how to write. The prose and the dialog are clear. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from an (I’m assuming) imaginary ancient text with some really cool advice:

The sages say happiness and sorrow are one. Is this because in finding the first, we also find the second? SUZUME–NO–KUMO (1861)” (p. 363).

Every battle is not won by advance. Every retreat is not loss. Advance is strategy. Retreat is also strategy. Retreat must be orderly. It must not always appear orderly. Retreat is strategy. Appearance in retreat is also strategy. SUZUME–NO–KUMO (1600) (p. 185).

There are lots of other quotable moments in the book, but I’ll stop here.

Some of the reviews complain that the flow of the story is interrupted by flashbacks and too many characters. I had no problem with either. The characters are pretty well developed so they were easy to track. Like a series of newspaper stories, the individual stories in the book merge together into a unified whole. As for the flashbacks, is there a day goes by without a thought of the days before it? The flashbacks explain the why.

The book is 80% there: it’s well written. The other 20% is the credibility factor. But perhaps my failure to grasp the improbable is more of a reflection on my life than on the book. If I were to suggest anything to the author, it would be to read chapter 50 of Don Quixote II. Everyone portrayed here is a minor character, yet in just a few words you come away with the impression that these people are real. You can do the same in your books. You’re already got the tools in place. You can write. Think about what you’re trying to say.


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Cloud of Sparrows Takashi Matsuoka 9780385336406 Books Reviews

This is an excellent book. It combines a fascinating look into feudal Japan during the time of the Samurai with a compelling story. It was very well-written and the author displayed a great knowledge of Japan's history coupled with a tremendous gift for story-telling. I found it hard to put down and I was looking forward to any opportunity to pick it up again and resume reading. I have just begun the sister book, "Autumn Bridge" and it is just as good. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical novels, particularly about Japan. It is far better than James Clavell's "Gai-Jin".
For whatever reason, I didn't care for this. I think it was the style of writing; I've always been interested in Japan and have read histories as well as novels. I read about 20 pages and felt like it was a glorified romance novel. Just not for me, so I returned it.
It used to be the mysterious East... but we're all a bit more sophisticated these post-_Shogun_, sushi-eating days; and know all about Kurosawa and Five Rings and Bushido. Yet that point where sword-toting Samurai are forced to confront the West through doors which are forced open--and make the transition from the feudal to a modern era can still fascinate.
I found the book well-written. True there are some odd quirks. Lots of flashbacks, and flash-forwards, in a way, but they make sense given that the story centers around seeing the future as well as the past. Genji is the lord of one of the old samurai clans--one that has been relegated to the edges of power due to having backed the losing side at a decisive battle hundreds of years before--but which is distinquished by having the legendary power of prophecy given to one person per generation. But is it just legend, insanity, or keen perception? Some believe, some don't.
Secondly, there do seem to be cliches. The missionary, keen to convert the heathen, lusting in his heart for his young fiancee. And yet... he has tried to to understand those he hopes to convert, and he has refrained from putting his lust into practice. There is the fiancee, running from a world that finds her beauty just an invitation to abuse her. She is alone in the world, and young. It's not so hard to believe it would be a problem. And yet, she, too, has depths to her personality which slowly develope.
There is a gun-slinger, out for revenge. And yet, the revenge doesn't stem from his gun-slinging rep, which he is also out-running.
Genji is a young Japanese lord, but feels too bound by tradition--which he sees as self-destructive for Japan. And yet he's a product of that society and cannot entirely leave it behind.
His love is a geisha--and a ninja spy, answering to one of Genji's foremost enemies. And yet, the reason for that enmity between the spy-master and Genji is rooted in that distant battle, and bound up with the legendary gift for prophecy...
There is even a character likened to Mushashi. So there are cliches. And yet they are thrown into this mix--on the cusp of a time of great change, between history and the present, between East and West, between tradition and new ideas.
I found the book well worth the read. I thought it held together--all these greatly disparate elements and disparate themes. And it is told with lots of drama and action--blood and battles, some romance, some intrigue, and some wonderful historical and cultural details. I will definitely pick up any sequels when they appear.
Takashi Matsuoka's novels of historical Japan are colorful, intriguing and rich in the fabric of Japanese history. His research into the details of life in medieval Japan provide an authentic background to this tale of court life and mores from a time long gone. It made me wish I could go there and share in the highly sophisticated and technologically refined yet simple time when everything was an art. This novel takes advantage of these virtues to weave a tale of Japanese noir.
Like a puzzle with too many pieces, the book pulls together characters and events that push it more into fantasy than fiction. A foreign power shells palaces, and there are no consequences; a noble lord holds a bloody missionary while his missionary fiancée takes a garden break; a renegade cowboy learns fluent Japanese in a year and becomes a Zen monk; 25 samurai flee before a single samurai; the noble lord, to save face, destroys an Eta village with no consequences; a geisha aka ninja destroys warriors evidently without any practice of her ninja skills, yet we’re told the cowboy with her practices his draw daily so he is able to defeat skilled opponents in a contest of iaido; and so on. Assumptions of the improbable to make the story possible. And yet. And yet. This guy really knows how to write. The prose and the dialog are clear. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from an (I’m assuming) imaginary ancient text with some really cool advice

The sages say happiness and sorrow are one. Is this because in finding the first, we also find the second? SUZUME–NO–KUMO (1861)” (p. 363).

Every battle is not won by advance. Every retreat is not loss. Advance is strategy. Retreat is also strategy. Retreat must be orderly. It must not always appear orderly. Retreat is strategy. Appearance in retreat is also strategy. SUZUME–NO–KUMO (1600) (p. 185).

There are lots of other quotable moments in the book, but I’ll stop here.

Some of the reviews complain that the flow of the story is interrupted by flashbacks and too many characters. I had no problem with either. The characters are pretty well developed so they were easy to track. Like a series of newspaper stories, the individual stories in the book merge together into a unified whole. As for the flashbacks, is there a day goes by without a thought of the days before it? The flashbacks explain the why.

The book is 80% there it’s well written. The other 20% is the credibility factor. But perhaps my failure to grasp the improbable is more of a reflection on my life than on the book. If I were to suggest anything to the author, it would be to read chapter 50 of Don Quixote II. Everyone portrayed here is a minor character, yet in just a few words you come away with the impression that these people are real. You can do the same in your books. You’re already got the tools in place. You can write. Think about what you’re trying to say.