Satori
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Review
'Elegant, well-researched, and magnificently plotted, Satori is exhilarating'
( LA Times )'Satori is every bit as tait, intelligent and gripping as the book that captured the imagination of millions in the seventies'
( Choice )'A sprawling, effervescent, page-turning account of how the assassin was made'
( Observer )'Sleek, smart and deadly. Satori is a must-read'
(Joseph Finder )'An accomplished page-turning prequel'
( Wall Street Journal )Review
'Elegant, well-researched, and magnificently plotted, Satori is exhilarating' -- LA Times 'Satori is every bit as tait, intelligent and gripping as the book that captured the imagination of millions in the seventies' -- Choice 'A sprawling, effervescent, page-turning account of how the assassin was made' -- Observer 'Sleek, smart and deadly. Satori is a must-read' -- Joseph Finder 'An accomplished page-turning prequel' -- Wall Street Journal
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Granted it's been a few years since I read Shibumi, but my recollection is that it was a rather more profound tome than this belated sequel. Satori feels like it comes from the same (highly successful but equally unsubtle) stable as Cussler and Wilbur Smith. Some of Don Winslow's characters (notably Solange and Kang) feel like little more than clichés and, on occasion, the action (Hel's fight with Kang and the casino sequence for example) struck me as supremely improbable.
But, it's all still highly readable. The short chapters usually end on something of a cliff-hanger and rattle by at a helluva pace. This is perfectly good leave-your-brain-at-home fare for a long flight or when you're lounging on a beach (which is where I read most of it).
To summarise, whilst Satori is not particularly profound or memorable, if you're into espionage shenanigans with a hefty dose of sex and violence thrown in, this pot-boiler is one of those guilty pleasure sort of books and certainly ticks most of the boxes.
But, it's all still highly readable. The short chapters usually end on something of a cliff-hanger and rattle by at a helluva pace. This is perfectly good leave-your-brain-at-home fare for a long flight or when you're lounging on a beach (which is where I read most of it).
To summarise, whilst Satori is not particularly profound or memorable, if you're into espionage shenanigans with a hefty dose of sex and violence thrown in, this pot-boiler is one of those guilty pleasure sort of books and certainly ticks most of the boxes.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Satori is a period piece. It's either dated or retro chic, depending on your particular taste. But for a novel that is published in 2011 and set in the 1950s, there's a huge amount of it that will be forever 1979.
Basically, Don Winslow has written a prequel to the 1979 airport bestseller Shibumi. The star of Shibumi, assassin Nicholai Hel, is straight out of a Hai Karate advert. He is tall, muscular, half Russian, half Japanese (a mindblowingly exotic combination in 1979), attractive to women, adept at martial arts, fearless, able to bear excruciating pain, fluent in many languages, a genius at the game of Go, and uniquely honourable. He is flawless; a perfect hero. If he were a film character, he would have been played by Burt Lancaster.
So Nicholai Hel takes us on a tour of the far east - Japan, China, Laos and Viet Nam - in an effort to assassinate a Russian envoy and follow through with his cover of shipping arms to Viet Nam. In the course of his travails, he is double crossed; sold to the enemy; has repeated attempts on his life and suffers grievous injuries. He survives of course thanks largely to his great metaphor of comparing the world to a game of Go. Plus this is a prequel so he couldn't come unstuck - and this particular genre of 1970s spy thriller wouldn't entertain the possibility of failure.
So much for the cheese - where are the crackers, you ask?
Well, there are some superb traveloguey settings. The state run hotels of Beijing; the perils of the Mekong valley; the shady streets of Luang Prabang; steamy Saigon. It's all there. The puppet emperor Bao Dai makes more than a cameo appearance. The politics, intrigue and depravity of French Indochina are laid bare. There is a moment of pure comedy when Nicholai Hel introduces himself to Bao Dai as a puppet maker. Bao Dai asks what kind of puppets and Hel replies that he hasn't decided whether they are French or American puppets. Bao Dai was not amused. There are similar humorous cracks throughout.
Then there is a detailed, complex plot pitting our hero against the seemingly limitless resources of the Americans, the French, the Chinese, the Russians and the Corsicans. Pretty much everyone Hel meets will be affiliated to one or more of these groups - though we sometimes take our time to find out exactly who is on whose side. At various points, Hel finds himself in inescapable peril and though we know he will escape in some impossible fashion, the suspense is in knowing exactly how. Of course, if we played Go as well as Hel, we'd probably be able to work out the strategy for ourselves.
This is an absolute page turner. And as there are so many chapters and so much white space, the read is far less long than its 500 pages would suggest.
