• Home
• About Authors
• Book Reviews
• Competitions
• For Parents
• Recommended Reads
• Collector's Corner
• Contact Us
• FAQs
• About Us

Satori
by Don Winslow

Release Date: 28th Apr 2011
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 978 0 7553 7020 7
RRP: £14.99

Average Customer Rating: 
(0.0 based on 0 ratings)

If God were a man, he'd be called: Nicholai Hel...

I have to confess upfront that I have never knowingly read a book by Trevanian, so his phenomenal success with Shibumi passed me by. The fact that a contemporary author of Winslow’s clout was asked to recreate the brand of Nicholai Hel speaks volumes – both about the nature of this wildly popular character and also the style of writing.

Satori meaning literally “enlightenment” from the Japanese, has a more subtle context within the novel itself. As the precursor to Trevanian’s Shibumi, Winslow was responsible for chronicling the detailed events that made Hel into the man he became. Using snatches of dialogue, vague insinuations and more obvious plot pointers from the original, it was Winslow’s task to mould a defined past and by doing so, share with us how Hel reaches “satori”. But it isn’t quite the spiritual enlightenment that the Buddhist monks would have had in mind, although, admittedly, Hel is an odd mix of a spiritual pacifist and lethal warrior (perhaps not so odd given his Japanese upbringing). Hel’s “satori” comes from being able to be outside of himself in order to see the greater picture. Contextually, this means gaining an understanding of the motivations, mentality and therefore actions of those around him. Crucial if there are lots of people out to kill you.

Set in the 1950’s, Hel finds himself a prisoner of the Americans after he freed his surrogate father, General Kishikawa, from the humiliation of being tried as a war criminal by killing him. Finally offered his freedom in exchange for carrying out an assassination of a Russian general in Beijing, Hel finds he cannot refuse. Ironically, he has his own reasons for wishing the Russian harm. But first he must utilise his many skills to become a convincing French arms dealer; enter the inevitably, glorious siren that is Solange – his “tutor” (in more ways than linguistically). Out of nowhere, their relationship metamorphoses into something deeper and Hel is hooked.

An historical lesson in the frightening world of Beijing post WWII, Mao is crushing his people’s freedom and spirit in the guise of equality; his version of communism bringing about a greater inequality than ever before and the thick fog of fear. Beijing reeks of fear as neighbour is set to spy on neighbour, suspicions and paranoia prevail and a comrade one second could be your killer the next. Against this burdensome and dangerous backdrop, Hel has to maintain his cover under extreme scrutiny as well as plan the assassination itself. Oh, and then he has to survive.

Satori is a bit like a decent bottle of wine. It needs time to air itself, a bit of breathing space in which to fully evolve its flavour. You can’t swig this straight from the bottle (no one should ever do that anyway). Even pouring it straight into a glass would not allow it justice. It has to be lingered over. Savoured. Mulled over with thoughtful purpose. Only then can you appreciate the exquisiteness of what Winslow has achieved and how magnificent a character Hel is. Satori will almost certainly bring about a new wave of fascination into Japanese culture (for some of us, it never went away), and words cannot describe how much I want my own “Go” board.

---

Your Reviews:

Click here to login or register and leave your very own review of Satori

Be the first to leave your own review of Satori!

© Copyright 2007-2012. You may not copy, reproduce or otherwise distribute any content on this site without prior consent. To obtain consent - email here

The Truth About Books Limited. Registered England & Wales. Registration No: 6418483. Privacy Policy. Terms & Conditions

Send Review Copies to : The Editor, The Truth About Books Ltd, PO Box 4732, Sheffield, S17 9BZ