SHIBUMI by Trevanian

Finished Tu 3/6/13

The novel is the story of a world renown assassin by the name of Nicholai Alexandrovich Hel. He was born in Pre-WWII China to an aristocratic Russian mother, and never really had any contact with his Prussian father. The mother and son moved to Japan and are taken in by General Kishikawa, a high ranking Japanese military figure who becomes a foster father to Nicholai. Essentially, Nicholai Hel is half Russian, half Prussian, brought up Japanese, and exhibits cultural traits of each ethnic group.  When the general leaves to fight for the Japanese (and lose to the allies), he is sent to a teacher of the highly complex Japanese board game called 'Go', and this game becomes the centerpiece of his education. This game is a mix of philosophy and military tactics that is makes chess look like checkers.
    The novel is a kind of biography of Hel and recounts his life-

After Hiroshima he becomes a translator for the Americans. He is fluent in several languages

American intelligence captures Hel and imprisons him for failing to testify against General Kishikawa.

Hel spends many years in solitary confinement and he becomes mentally and physically adept. After a few years he is able to convince the authorities to give him books and writing materials. One of the books is a Basque dictionary, and he becomes proficient in this ancient, forgotten language.



Links-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibumi_(novel)

http://www.amazon.com/Shibumi-A-Novel-Trevanian/product-reviews/1400098033/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm/180-1696600-4797926?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

My post on Good Reads-

The novel is a stylistic relic of the 1970's from the author of THE EIGER SANCTION that recounts the life of world-class assassin, Nicholai Alexandrovich Hel.  He is half Russian and half Prussian who was brought up in China and Japan, and exhibits cultural traits of each ethnic group. The highly complex Japanese board-game called 'Go' becomes the centerpiece of his education and seemed to determine his philosophical outlook on life. This game is a major theme of the novel, and cave exploration also is another major influence on Hel's character. Hel also has a longstanding hatred of the United States because of the nuclear bombing of Japan at the end of WWII, and he was also imprisoned by the victors for several years in solitary confinement for refusing to testify against his step-father, Japanese General Kishikawa. Also, while imprisoned he receives a Basque dictionary, and Hel becomes enchanted with this ancient and forgotten culture, and he lives in this area of France and Spain. The action of the novel is driven by a request from a young girl who belongs to a terrorist group, and her violent mission was compromised, and she is able to persuade Hel to help her. He was friends with the leader of this group, yet I have no idea what they were fighting for, or even who they were fighting against. The most interesting aspect of the novel, which is not developed nearly enough, is a highly secret organization called 'Mother Company'. This is an espionage network headed by Saudi Oil interests that have compromised all national governments on the planet. This outfit is the 'power behind the throne', and I felt was the most interesting idea in the novel.

Stylistically the book is really dated, yet it is an odd portrait of a very unique hit-man, but it could have been much, much better.