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    A Study Guide for James Clavell's "Shogun"
    A Study Guide for James Clavell's "Shogun"
    A Study Guide for James Clavell's "Shogun"
    Ebook51 pages42 minutes

    A Study Guide for James Clavell's "Shogun"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for James Clavell's "Shogun," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJun 15, 2016
    ISBN9781535833066
    A Study Guide for James Clavell's "Shogun"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for James Clavell's "Shogun" - Gale

      1

      Shōgun: A Novel of Japan

      James du Maresq Clavell

      1975

      Introduction

      Although not considered great literature by most critics, Shōgun: A Novel of Japan made its author, James du Maresq Clavell, one of the most widely read twentieth-century novelists. The novel contains war, trade disputes, cultural clash, passion, death, and descriptions of beauty that have kept readers up until dawn. Such features make Clavell an oldfashioned storyteller who spins captivating yarns rather than an artiste like Virginia Woolf or Thomas Pynchon. Clavell's survival of a Japanese death camp gave him unique insight into human behavior and cultural differences, enabling him to produce a truly gripping story. In addition to penning a good book to curl up with, Clavell built a bridge of understanding from West to East by fictionalizing a historical encounter between them.

      Shōgun tells the story of an English pilot, John Blackthorne, in charge of five Dutch ships whose purpose is to break the Portuguese monopoly on Japanese trade. Instead, the pilot becomes embroiled in Japanese politics as Lord Toranaga Yoshi employs him as his secret weapon. Shōgun uses straightforward storytelling techniques to keep readers riveted as they imagine themselves in the position of the English pilot. By the end, the reader has learned about Japan alongside Blackthorne as he attempts to survive.

      That the West is interested in the East is proved by Shōgun's success. In the first five years of its printing, 7 million books were sold. NBC did not risk much in sponsoring a film extravaganza. For twelve hours of prime time, 130 million people Watched Shōgun. The miniseries prompted sales of another 2.5 million books. Since the movie, even more people have read the book or watched the shorter 2.5-hour-long film.

      Author Biography

      A successful producer, director, screenwriter, and novelist, James du Maresq Clavell was also a war hero, carpenter, and political conservative who conversed with Roger Moore and corresponded with William F. Buckley. Clavell also contributed to arts and letters a bridge of understanding between the West and the East. Novels like Shōgun enabled the West to gain an understanding and respect for Japan at a time when Japan was emerging as an economic world power.

      Clavell, born on August 10, 1924, in Sidney, Australia, was the son of British colonists Richard Charles and Eileen (Collis) Clavell. Clavell grew up hearing sea stories from his father and grandfather, both careerists in the Royal British Navy. They instilled in him a sense of pride and obligation for being British. Consequently, Clavell described himself as a half-Irish Englishman with Scots overtones, not an Australian. The family moved to different Navy stations, such as Hong Kong, where Clavell spent much of his boyhood.

      Clavell attended high school in England. After graduation, he enlisted in the British Royal Artillery the year World War II broke out. Like Peter Marlowe, in Clavell's 1962 King Rat, Clavell was wounded in Malaysia. He was captured by the Japanese and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. He spent three and a half years in the notorious death camp Changi, where one in fifteen men survived. Clavell told an interviewer from the

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