Rating: 5 out of 5
It is very difficult to describe the brilliance of the prose in these novels. Indeed, I think that the best description is given by the author in one of his translated essays which is attached to the book:
“These individuals [the three men whom the book concentrates on] were not such exceptional talents, but, as I have mentioned already, they simply conducted themselves much like any average man of their generation. It is possible to overstate the case and imagine that without these two brothers the Japanese archipelago together with the Korean Peninsula might have ended up as Russian territory. But, if they had not existed, no doubt some other average man of there generation would have filled their boots instead.
This is what I shall write about. At this stage I cannot predict how much space I am going to need.”
