The 47th Samurai: Bob Lee Swagger, Book 4

I liked it, mostly because of the author’s unbelievable superb writing. All of the Japanese names and sword strokes was a bit tuff to get through, but in the end was worth it. The last sentence in chapter 37 was fun reading. The ending of the book was very nice. I would certainly recommend this book although I enjoyed the first three more than this one.

I know this is an adventure fantasy novel, but it goes beyond reasonable suspension of disbelief when he becomes proficient with a sword in five days and then magically uses his intelligence to defeat a master.As usual the characters are "traits" rather than people. So there is no real change in them; they just do whatever their character trait outlines for them.Lots of detail of blowing stuff up and slashing people and such.Kind of formulaic with a heavy dose of smaltz about "brother soldier love" and such.Swagger's relationship with his wife is unclear here. Last novel he came home and it seemed he was more settled. Now suddenly he is off on a mission and his wife is sort of ok with it? She was ready to leave him in the last novel, and now she seems ok with his "missions"? A bit odd and unclear regarding her change?

I've read most of the previous reviews and while I understand and respect those opinions, my own take on "The 47th Samurai" is different enough to take the time to share it.First, I've enjoyed the heck out of everything Stephen Hunter has written though some have been near-perfect and some less satisfying. I read this kind of book for enjoyment - heart-pounding page-turning fun. I don't expect the same degree of accuracy and objectivity as a history. There's a suspension of disbelief to all literature, and I'm willing to play along as a reader to get the kick the author is trying to deliver as long as the author is practicing his craft with some skill and integrity.Second, I come to this book as a life-long Japanophile, a student of Japanese history and culture, a collector of Japanese swords and other "things Samurai," a student of Iaido, and as a bookseller specializing in out of print books related to Asia, especially Japan. I could have gotten hung up on minor errors but I chose to let them pass by and not ruin my fun. Many of the reviews focus on how unbelievable it is that Bob Lee could have learned what he did about the sword in a week. That was some intense week though 24 x 7 works out to about 2 years of an hour and half or so in dojo which is the most training the average martial arts student in the West gets. Japan is different, and if you want to learn how it's possible to get a black belt in Aikido in a year (with nights and weekends off to heal) hunt down a book called "Angry White Pyjamas." ASIN 0688175376 Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot PoliceWhat I see is Bob Lee Swagger - archetypical Marine - being adaptable - which might be the best one-word definition of "Marine." Sure "47th Samurai" is not perfect - what is? - and it's not "Point of Impact" - what could be? - but for my money it was a great ride and I'll be recommending it to hundreds on the Japanese sword collector, Samurai history, and Iaido email lists. I hope lots of them pick it up, and I bet most of them enjoy meeting Bob Lee Swagger and find the other books enjoyable as well.(I'm giving it 5 stars since 4 1/2 was not an option.)

I really hate it when a publisher fudges on the credentials of a writer, and I also hate it when people who don't know the first thing about Japan try to set a novel there. Unfortunately, The 47th Samurai suffers from both of these problems.First, the copy along the top of the book reads, "Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Point of Impact and Hot Springs STEPHEN HUNTER". I think that it's fair to assume that a potential customer looking at the cover could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps Mr. Hunter won his Pulitzer for writing, if not one of the two novels listed, at least SOME novel. But no. He won it for his work as a newspaper film critic - laudable, to be sure, but if I wanted an expert on movies I'd go visit Roger Ebert's website.As for the Japan stuff, Mr. Hunter has certainly done his homework on swords and samurai movies (of course). He throws so many Japanese sword parts into the text that it could actually serve as a sort of katana primer course. Unfortunately, he also throws in pretty much every silly stereotype that exists about Japan. We get the salaryman reading horrific porn comics on the train, people crossing streets to avoid having to walk directly past the gaijin, yada yada. It wasn't fresh (or particularly true) when Michael Crichton wrote Rising Sun back in 1992, and it's certainly not fresh now. Is it too much to ask that successful novelists, who presumably have the money to spend on research, actually try going to Japan and seeing if there are actual pervs reading bondage comics on the public transportation system, women who will actually cross the street to avoid them and so on? Apparently it is.And what about the level of English that's spoken by virtually (it seems) everyone in Japan? Okay, fine, you need to have at least one Japanese character speak good English in order to explain difficult points, but come on. A guy serving coffee throws out slang that sounds like he's lived in the States for decades: "I can fire it up in the microwave if you like". Or this bit from a different character:"Nakago is the rusted steel tang under the hilt. Even it is full of tantalizing communications from the past... It was as if the desecrator was paying homage to his superior... The cutting-edge side is at an acute angle to the bottom end of the shinogi line..."Even native speakers don't talk like that, and I can tell you that after more than a decade and a half of dealing with Japanese learners of English at all levels, I've never met one who would use the word "desecrator" in a spoken sentence, much less that plus "tantalizing", plus "acute"... and all in the same paragraph. But stuff like this runs throughout.And that's too bad, because Mr. Hunter has an engaging style and can plot a book pretty well. Sure, there's a little too much in the way of Hemingway envy (check out the photo on the back cover), and he doesn't do the whole honor thing as well as Robert Crais or John D. MacDonald, but still, it's certainly a readable book - at least those aspects that don't relate directly to Japan. I might well pick up another of his books next time, one that's set in the USA. As for this one, if you don't know anything about Japan and don't mind being served up a bunch of stale central-casting leftovers, have at it. You'll probably enjoy yourself.

ordered on Friday, delivered on Saturday, book as described, what more could I ask for.....

Great action, thoughtfully delivered. Swagger is unbeatable. Highly recommended.

C' è poco da dire oltwre a quello che ho già qespresso in merito ai precedenti libri. Quwesto libro ha però dalla sua parte questa avventura in un Giappone "underground" cioè non visibile ne identificabile da chiunque, ma solo da persone come Bob Lee e queei pochi altri come lui.Bel lavoro Stephen!!!!:-):-)Galland5:-P:-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-)

This is why I don’t try to write a book. Stephan hunter writes like no one else. Make sure you have nothing to do for a day!!!!

It was a used book, a bit worn, but I just finished reading it. it is quite a tale worth reading.