Romance, Philosophy, Action rolled into one. This is one delicious read!
The book begins with the early life of Miyamoto Musashi, born Shinmen Takezo, and we see how he turned from a loutish hooligan (remember Huo Yuan jia?) to a samurai always seeking to better himself in soul and spirit.
A few memorable fights were his clashes with the Yoshioka School where he emerged unscathed from an ambush by 80 men, and of course, the duel at Ganyru with his pretty boy nemesis, Sasaki Kojiro, he of the “swallow cut” fame. (he could cut off swallows in full flight, whatever purpose that serves…)
The tragic love story interweaved within this journey-of-englightenment tale is too overwrought for our times but make for amusing reading (oh cynical cynical me !)
Actually I read this book a long time ago. I remembered loving it despite having much of the details escaped me. Watching the Samurai Trilogy dvds (http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/42733/Samurai-1-Musashi-Miyamoto/overview) last weekend brought back the memorieis and I’m itching to re-read the book again.
Review with plot synopsis:
http://www.worldlanguage.com/Products/Musashi-by-Eiji-Yoshikawa-in-English-Literature-102505.htm
