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crufts's review
adventurous
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was such an odd little book. I notice some reviewers questioning whether it's an accurate novelization of what really happened (it's based on a historical event), but I'm just going to focus on the content of the book regardless of whether it's true or not.
In The 47 Ronin Story, a Japanese lord (Lord Asano) is executed. As a result, his loyal samurai warriors become ronin (masterless samurai) who believe the execution was unjust, and that it was due to Lord Asano's enemy (Lord Kira).
Led by Asano's chief retainer (the samurai Oishi), forty-seven of the ronin plot to assassinate Kira and avenge Asano's death.
I found it interesting to see how the novel depicted Japan in the early 1700s. How did ordinary people live in those days? What did they eat? What did their houses look like? What did they wear?
At the same time, the plot and motivation of the story are unintentionally ridiculous. The samurai are constantly going on about the importance of honour and self-discipline, which is their supposed justification of why Lord Asano was in the right and why they must commit murder to avenge him. This is supposed to be what sets a samurai apart from the common people: "The peasants ... you and I know they are not capable of maintaining the eternal self-discipline of a samurai."
But why was Lord Asano executed in the first place? It was because he drew his sword and slashed Kira across the shoulder, nearly killing him! What provoked this attack? Nothing more than an insulting verbal comment from Kira. Who is really the "self-disciplined" one here?
Yet the ronin still cling to the idea of Lord Asano as this wonderful guy. And they consider it "justice" that they proceed to storm Kira's castle, killing anyone who gets in their way.
It was absurd that these supposedly dignified, disciplined men were constantly ready to draw their katanas at the slightest insult. Or in the case of Oishi,divorcing his wife, quickly followed by sleeping with a famous geisha - several times . They were barbaric, with the irony that they were constantly justifying their actions as "honourable".
But to be fair, the ronin's over-the-top reaction was entertaining and without it there would be no story.
In terms of technical ability, the writing was decent. However, the climactic final duel was over way too quickly. It was literally half a page long, and there were hardly any specifics of the actual parries/thrusts/attacks of the duel! What happened to "show, don't tell"?!
Overall, not a book to be taken too seriously.
In The 47 Ronin Story, a Japanese lord (Lord Asano) is executed. As a result, his loyal samurai warriors become ronin (masterless samurai) who believe the execution was unjust, and that it was due to Lord Asano's enemy (Lord Kira).
Led by Asano's chief retainer (the samurai Oishi), forty-seven of the ronin plot to assassinate Kira and avenge Asano's death.
I found it interesting to see how the novel depicted Japan in the early 1700s. How did ordinary people live in those days? What did they eat? What did their houses look like? What did they wear?
At the same time, the plot and motivation of the story are unintentionally ridiculous. The samurai are constantly going on about the importance of honour and self-discipline, which is their supposed justification of why Lord Asano was in the right and why they must commit murder to avenge him. This is supposed to be what sets a samurai apart from the common people: "The peasants ... you and I know they are not capable of maintaining the eternal self-discipline of a samurai."
But why was Lord Asano executed in the first place? It was because he drew his sword and slashed Kira across the shoulder, nearly killing him! What provoked this attack? Nothing more than an insulting verbal comment from Kira. Who is really the "self-disciplined" one here?
Yet the ronin still cling to the idea of Lord Asano as this wonderful guy. And they consider it "justice" that they proceed to storm Kira's castle, killing anyone who gets in their way.
It was absurd that these supposedly dignified, disciplined men were constantly ready to draw their katanas at the slightest insult. Or in the case of Oishi,
But to be fair, the ronin's over-the-top reaction was entertaining and without it there would be no story.
In terms of technical ability, the writing was decent. However, the climactic final duel was over way too quickly. It was literally half a page long, and there were hardly any specifics of the actual parries/thrusts/attacks of the duel! What happened to "show, don't tell"?!
Overall, not a book to be taken too seriously.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Suicide and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death
Violence: Throughout the book.Suicide: In the form of seppuku. Due to cultural norms in the setting, the seppuku'ing characters often face their deaths with an odd pride and stoicism.
Animal death: A street dog is killed, not described in detail.
Sexual content: One of the ronin becomes involved with a famous geisha.
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