료마가 간다 4

竜馬がゆく #4

by Ryōtarō Shiba, 박재희 (Translator)

시바 료타로의 베스트셀러 『료마가 간다』 제4권. 일본 근대사에 큰 발자취를 남겼으며 오늘날에도 역사상 가장 존경받는 청년 인물로 꼽히는 메이지 혁명의 개혁가 사카모토 료마의 일대기를 그린 작품이다. 작가는 역사 속 실존 인물인 료마를 새롭게 창조해 한 영웅으로 훌륭하게 그려내어 입체적이고 생생한 인물로 정착시키는 데 성공했다. 세상에 둘도 없는 거대한 배포와 도량을 갖춘 사나이 료마. 그의 삶을 통해 인간이 추구해야 할 정의의 길이 무엇인지를 뚜렷이 보여준다.

372 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1998

About the author

Ryōtarō Shiba (司馬 遼太郎) born Teiichi Fukuda (福田 定一 Fukuda Teiichi, August 7, 1923 – February 12, 1996) in Osaka, Japan, was a Japanese author best known for his novels about historical events in Japan and on the Northeast Asian sub-continent, as well as his historical and cultural essays pertaining to Japan and its relationship to the rest of the world.

Shiba studied Mongolian at the Osaka School of Foreign Languages (now the School of Foreign Studies at Osaka University) and began his career as a journalist with the Sankei Shimbun, one of Japan's major newspapers. After World War II Shiba began writing historical novels. The magazine Shukan Asahi printed Shiba's articles about his travels within Japan in a series that ran for 1,146 installments. Shiba received the Naoki Prize for the 1959 novel Fukuro no Shiro ("The Castle of an Owl"). In 1993 Shiba received the Government's Order of Cultural Merit. Shiba was a prolific author who frequently wrote about the dramatic change Japan went through during the late Edo and early Meiji periods. His most monumental works include Kunitori Monogatari (国盗り物語), Ryoma ga Yuku (竜馬がゆく; see below), Moeyo Ken, and Saka no ue no kumo (坂の上の雲), all of which have spawned dramatizations, most notably Taiga dramas aired in hour-long segments over a full year on NHK television. He also wrote numerous essays that were published in collections, one of which—Kaidō wo Yuku—is a multi-volume journal-like work covering his travels across Japan and around the world. Shiba is widely appreciated for the originality of his analyses of historical events, and many people in Japan have read at least one of his works.

Several of Shiba's works have been translated into English, including his fictionalized biographies of Kukai (Kukai the Universal: Scenes from His Life, 2003) and Tokugawa Yoshinobu (The Last Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, 2004), as well as The Tatar Whirlwind: A Novel of Seventeenth-Century East Asia (2007).

(from Wikipedia)

Alternative Names:

Fukuda, Teiichi
Ryotaro, Shiba
Shiba, Ryoutarou
Ryoutarou, Shiba
Sima, Liaotailang
司馬遼太郎
司马辽太郎
Shiba, Rëotaro
Шиба, Рёотаро
司马辽太郎
司馬, 遼太郎
司馬遼太郎
司場遼太郎

Reviews

[TG Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

我個人不太相信，一個不重衛生（到處亂撒尿、口水亂噴）以及外型邋遢（不洗澡不洗臉不換衣）的傢伙，要怎麼能夠吸引三個年輕美女（外加一個歐巴桑）為他深情付出並枯等一世？宅男們若相信這種只顧為著理想向前衝、不斷鍛鍊自我身心、毫不體恤女性的個性，還會不斷有美女依戀在他身旁，那就太傻了。連人家 SAO 的「C8763」可是一枚白白淨淨的溫柔小正太哩……

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10

[Koit · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is to my regret that while I bought this the day it came out, I only now took the time to delve into the fourth and last volume of the ‘Ryoma!’ saga. Of course, the experience was very good throughout—not only Mr Shiba’s flowing style, but also the thoughtful tangents, revealing the future for so many of the characters that pass by the book, allow for an unmatched immersion.

The fourth volume traces the final months of Sakamoto Ryoma’s life, in the characters quick travels from Nagasaki to Kyoto and back, several times over. The scope of the thinker—that the reader sees depicted in Ryoma—is unmatched by any of the others around him. It is almost mesmerising how after a meeting with Ryoma, nearly everyone is converted to his way of seeing: a way that transcends narrow-minded loyalism to either the Emperor or the Shogun, and a way which promotes the value of every individual.

The best comparison isn’t, however, to what we can think today, but rather how far above his compatriots Ryoma stood. This is most importantly exemplified by what the reader knows will happen—the success of the Restoration. Thinking back, the relatively small battles that occurred after the Shogun gave up his power are nothing compared to what might have been. And, in trying to avert that ‘might be’, Ryoma also managed to settle a future within international law for the ascendant country.

As a last thought, the story of Iwasaki Yataro, which comes both in and out of this book, is another thoughtful tangent that connects the 19th century with the modern day. The way Mr Shiba managed to combine these pathways of events is nothing short of impressive.

Beyond this, the author’s moral remarks need to be highlighted. The author clearly respected people who did not resort to violence in justification of intolerance. Instead, careful thought and deliberation were the order of the day, and every word Mr Shiba wrote is a statement against parochial militarism.

This review was originally posted on my blog.