Shōgun

I'm really conflicted on this book. On one hand there is an engaging and perpetually unfolding narrative of political intrigue. How does one Japanese Feudal Lord respond to and make use of a European? How does he gain hold of more power? How does the European adapt to an unknown culture?

Yet, on the other hand Clavell plays fast and loose with the realities of Japanese history and culture. From an anthropological perspective, he's essentializing Japanese culture to be nothing more than the dichotomy between honor and shame. There's always more to culture than one “core” element, but we never see that here. Because of that I can't call this “historical fiction.” This is more of a “non-fantastical fantasy” book if that makes any sense.