Can anyone recommend....

[pk_81]

I'm not big on reading history books that are just straight to the point facts. I like learning about history through stories (ie. Memoirs of a Geisha).
Does anyone know of any books similar to my said interest that they could recommend?

thanks :-)

I just realized, I probably should have posted this in the Literature forum. my apologies.

[DoctorP]

I've been reading "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa. (translation by: Charles S. Terry) It is a very thick book, but very hard to put down. It is a novel about one of Japan's most famous swordsmen Miyamoto Musashi. If you are at all interested in Samurai, you will probably like this book.

[Apollo]

Maybe Kazuo ishiguro's When We Were Orphans. Set in the 1930s in England, Japan and China. Great (his-)story, great book. :-)

[Nothingness]

Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa is very good and very thick. Its about Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a man from rags to being shogun of Japan.

[blackorchid]

You might try reading Genji Monogatari. It's really long, but i've heard its really good. Besides, it's kind of a classic. It's by Murasaki Shikibu. (translated it might be The Tale of Genji)

[phelonious]

genji monogatari is nice cuz it gives a pretty good glimpse into court life in heian period japan, though parts of it are a little dreamy. that's ok though.

[tanpopo]

Well, probably you like to read one of the following books:
Nagatsuka Takeshi: Tsuchi (Trans. Soil / Earth)
<<< Meiji, easy country people, may be read as social history or ethnography
Kafû Nagai: Bokutô Kitan (Trans. A Strange Tale from East of the River)
<<< Geisha, modernisation, literature, love
Shimazaki Tôson: Hakai (Trans. Broken Commandment)
<<< Eta

Have fun!

[TenMonGaKuSha]

I read Miyamoto Musashi, too. Excellent book but not so thick.. well, let me see.. if I remember well, it's at least 800 pages of A5 paper format.
That's a Japanese-Serbian translation by Dragan Milenkovic and I've heard lately that this translation is shorter than the original.

[Kama]

Furinkazan by Yasushi Inoue. I read it in Polish, but I suppose there could be an English translation. It's about Yamamoto Kansuke (sengoku jidai/Takeda Shingen)

[King_Ghidorah]

for some historical fiction you might like Akira Yoshimura. i've read both Shipwrecks, and One man's justice. found them to be very readible