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The
Authentic History of
Miyamoto
Musashi
Thanks largely to
the novel Miyamoto Musashi by Yoshikawa Eiji (1892-1962), one of modern
Japan’s most popular and prolific writers, the swordsman Miyamoto
Musashi might be considered the national hero of the Japanese people.
He is said to embody the best national characteristics: modesty,
resourcefulness, courage, perseverance, simplicity, the desire to
improve spiritually and, above all, sincerity. John Carroll presents a
totally different portrait of Miyamoto Musashi in his novel, Lightning
in the Void: The Authentic History of Miyamoto Musashi.
In fact, very little is known about the real Musashi. Historical
references to him are scattered in several frequently contradictory
sources. Carroll maintains that Yoshikawa used references from works
written by members of Musashi’s own school, with the primary reference
being the highly-embroidered Nitenki (Writings on the Two Heavens),
completed more than a century after Musashi’s death and based on
third-hand materials. At the same time, Yoshikawa ignored materials
that showed Musashi in a less than flattering light. As a result, he
let his imagination run free to create a folk hero.
In this meticulously researched work, John Carroll has used alternative
sources and woven them into a fictional recreation of Musashi’s career
from his childhood to his death. Several of these sources were written
much closer to Musashi’s lifetime. Carroll has also provided a more
realistic view of Japan during its turbulent transition from centuries
of civil war and anarchy to the stable and peaceful, albeit
dictatorial, rule of the Tokugawa shoguns.
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Publisher: Printed Matter
Press
Author: John Carroll
ISBN: 1-933606-02-9
Year published: 2006
Pages: 518 Page size: 139x209mm
Binding: Paperback
Base price: Yen 2,500++
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Japan
& East Asia
JEPPstandard
1,000s of English publications from or on |
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