Hagakure
The Book of the Samurai
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Hagakure
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Narrated by:
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Brian Nishii
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Written by:
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Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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William Scott Wilson - translator
About this listen
Living and dying with bravery and honor is at the heart of Hagakure, a series of texts written by an 18th-century samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo. It is a window into the samurai mind, illuminating the concept of bushido (the Way of the Warrior), which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Nabeshima clan to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought. The original Hagakure consists of over 1,300 short texts that Tsunetomo dictated to a younger samurai over a seven-year period. William Scott Wilson has selected and translated here 300 of the most representative of those texts to create an accessible distillation of this guide for samurai. No other translator has so thoroughly and eruditely rendered this text into English.
For this edition, Wilson has added a new introduction that casts Hagakure in a different light than ever before. Tsunetomo refers to bushido as "the Way of death", a description that has held a morbid fascination for readers over the years. But in Tsunetomo's time, bushido was a nuanced concept that related heavily to the Zen concept of muga, the "death" of the ego. Wilson's revised introduction gives the historical and philosophical background for that more metaphorical reading of Hagakure, and through this lens, the classic takes on a fresh and nuanced appeal.
©1979, 2002, 2012 English translation by William Scott Wilson. Introduction by William Scott Wilson (P)2014 Audible Inc.What listeners say about Hagakure
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2020-03-18
I love this book! Thank you Brian!
Having read the book years ago, I only have one issue: The format of the book itself is lost. If you have the choice, I suggest buying the book instead.
I have nothing against Brian(great job!), it's just that the original version I read was structured in paragraphs as opposed to a continuous stream. Therefore, after each point you were forced to pause and think about what you just read. Plus, it was easier to re-read since nothing in the book is longer then a page or two (if my memory is correct).
A simple solution would be to separate the audio point by point, 2 minutes by 2 minutes... But maybe I just need to make use of the bookmarks.
Anyways, if you're thinking about getting this: go ahead!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Zyn ski
- 2023-06-16
Seek elsewhere
As insight into this particular kind of man's life, it is satisfying. But for insight into yout own life, it is lacking. The most mature decision this man made was not to publish these musings himself, and the listener should keep that in mind.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 2023-01-24
love.
incredibly powerful and a forever reread, the narrator did a fantastic job yet again.
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