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Title: The Last Samurai : The Life and Battles of Saigō Takamori by Mark Ravina ISBN: 0-471-08970-2 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 14 November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.44 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Timely and insightful
Comment: As someone who has strong personal connections to Japan, I was drawn to this title as a means of understanding the real story behind the movie. I was rewarded with a readable, apparently accurate review of one of the great men of the Meiji Restoration period of Japan. Saigo was a man of the era, first arriving in Edo at the same time as Perry's Black Ships, and fulminating what could arguably be the final resistance to the cataclysmic changes of that era in Japan.
One's understanding of the book would be enhanced, however, with some better understanding of the political institutions of the period, and broader knowledge of the part that various people played in the same historical context. Especially difficult are references to now-archaic regions in feudal Japan, regions which were expressly deconstructed by the new Meiji Government to cause their loss of significance in political affairs. For example, Saigo was from Satsuma, which is Southern Kyushu. But Tosa is a major player in the book, and I am still unsure of where that domain was.
What impressed me was Mr. Ravina's insight into the ambivalence and moral contradictions of the social, political, technological, and economic changes forced on Japan after 250 years of isolation. Only once does the author allude to the parallels to the modern-day situation in the Middle East, but the comparison is apt. I think this is an excellent book to gain some understanding of why the Islamic world has trouble with the West, and in doing so, the book could help the West formulate more appropriate responses to the Middle East's problems.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Last Samurai : The Life and Battles of Saigō Takam
Comment: Known as the "Robert E. Lee" of Japan, Saigo- (1828-77) first helped overthrow the feudal Tokugawa regime and establish Meiji Japan in1868, then in 1877 led a bloody, futile uprising against the new government. He feared the impersonal, commercial, and centralized nation would destroy samurai traditions of personal honor, regional loyalty, and social service. Ravina (director, East Asian Studies Program, Emory Univ.) is a careful scholar who nevertheless writes an action-filled story that resonates today. He shows us that Saigo- was no reactionary, though he harked back to the tradition of the socially responsible Confucian warrior who valued community, not class exploitation or individual advancement. Especially interesting is Ravina's presentation of Saigo- 's legacy in popular culture, where he became a folk hero, forcing the government to elevate him posthumously to a reconciling national martyrdom. Fascists and right-wing patriots from the 1930s to today have evoked samurai tradition, but their efforts are exposed as tawdry exploitation by this engrossing and thoughtful history. Highly recommended for all college and larger public libraries. [Interest in this period may be driven by the new Tom Cruise film of same name and period, though it is not based on this book
Rating: 3
Summary: Scholarly excellence, but lacking in context
Comment: Like many who will approach this book, I sought out Ravina's "The Last Samurai" as a corrective to the 2003 Edward Zwick film of the same title. As has been said elsewhere, it's deemed less politically correct in Hollywood to make a movie about a Japanese Robert E. Lee -- an American whose career is somewhat analagous to that of Saigo Takamori -- than a Japanese Sitting Bull. Ravina's extensively researched account strips away the romance from Saigo's life and presents it in a well-written and unemotional account.
Unfortunately, people such as myself -- American history buffs with only a rudimentary knowledge of Japanese history and, especially, the political struggles during the transformation of
of 19th-century Japan from a feudal society to a modern nation with ambitions of world power -- are going to find "The Last Samurai" rough going. There is a good deal of information in the book about the people and events that shaped Saigo's career, but Ravina seems to assume that the reader will be well-acquainted with some of the basic aspects of Japanese history -- the establishment and development of the shogunate, the relationship between the shoguns and the imperial dynasty and court, the relationships among the various daimyos, or feudal domains -- and provides inadquate context for the uninformed reader. I would advise any potential reader not already thus informed to read at least one expansive, general account of 19th-century Japanese history before delving into the life of Saigo. Such foreknowledge will make Ravina's book a far more rewarding experience. The book contains some decent maps and illustrations, but the maps could have been more inclusive, to show all the feudal domains of mid-19th-century Japan. (A map listing in the contents page also would have been welcome). And as another reviewer suggests, a biographical "cast of characters" who figure prominently in the book would be useful. Maybe it's just me, but some of the Japanese names and titles were hard to keep separate in my mind.
In summary: This is not a "popular" biography and does not conform to stereotypical Western images of the samurai gleaned from a half-century of movies. It's an enlightening book for specialists or for others who have prepared themselves for a study of 19th-century Japan.
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Title: The Last Samurai Official Movie Guide by Warner Bros. Pictures ISBN: 1931933634 Publisher: Time Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Bushido: The Way of the Samurai (Square One Classics) by Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Justin F. Stone, Minoru Tanaka ISBN: 0757000266 Publisher: Square One Publishers Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title:The Last Samurai (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) ASIN: B0000DZTIW Publisher: Elektra/Asylum Pub. Date: 25 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $13.99 |
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Title: Samurai: An Illustrated History by Mitsuo Kure ISBN: 0804832870 Publisher: Charles E Tuttle Co Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: The Last Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu by Ryotaro Shiba, Juliet Winters Carpenter ISBN: 1568362463 Publisher: Kodansha International Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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