I just finished reading James Clavell's 'Shogun'...and I thouroughly enjoyed it. It was a little slow and tedious in parts, but all in all a great book. The only problem I had was remembering who some of the minor characters were...especially after not reading it for a few days. I'd pick it up and think, "Now who is Kasigi Omi-san again?"

Another thing I had trouble with was the Japanese words. Once Clavell had written their English translation several times, he would stop. For example, a very prominent phrase throughout the book was "shigata go nei". I know he wrote what it meant in English several times, but towards the end of the book, he quit doing that. Since I would occasionally go three or four days without reading, I would always forget what that meant; and I didn't feel like taking the time to go back through the book and hunt for the translation.

I did remember what "wakarimasu ka" means though. So now my Japanese vocabulary consists of being able to say "Yes" (hai), "No" (neh), "Thanks" (arigato), and "I understand" (wakarimasu ka).

I know there was a lot more Japanese that I could've picked up. Maybe I'll read it again sometime and try to learn the rest of it.

Either that, or I'll just rest securely in the knowledge that English rules, and all other languages are meaningless tripe.

***Disclaimer: The above paragraph is pure sarcasm. It is not meant to offend anyone, nor is it the author's true point of view. In fact, only French is meaningless tripe.

***Disclaimer 2: The author's vain attempts at sarcastic humor apparently know no bounds. You should really quit reading this post now and move on to something about LOTR. I think you can find one or two posts on that subject here in the forum.

On a side note, I was seriously ticked off that a certain main character died. What the heck was that all about? I wanted my happy ending! :)

Kel"in a rather silly mood today"ly