Shibumi [MP3 CD]

I'll start with those distractions if you promise to stay with me to the end.

These characters are horrid. I cringed with pain reading on the first few pages where Special Agent Starr displayed his habits of speaking with a fake Southern drawl and dispensing folklore from his old pappy. I feared I had a long road ahead as just a few pages later, Mr. Diamond, 'dried his crotch reflectively.'

Other than Hel, the Japanese General whom he paternally bonds with, and the Go teacher, we are provided a long long cast of dim witted, big busted, sexually talented/enthusiastic drivel. Nearly all of the female characters are so abhorrently shallow they are basically incapable of doing anything other than stenography or achieving an orgasm.

The consistently bungling portrayal of intelligence operatives, both CIA and British MI, are flagrant and inflammatory. Neither flavor shows the dedication, love of country, and intelligence that I know are near universal characteristics of those who dedicate their lives to defending their homelands. Instead we are shown callous, inept thugs, who build the murder of their own brothers in arms into their plans to cover their own tracks.

The nearly constant berating of America and all things American has turned the stomach of more than one red white and blue reader of the novel. It should be noted that this in not the only nationality beaten and bruised in the book, far from it. In certain contexts within the story this America bashing is well justified, especially those being told from the Nickolai Hel perspective. But it bleeds over into pretty much all of the book, and it is distracting from the brilliance that lies beneath it all.

Oh yes, it is brilliant. The brilliance of this story is the character study of Nickolai Hel and his pursuit of Shibumi, a very Zen state of unpretentious perfection. Nickolai Hel endures, grows, and pursues. All along actively pursuing that state of perfection in himself. Unfortunately, I can't go much beyond that description without providing a most undeserved spoiler.

All that I can say is read this novel with a critical eye. Do not let the hate and racism distract you from the deeper meaning. There is a lesson to be learned in this one, but it does not come for free.

Trevanian (Rodney Whitaker) is a first rate writer. His technical skill in the craft well exceeds many leading 'thriller' writers of today. When one reads about the art of naked/kill, the mystical states of Nicholai Hel, or even the machinations of the CIA and their unscrupulous methods for creating and combating terror, one gets the distinct impression that the author knows exactly what he's talking about and must have access to some kind of inside information. His writing is almost too believable. Throughout the reading, I had to continue to remind myself that this novel was written in 1979, well before the general public had any concern about terrorism. Other than the main character, this tale is about corruption in governments, who will go to any lengths to secure oil rights in the Middle East. The book is also about technology, which has aided civilization in many ways, yet has eroded our basic values. In many respects, Nicholai Hel is a modern Luddite, despising machines in all their forms, and the waste they create. Nicholai Hel is an 'everyman' character, a representation of the virtuous individual, alone and pitted against the dangerous technological and consumerist values of the herd. In the end, however, does Nicholai Hel win this battle over the modern, vulgar, techno-centred majority and finally attain 'Shibumi'?

This work should be considered a classic, for it has a timelessness about it, and can be read many times, for it will continue to offer intellectual stimulation as well as pure entertainment for many years to come.

A good writer realizes there is no black and white in any character: within the circle there is the yin and the yang and even within each yin there is a little yang and vice versa. This makes for authenticity, for we see ourselves in the mixture.