Across The Nightingale Floor

[WoodenCoyote]

No, no. I just meant in future . Slap me silly, but the Hidden representing Christians never occured to me in the first book.

I guess you have to be familiar Japanese history to see it. A small tribe of people worshipping a forbidden faith that has one True God, isolated on an island [ just as the Christian missionaries were contained in real life ] They have names like Tomasu [ "Thomas" written in katakana ] and later

Spoiler

Jo-an [ "John" ]

 

[Kookamoor]

Mmm... I did pick up the Katakana pronunciation for Thomas, actually. But now that I think about it, the description of the facial characteristics at the very beginning makes a lot more sense now. I'll have to read over it again when I go home this evening.

 

[rune]

I enjoyed the series, though the 3rd book wasnt as good as the others. For a YA series it's mature and does make for nice reading even for adults

 

[WoodenCoyote]

Here's somethign I learned today: The Fujiwara family were an actual noble family and consult to the throne, going back as far as the late 700s. They later became the Tanakaminamoto family.

 

[arctic]

recently finished this and quite enjoyed it. it has a similar feel to Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, which is still superior. parts were predictable, but as a whole, the story was intriguing enough. 4/5

also, i visited the official book site yesterday and apparently Universal is bringing this one to the big screen. i think they could get a pretty nice martial arts adaptation out of it.

 

[simonj]

I was about half way through this book when my car got broken into and the book was stolen. I never finished reading it.

 

[rune]

There are 4 new books now that continue on from this series. Anyone got them yet?

 

[Ronny]

I just picked up Across the Nightingale Floor at the used book store, I'm glad so many enjoyed it. I'm hoping to start it soon.

 

[veggiedog]

I really liked this book a lot. It was little bit spare when it came to narration, and the alternating first- and third-person viewpoints were a little bit sloppy, but it was very good nevertheless. It showed a different side to Japanese culture beyond the samurai-ninja stereotypes. I found the concept of the Hidden very interesting (although I thought it wasn't a very good analogy for Christianity) and while it was violent, the descriptions of gore were very concise. It showed a more humane side to what a lot of Americans have viewed as olden Japan--war, blood, suicide.

I was a little bit confused about the sudden 'passion' between Kaede and Takeo. They didn't even know each other! I hope that this is explored more later. And why is it that

Spoiler

Lady Maruyama and daughter drowned themselves? Is there some bit of Japanese culture I am missing here, or were they just suicidal? I am wondering because there is a lot of mention of suicide in the book, and I don't know whether this is just something the author tried to throw in, or an ancient Japanese practice.

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