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January 13, 2005
Musashi
Reading: Eiji Yoshikawa, Musashi, translated by Charles S. Terry, Kodansha, 1971. Recommended by JGM.
Musashi is the 970 page fine print blockbuster story of Miyamoto Musashi (nee Shinmen Takezou), samurai, and author of Gorin no sho (Book of the Five Rings), original serialized in Asahi Shimbun, 1935 - 1939. It is also the source of the blockbuster film trilogy Samuraim staring Toshiro Mifune, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki.
Even at the start, the language is easy. It's hard to imagine the original Japanese, which I guess I'll have to get by interlibrary loan.
Quotes:
p. 22. Takezou kills Temma: "He lept at Temma's back. Blood spurted out at the end of the wooden sword, and a bloodcurdling scream pierced the silent night. The freebooter's hulking frame fell to the ground with a leaden thud and rolled over. The skull was smashed to bits, the eyes popped out of their sockets. After two or three more heavy blows to the body, broken ribs protruded from the skin."
Posted by sjc at January 13, 2005 7:43 PM
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