Cloud of Sparrows

by Takashi Matsuoka

Book Overview

Once in a great while a new novelist comes along who dazzles us with rare eloquence and humanity, with flawless storytelling and a unique understanding of another place and time. Takashi Matsuoka is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385336403
• ISBN13: 9780385336406
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 399 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

At last - an author who actually knows Japan!

If you've read some of my other reviews (Silent Honor, The Salaryman's Wife) you'll know that I have a short tolerance for people who write about Japan without actually knowing much about the culture. Thankfully, Matsuoka does not fall into this category. Of course, no one alive today has first-hand experience with shogun-era Japan, but Matsuoka doesn't make the mistake of giving western characters Japanese names and then hoping no one will notice. His Japanese are Japanese, his westerners are western, and the whole story flows easily back and forth between the two cultural viewpoints. Other people have summarized the plot, so I'll just say that the story had pretty much everything in it, from large-scale warfare to individual humor. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get an idea of how the Japanese mind works, as well as anyone who just wants to read a good story.

Cormac McCarthy Meets James Clavell!

"Cloud of Sparrows," the first novel from Takashi Matsuoka, spins a complex yarn set in 1861 Japan -- this is a classic East Meets West tale, but it is told with brutal clarity and riveting poetry that sets it apart from more mundane works. While Matsuoka's characters are initially bound by their rigid perceptions of each other (the Japanese see Westerners as uncivilized oafs while the Westerners see the Japanese as heathen wretches crying out for salvation), Matsuoka uses flashbacks and current crises to highlight the underlying similarities between the two cultures. Both groups, Japanese and American, are capable of and commit acts of horrifying barbarity as well as acts of exquisite kindness. Revenge and honor motivate both groups, as well -- the goals are merely pursued in different ways. The story focuses on the rise of Lord Genji, a Japanese Prince Hal character (who apparently served as his own Falstaff) who must overcome his playboy reputation and lead his clan to victory. The victory he seeks is the conclusion of the Battle of Sekigahara, which was fought over 250 years ago. Lord Genji, cursed and blessed with the gift of prophecy, knows that the balance of Japanese history will be determined by these Westerners, with their lethal machinery and perpetual focus on the future. Japan, as Genji sees it, has cursed itself with its dedication to tradition, honor, and ritualism. And so Genji seeks out the company of the new arrivals, three American missionaries who will each affect the history of Japan in their own way. Two of the three Americans are characters for the ages. Emily Gibson is a beautiful missionary who has fled to Japan hoping that the Japanese will see her as ugly, since her beauty has only caused her misery back in America. The other American of note is Matthew Stark, who wears a missionary's habit but whose mission is murder. Their fates grow entwined with Genji's as the wheels of fate and consequence turn inexorably. Also riding shotgun with Genji is his deranged uncle, the mightiest swordsman in Japan since Musashi (and who is also cursed with prophecies of Japan's ultimate fate), and a beautiful geisha/ninja whose darkest secret is unknown even to her. This is a Japan where men still slit their own throats after learning they have insulted the wrong man, where plots of vengeance grow over decades, and where men and women can still learn astounding new truths about each other and the world around them. Through it all, Matsuoka writes with a brilliant clarity, which brings to life both his visions of beauty and his horrifying battle scenes -- scenes which rival the wonderful Cormac McCarthy in their stark realism. This novel reads like the first novel in a series, as many loose ends are unresolved at the end. "Autumn Bridge" is apparently the next book in the series, and I can't wait to check it out. Dive in, and enjoy!

A Great book! Can't wait for the next one, Matsuoka-sama!

After reading Musashi, Shogun and Gai-Jin, I was looking for more books on Samurai. I'm glad I picked up Cloud of Sparrows, it is a really good read, it draws you in from the beginning and never lets up! I didn't intend to write a review, but I was so surprised at the bitterness of some reviewers toward this novel and its author that I had to try and bump up the overall rating.Other reviewers got into detailing the plot and the characters, so I won't do that. Besides, giving up too much will only ruin the pleasure of reading it. Do not let the few who gave it a bad review discourage you, they are too sensitized by these PC times! Life was harsh in the past! As for those who moan about a gunslinger in late 1800s Japan - hey, it's fiction, not fact!Enjoy this captivating read for what it is: pure escapism.

Intriguing, Refreshing, Very Japanese

I would like to congratulate Mr. Matsuoka on his first novel which to me, became a book that I couldn't put down. I found the story very engaging and I think that it is unfortunate that some people would compare it to "Shogun". I loved that,too, but "Cloud of Sparrows" appealed to me as a more intimate story, like using a microscope to examine the lives of the characters. I find the idea of an irreverent samurai interesting. From the beginning, when Genji was described as unusual because of his tendency to smile, I already liked him, because it is a welcome departure from the image of the samurai as we know it. The author also did an excellent job giving life to the characters because they all had their own voice. The subtle nuances of being Japanese was woven in so seamlessly. I noticed there were some words that are not true to the time period but they can be overlooked. The only thing I'm a bit disappointed about is that in the end, Genji's choice was heartbreaking for me. I guess I symphatized too much with Heiko. As far as I'm concerned, I was drawn into the story and have been pondering it since. That is my measure of a good book.

One of the best books I've read in a very long time.

A few weeks ago, a friend recommeded a book to me. Cloud of Sparrows. I was curious, and read a few of the reviews here... many of them mentioned another book that I had not read, Shogun, by James Clavell.Now I have read both, and I can say that while each book is very well written and engaging, Cloud of Sparrows was by far the best of the two.One important thing to note about CoS, is that while it is a "samurai" book (the same as Shogun) the time periods are vastly different. Shogun dealt with the sixteenth century "sengokou jidai" (Time of Warring States; civil war) in Japan. The names were changed, for example, Ishida became Ishido, Tokugawa became Toranaga, Hiroyoshi became The Taiko, and Oda Nobunaga became "Garuda the dictator." That was confusing, for me at least. Cloud of sparrows takes place nearly 200 years later, in the chaotic times of Japanese history just before the Ishin revolution and the Meiji restoration. The confusion with the names from Clavell's work is thankfully absent, and the author is freed to present the excellent story with an unparalled clarity. It's great.The best thing I can really say about Matsuoka's Cloud of Sparrows is that I couldn't put it down. Literally. I physically could not stop reading the book, I tried countless times to set it aside and work on other things, but I could not. I read it while in school, while driving, while waiting in a doctor's office, I could not stop.Never in my life has my will been held hostage like that, it was unbelievable. Now that I'm finally freed from the adhesive, enthralling embrace of Matsuoka's masterpreice, I still find my self on the edge with unbridled anticipation. At the end of Cloud of Sparrows there was an excerpt from Matsuoka's next book, "Autumn Bridge," which is to be published in August of 2004, and it was great. Better, dare I say, than Cloud of Sparrows.Matsuoka is a brilliant writer, one of the best storytellers that I've ever been priveleged enough to notice. His ability to hijack your mind and force your eyes to wander across the pages of his books, trapped in the world he created... it is something to be feared, anything so powerfull too must be fearfull, but it's also something to look forward to and to love.I loved it; I can offer no greater praise.