What do you make of Clavell? I like long reads and Asian culture, but I hesitate to buy his books because he is an Englishman and I fear they might eventually converge into the usual White Saviour and Noble Savages bullshit you tend to find in literature from back in the day
Shogun is pretty good, protagonist do have some white saviour moments and quite a lot of orientalism but the book is written good, so the author is invisible, and all that is put on a head of XVI century british sailor (for a XVI century British sailor Blackthorne is actually remarkably tolerant and open minded at least after Yabu and Omi explain to him he’s not in England anymore). The book also make few important points about about christianity in Japan. Definitely low key anticolonialist.
Tai-pan is worse, but i read it long ago and don’t remember much.
It definitely has orientalist parts, but its not the thrust of the book, which is very positive of Japan, and more often than not treats the euros as less civilized. I def recommend it, because its incredibly entertaining, and has some of the best political intrigue / realpolitik ever written. This book is massive, and I still couldn’t put it down.
What do you make of Clavell? I like long reads and Asian culture, but I hesitate to buy his books because he is an Englishman and I fear they might eventually converge into the usual White Saviour and Noble Savages bullshit you tend to find in literature from back in the day
Shogun is pretty good, protagonist do have some white saviour moments and quite a lot of orientalism but the book is written good, so the author is invisible, and all that is put on a head of XVI century british sailor (for a XVI century British sailor Blackthorne is actually remarkably tolerant and open minded at least after Yabu and Omi explain to him he’s not in England anymore). The book also make few important points about about christianity in Japan. Definitely low key anticolonialist.
Tai-pan is worse, but i read it long ago and don’t remember much.
It definitely has orientalist parts, but its not the thrust of the book, which is very positive of Japan, and more often than not treats the euros as less civilized. I def recommend it, because its incredibly entertaining, and has some of the best political intrigue / realpolitik ever written. This book is massive, and I still couldn’t put it down.