Enjoy!
Basically, Don Winslow has written a prequel to the 1979 airport bestseller Shibumi. The star of Shibumi, assassin Nicholai Hel, is straight out of a Hai Karate advert. He is tall, muscular, half Russian, half Japanese (a mindblowingly exotic combination in 1979), attractive to women, adept at martial arts, fearless, able to bear excruciating pain, fluent in many languages, a genius at the game of Go, and uniquely honourable. He is flawless; a perfect hero. If he were a film character, he would have been played by Burt Lancaster.
So Nicholai Hel takes us on a tour of the far east - Japan, China, Laos and Viet Nam - in an effort to assassinate a Russian envoy and follow through with his cover of shipping arms to Viet Nam. In the course of his travails, he is double crossed; sold to the enemy; has repeated attempts on his life and suffers grievous injuries. He survives of course thanks largely to his great metaphor of comparing the world to a game of Go. Plus this is a prequel so he couldn't come unstuck - and this particular genre of 1970s spy thriller wouldn't entertain the possibility of failure.
So much for the cheese - where are the crackers, you ask?
Well, there are some superb traveloguey settings. The state run hotels of Beijing; the perils of the Mekong valley; the shady streets of Luang Prabang; steamy Saigon. It's all there. The puppet emperor Bao Dai makes more than a cameo appearance. The politics, intrigue and depravity of French Indochina are laid bare. There is a moment of pure comedy when Nicholai Hel introduces himself to Bao Dai as a puppet maker. Bao Dai asks what kind of puppets and Hel replies that he hasn't decided whether they are French or American puppets. Bao Dai was not amused. There are similar humorous cracks throughout.
Then there is a detailed, complex plot pitting our hero against the seemingly limitless resources of the Americans, the French, the Chinese, the Russians and the Corsicans. Pretty much everyone Hel meets will be affiliated to one or more of these groups - though we sometimes take our time to find out exactly who is on whose side. At various points, Hel finds himself in inescapable peril and though we know he will escape in some impossible fashion, the suspense is in knowing exactly how. Of course, if we played Go as well as Hel, we'd probably be able to work out the strategy for ourselves.
This is an absolute page turner. And as there are so many chapters and so much white space, the read is far less long than its 500 pages would suggest.
Enjoy!
Format:Paperback
The first of Don Winslow's books I've read, and it won't be the last! A good story, with lots of action, reasonably believable characters, and a good sense of the 1950's in which it's set. A very enjoyable read. It kept me entertained at least.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Puzzling.
I got this for my father and I know for a fact he's read it, it having sat in his lap for ages. But having just asked him for a potted opinion for the purposes of this review he... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Stuart Burns
Not bad but also not worthy of Shibumi
As a standalone book, Satori would have been fine. It has a decent story and writing style. However, Trevanian's Shibumi is a tough act to follow, and at this, Don Winslow's Satori... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Zeynep CB
Disappointment for Winslow fans
Big fan of Don Winslow so very disappointed by this. Quite fun but very one-dimensional. Winslow and his characters keeps telling us how brilliant the lead character is, but never... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Paul Reeve
Satori A Good book
Satori is nearly as good as Shibumi,but i like the book it gives a little bit more baground of Nicholas Hel`s life and background
Published 6 months ago by Kalle
The Apprentice imitates the Master
This is a well-crafted thriller. The setting is not one with which I am personally familiar, but it appears to have been thoroughly researched. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Alexa
Satisfying
Trevanian's Shibumi was one of the first books I remember reading where the hero was not a "good guy". For its time it was an excellently written and researched novel. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Donald Thompson
Like reading a Hollywood Summer Blockbuster
This is a reasonable romp through Asia with a action hero who has it all, a seductive French heroine, evil criminal masterminds, corrupt Russian army officials and gun, knife and... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Sam Moore
An Enjoyable Period Thriller
Prior to tackling Satori I had never read another Don Winslow book and my only experience of Trevanian's works was watching the movie adaptation of the The Eiger Sanction [DVD]... Read more
Published 13 months ago by C. Green
excellent book.....
Don Winslow is a worthy successor to Trevanian. Having read Shibumi I found this prequel of the forming of Nicolai Hel, riviting and extremely difficult to put down. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Hazel Vicary
A Terrific Sequel/Prequel to Shibumi
In 1979, Shibumi by Trevanian, (Rodney Whitaker) became an instant international best-seller; Trevanian himself called his story of Nicolai Hel "the definitive exercise of the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mrs. Jane Hawkes
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