Customer Reviews

The Ronin: A Novel Based on a Zen Myth

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Starting with two stories from "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones," Jennings wrote a story which should delight fans of Kurosawa and Mifune. A joy throughout, "The Ronin" is a special delight at the end. This book is gutsy and robust, not for those who must smell only the flowers but not the fertilizer. I've read "The Ronin" perhaps 10 times and given away perhaps 20 copies--all to people who read and enjoyed it before I offered to let them keep it.

The Ronin tells the story of a masterless samurai who lives a violent, debauched life until one day he is made aware of the enormity of his crimes. As a sort of penance, he decides to dig a tunnel through a mountain which can only be crossed by a high and dangerous pass.
The book is based on a Zen koan (a problem which cannot be solved by logic, on which practitioners of Zen meditate in order to find enlightenment).
The Ronin is a fascinating book and many years later, I am still troubled by the tough questions that it posed, such as: are we only good because we have to be; is there justice in revenge; and can human beings ever really make up for the terrible things that they do?
This was my favourite book when I was in high school and although now that I am older and can see that there are a lot of weaknesses in the book, I still say that it has the best ending of any book I have ever read and highly recommend it.

From the moment I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. The way it is written keeps you driving to the end. Every perplexing event leads you forcefully into yet another. The writing in my opinion is perfectly done to convey a very surreal atmosphere. The message of the book is unexplainable, but reading the book brings understanding that can only be vaguely told through words.

Don't be fooled; this story is authentic. Jennings has done an impeccable job of putting this story (told to him by Nyogen Senzaki) to text in such a gripping way. It is also very "zen" in how we find the stories of several seemingly unrelated people come together in such an important way.

Loved this book, highly recommend it to anyone, Zen practitioner or not.

This is a good book to wander aimlessly through your mind. It is along the order of Monkey: A Journey to the West but it is not written as a fantasy, it is a historical treatment circa Meiji period. It is adapted from a Zen legend and excellently so. I enjoyed it from the first page to the last. I absolutely love the ending, and I was doubting how Jennings would accomplish the task all the way to the last paragraph. The battles are descriptive, brutal and entertaining. The themes are timeless.

I was intrigued by the title and the fact that it was a Japanese Samurai (Ronin) myth. In my studies I have found those stories translated to english have be most enjoyable.

I truely enjoyed this reading. I started early one morning and could not put it down until I was done later that evening...

Well done, I hope he does more translations for our reading pleasure...

I first read this story back in high school and had nearly forgotten it. I came across a quote from the story in an old file and discovered the book could still be acquired. The quote: "When life is more terrible than death, then it is the truest valor to dare to live." In these times we live in it is humbling to think that mankind has struggled for thousands of years against all odds to dare to live.

A must for those who have searched and believe in the truth. That sacrifice is paramount to enlightenment. Definitely a book for the perceptive poet-warrior. For those who pursue ability and seek to reveal all facets of emotion through martial arts. The Ronin's journey puts the mysticism of abstract Zen in relative perspective. A must read.

I've been studying this culture for years, but this book is the best book I've read over here. It's not educational in the sense that you'll understand Japan more, but you will understand a little more about life afterward.

A rare book, dazzling prose, brutally graphic and yet alive with the subtlety and understatement appropriate to the Zen aesthetic. So good I read it twice in a row, starting over as soon as I had finished!

This book is a bizarre combination of overheated 1950s men's magazine pulp fiction, Tom of Finland erotica, Japanese martial arts and genuine Zen Buddhist wisdom. Chances are you've never read anything like it. Like a Zen parable, it is challenging, heartbreaking, disturbing and strangely moving. Written by William Dale Jennings, a hero of the early gay rights movement and well-known 1950s screenwriter, it is a classic of purple prose and unexpected insight. It is filled with earthy, violent and sexual images, but then again so is real life. Don't let the overwrought prose fool you - it is definitely a creature of its (chauvinist) era and a reflection of its author, but superficial it is not. It is well worth reading, even if only for the camp value. And don't stop halfway!