The Ronin (Tuttle Classics)
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Product Description
Synopsis
This book should appeal to the martial arts readers as well as to readers of Japanese literature, because of the focus on samurai. Written in the 1960's, the author initially heard the ancient legend upon which this novel is based told by the Zen Master Nyogen Senzaki.
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First Sentence
The muscles of his naked calves bulged below his worn and dirty kimono. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The muscles of his naked calves bulged below his worn and dirty kimono. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This story is beautifully written version of an oft told Zen legend. I find it coming to my mind often in my work coaching teams and leaders in organisations. It can be read at many levels, all at once, or in short pasages which stimulate some great questions and insights. The account of the masterswordsman teaching the boy is particularly moving giving a vivid image of personal development or any significant task requiring a great many lost battles, each one lost less quickly...
Format:Paperback
This is a good short novel that expands on an ancient Japanese myth of the wandering samurai, or Ronin. This novel is a sequence of short stories and lessons that link together and tell a fascinating tale of one man's descent into evil and his subsequent attempts at redemption once he truly realises what he has become. Intertwined with that man's story is also the story of a young boys quest for revenge and his struggle to deal with his destiny and what he could become.
My only complaint with this book is that it occasionally becomes quite sexually explicit that would make it unsuitable for a child of a younger age.
Overall, this is a good short book that would be of interest to anyone fascinated by the samurai or Japanese history or culture.
My only complaint with this book is that it occasionally becomes quite sexually explicit that would make it unsuitable for a child of a younger age.
Overall, this is a good short book that would be of interest to anyone fascinated by the samurai or Japanese history or culture.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Two Zen tales fleshed out into a must-read Samurai novel.
11 Sep 1995
Format:Paperback
Starting with two stories from "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones,"
Jennings wrote a story which should delight fans of Kurosawa
and Mifune. A joy throughout, "The Ronin" is a special
delight at the end. This book is gutsy and robust, not for
those who must smell only the flowers but not the
fertilizer. I've read "The Ronin" perhaps 10 times and
given away perhaps 20 copies--all to people who read and
enjoyed it before I offered to let them keep it.
Jennings wrote a story which should delight fans of Kurosawa
and Mifune. A joy throughout, "The Ronin" is a special
delight at the end. This book is gutsy and robust, not for
those who must smell only the flowers but not the
fertilizer. I've read "The Ronin" perhaps 10 times and
given away perhaps 20 copies--all to people who read and
enjoyed it before I offered to let them keep it.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Best Ending of Any Book I've Ever Read
6 Dec 2002
Format:Paperback
The Ronin tells the story of a masterless samurai who lives a violent, debauched life until one day he is made aware of the enormity of his crimes. As a sort of penance, he decides to dig a tunnel through a mountain which can only be crossed by a high and dangerous pass.
The book is based on a Zen koan (a problem which cannot be solved by logic, on which practitioners of Zen meditate in order to find enlightenment).
The Ronin is a fascinating book and many years later, I am still troubled by the tough questions that it posed, such as: are we only good because we have to be; is there justice in revenge; and can human beings ever really make up for the terrible things that they do?
This was my favourite book when I was in high school and although now that I am older and can see that there are a lot of weaknesses in the book, I still say that it has the best ending of any book I have ever read and highly recommend it.
The book is based on a Zen koan (a problem which cannot be solved by logic, on which practitioners of Zen meditate in order to find enlightenment).
The Ronin is a fascinating book and many years later, I am still troubled by the tough questions that it posed, such as: are we only good because we have to be; is there justice in revenge; and can human beings ever really make up for the terrible things that they do?
This was my favourite book when I was in high school and although now that I am older and can see that there are a lot of weaknesses in the book, I still say that it has the best ending of any book I have ever read and highly recommend it.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Gripping Through the End!
17 May 2004
Format:Paperback
From the moment I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. The way it is written keeps you driving to the end. Every perplexing event leads you forcefully into yet another. The writing in my opinion is perfectly done to convey a very surreal atmosphere. The message of the book is unexplainable, but reading the book brings understanding that can only be vaguely told through words.
Don't be fooled; this story is authentic. Jennings has done an impeccable job of putting this story (told to him by Nyogen Senzaki) to text in such a gripping way. It is also very "zen" in how we find the stories of several seemingly unrelated people come together in such an important way.
Loved this book, highly recommend it to anyone, Zen practitioner or not.
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