The Samurai's Garden - Updated

 

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

Fiction

1994 St. Martin's Griffin

First Reading: January 13, 2002

Second Reading: Mary 10, 2024

Original Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding!)

New Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Critics nationwide have praised Gail Tsukiyama for her vivid characters and crystalline prose. They have acclaimed the exquisite beauty of her serene settings. But more than anything, readers have celebrated finding themselves in the hands of a strong storyteller with the wisdom and warm heart of an ancient soul.

On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese man is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He will rest, swim in the salubrious sea, and paint in the brilliant shoreside light. It will be quiet and solitary. 

But he also meets four local residents--a beautiful Japanese girl and three older people. What then ensues is a tale that readers will find at once classical yet utterly unique. Young Stephen has his own adventure, but it is the unfolding story of Matsu, Sachi, and Kenzo that seizes your attention and will stay with you forever.

Tsukiyama, with lines as clean, simple, telling, and dazzling as the best of Oriental art, has created a small, moving masterpiece.

Update:

After posting about The Samurai's Garden last year, I was eager to give it another read, and it finally made its way to my nightstand this past month. I'd forgotten so much about the story and thoroughly enjoyed it this second time around. This novel would make such a lovely movie. 

My Original Thoughts (2002):

The perfect indication of a great book is one that you hug to your chest and whisper, "Great book!" upon completion. It's also the type of book you are tempted to read again the minute you've finished. This is one of those books! Beautifully written. Lyrical. Touching. Simply lovely. I didn't want it to end, so I read slowly, savoring each sentence. Closed the book with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. I want to read everything else that Tsukiyama has written. I'll give this as a gift to my book-loving friends and relatives. 

Honor, duty, loyalty. Unspoken love. Zen-like. A soothing, calm book. Beautifully "painted" images. 

My Current Thoughts:

I read this with two online book groups (The Book Spot and On the Porch Swing) and as I recall, everyone loved the book. I plan to read it again this summer while on our trip to Canada.