
Cloud of Sparrows
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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Takashi Matsuoka
About this listen
“Triumphant . . . terrific . . . This is a riveting read, alternately playful and suspenseful.”—People
The year is 1861. After two centuries of isolation, Japan has opened its doors to the West. And as foreign ships threaten to rain destruction on the Shogun’s castle in Edo, a small group of American missionaries has arrived to spread the word of their God. They have yet to realize that their future in Japan has already been foreseen. For a young nobleman has dreamt that his life will be saved by an outsider in the New Year . . . and it is said that Lord Genji has the gift of prophecy.
What happens next—when the handsome lord meets an apparently reformed gunslinger and a woman in flight from her own destructive beauty—sets the stage for a remarkable adventure. For as this unlikely band embarks on a journey through a landscape bristling with danger, East and West, flesh and spirit, past and future, collide in ways no one—least of all Genji—could have imagined.©2002 Takashi Matsuoka (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.
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- By: A.L. Sadler, Stephen Turnbull - foreword, Alexander Bennett - foreword
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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For 700 years, Japan was ruled by military commanders who waged war against one another incessantly. Shogun tells the fascinating story of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who finally unified and brought lasting peace to the nation. He established a new central government which enabled his descendants to rule Japan for the next 260 years—a period in which Japanese culture as we know it today flourished.
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This is a boring reference book
- By Antone Ferreira on 05-25-24
By: A.L. Sadler, and others
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Hagakure
- The Book of the Samurai
- By: Yamamoto Tsunetomo, William Scott Wilson - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Living and dying with bravery and honor is at the heart of Hagakure, a series of texts written by an 18th-century samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo. It is a window into the samurai mind, illuminating the concept of bushido (the Way of the Warrior), which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die.
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Great Way to Experience the Book Again
- By WildKarrde on 07-10-17
By: Yamamoto Tsunetomo, and others
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The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jonathan Aris, Paula Wilcox
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1799, the artificial island of Dejima lies in Nagasaki Harbor as Japan’s outpost for the Dutch East Indies Company. There, Jacob de Zoet has come to make a fortune large enough to return to Holland and marry the woman he loves.
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Good But Uneven
- By Trustme on 07-28-10
By: David Mitchell
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The Water Margin
- Outlaws of the Marsh
- By: Shi Naian, J. H. Jackson - translator, Edwin Lowe - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Booth
- Length: 33 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The Water Margin is one of the most popular classics of early Chinese literature. It tells the vigorous story of 108 characters who, falling foul of the established state authorities, are forced to become outlaws. They form a bandit community in Liangshan Marsh, becoming such a formidable force in their own right that they threaten the power of government itself.
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Exciting! Each story entwined with one another!
- By Kananai on 04-03-24
By: Shi Naian, and others
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Kokoro
- By: Natsume Soseki
- Narrated by: Matt Shea
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The subject of Kokoro, which can be translated as 'the heart of things' or as 'feeling,' is the delicate matter of the contrast between the meanings the various parties of a relationship attach to it. In the course of this exploration, Soseki brilliantly describes different levels of friendship, family relationships, and the devices by which men attempt to escape from their fundamental loneliness. The novel sustains throughout its length something approaching poetry, and it is rich in understanding and insight.
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The Heart Of Things, Relationships & Feelings
- By Sara on 04-27-15
By: Natsume Soseki
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His Kikuta Hands
- By: Lian Hearn
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Takeo feels he must take on the Tribe and demonstrate the ruthlessness he will need to be a competent ruler. But the Tribe don't believe, firstly, that he knows where to find them and, secondly, that he will have the strength of will to deal with them. They are proven wrong.
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Disappointed
- By ArchiBald on 11-08-24
By: Lian Hearn
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A Brief History of Japan
- Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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With intelligence and wit, author Jonathan Clements blends documentary and storytelling styles to connect the past, present, and future of Japan, and in broad yet detailed strokes reveals a country of paradoxes: a modern nation steeped in ancient traditions; a democracy with an emperor as head of state; a famously safe society built on 108 volcanoes resting on the world's most active earthquake zone; a fast-paced urban and technologically advanced country whose land consists predominantly of mountains and forests.
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A Brief Review of the Book
- By Than on 12-07-19
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Musashi
- By: Eiji Yoshikawa, Charles S. Terry - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 53 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and by whom he has been touched. Inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival.
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Good Historical Novel
- By The Walking Dude on 08-11-19
By: Eiji Yoshikawa, and others
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Silence
- By: Shusaku Endo
- Narrated by: David Holt
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Recipient of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, it has been called Endo's supreme achievement" and "one of the twentieth century's finest novels". Considered controversial ever since its first publication, it tackles the thorniest religious issues of belief and faith head on. A novel of historical fiction, it is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion.
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Remarkable
- By Helgi Sigurbjörnsson on 10-12-17
By: Shusaku Endo
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The Banished Immortal
- A Life of Li Bai (Li Po)
- By: Ha Jin
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In his own time (701-762), Li Bai's poems - shaped by Daoist thought and characterized by their passion, romance, and lust for life - were never given their proper due by the official literary gatekeepers. Nonetheless, his lines rang out on the lips of court entertainers, tavern singers, soldiers, and writers throughout the Tang dynasty. The Banished Immortal is an extraordinary portrait of a poet who both transcended his time and was shaped by it and whose ability to live, love, and mourn without reservation produced some of the most enduring verses.
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Bold and unstoppable, like an overflowing river
- By Joselo on 02-09-19
By: Ha Jin
Good Quality Semi-historical Fiction
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Very entertaining
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Just "OK"
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The book takes you into a time of Japan transformation & unfolding a new era of prosperity & advance.
The book is an epic tale that shall take you into your deepest consciousness depths...
Tremendous piece of Art
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A Very Enjoyable Listen!
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Sometimes the names were confusing but the principle characters remained clear.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story and narrator.
Sense of change
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If you like Shogun you should like this
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Solid escapism, a good read.
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Fun listen.
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Very well written and translated, good balanced characterizations, likable characters, fast moving plot and a satisfying outcome. What more could one want? The next book by the same author!
Very good!
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