海賊とよばれた男（下）

by Naoki Hyakuta, 百田 尚樹

this is a good book.

370 pages

First published July 12, 2012

About the author

Associated Names:
* Naoki Hyakuta
* 百田 尚樹 (Japanese)
* 百田尚樹 (Chinese)

Naoki Hyakuta is a Japanese novelist and television producer. He is known for his right-wing political views and denying Japanese war crimes prior to and during World War II. He is particularly known for his 2006 novel The Eternal Zero, which became a popular 2013 film, his controversial period as a governor of government broadcaster NHK, as well as his support of Nanjing Massacre denial. Hyakuta has written a number of other books, several of which have been turned into films, such as Bokkusu and Monsuta.

Reviews

[Vo Thanh Sang · Rating 5 out of 5]

海賊とよばれた男 hấp dẫn không thu kém gì 永遠のゼロ. Đọc được hai tác phẩm của Hyakuta Naoki thì cả hai đều xuất sắc. Mình thấy Hyakuta Naoki viết truyện đọc hấp dẫn hơn Murakami rất nhiều, nhưng có điều ông này toàn viết truyện có xảy ra thật, trong khi đó truyện của Murakami thì hoàn toàn do ông tưởng tượng ra. Không biết nên đánh giá ông nào cao hơn ông nào?

[Saeko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great, thought-provoking and moving, historical novel by N. Hyakuta, more than 700 pages in two volumes. This time, the story evolves around Sazō Idemitsu, the founder of the Japanese petroleum company , Idemitsu Kosan.
The first volume describes his life mainly in Japan before, during and after WW2. This second volume moves its setting to the world: GHQ, Seven sisters (Standard Oil of New Jersey, Standard Oil of California, Mobil Oil, Shell, British Petroleum, Texaco, Gulf Oil), Iranian PM Mohammad Mosaddegh, CIA, Winston Churchill, the Japanese bureaucracy ... and the story finishes with an episode of a face-to-face talk of the protagonist (S. Idemitsu) and Andre Malraux (a French novelist, art theorist and Minister for Cultural Affairs), followed by another episode of National Revolution of Iran. It's so insightful, informative, thrilling, beautiful and moving that I can't help hoping that someone would translate this book into languages other than Japanese. Especially I want Iranians to read the novel. I am very sure that they will be moved to tears.
WW2 was a war fought for oil. Still the same. We should learn from history and stop making the same mistake over and over. In the end, it's the weak who suffer the most.