Satori

Great book that asks the question, will there be more of Hel in the future? I sure the hel hope so!!

I was one of the early readers of "Shubumi", a book that has the power to suggest life changes to the young person of the age that I was when I read the book. Shibumi: A Novel It is an elegant book and attracted a wide range of cult followers, many of whom, like me, would wait until we forgot the fine details of the book so that we could read it again every five or six years. It remained fresh in a way that reminded me of the changes I had thought to make to my own life each time I read it.The plot of Shubumi is wonderful, but it could have taken very different turns and still been so; it is not the genius of the book. It is the way of life of Nicholai Hel and his paramour, Hana (and the wonderful characters inserted into their daily routines) that most readers remember and the unique voice that Trevanian (Rodney Whitaker, I now know) used to describe the characters, vocations and events in that novel. In fact, Hel's friends, as described, say as much about Hel as any description could inform the reader.And, "Shubumi" would have been about as hard an act to follow as was possible. The sheer loyalty of those who love this book would make a would make an author cringe at trying to follow it with another about Hel. (As Winslow worries in his Afterword).I am delightfully happy to report that "Satori", while paying proper homage to Trevanian, is written in Don Winslow's voice; one that is certainly honed to write this particular book, but not at all offensive to the fans of Trevanian.I was sad that we did not find the origins of Hel's first contact with the ultimate paramour and friends of his later life, but am hoping that there is, perhaps another work in progress which will complete the gap between Hel in his twenties and the much older Hel.This is one reader of Trevanian who was impressed with Mr. Winslow's writing, his speculative exploration of what might have comprised the melange of the complex Hel in Hel's early years. Sweet naivete is mixed in with an almost mystical understanding even in Hel's youth. SPOILER TO COME!!!!!Even as Hannah Stern dies and it surprises Hel in Shubumi, so he sustains surprise losses in Satori.SPOILER OVERI think that this strange naivete is an important part of Hel's character; maintained in both books. It is what makes him a relation to the rest of us; as masterful and different as is Hel, he still misses the odd cultural cue.Of course, readers like me wish to consider his mistakes as based on his code of honor; few consider that others will do what they would never, under any circumstances, consider doing.I very much liked the Buddhist references which were subtle, informative and not distracting; these references are Winslow's additions and I found them accurate and lightly well placed.I will not compare Shubumi to Satori (though am sure others will do) as this book is written as though by another narrator of Hel's life. In some ways, it reminds me of the "Alexandria Quartet" in that it can be fine, even wonderful to examine the same or similar events from the perspective of different observers. This book might have been written by "Pierre" and Shubumi by Hana. The voice is still similar as there are not a lot of ways to talk about the character who is Hel and get it right.I think, Mr. Winslow, that you got it right and while I would have liked a slightly less complex plot (given how complex is the history and character), I loved this book! I envy those readers who have not yet read either book as they have that to which to look forward.WELL DONE!Suze, Pleasant Valley, NY

It is a credit to Mr. Winslow, and to myself, that I can give the book three stars in spite of the shameful basis for this novel's existence.It's a credit to myself that I could put aside my anger with Alexandra Whitaker for her money-grab, her effort to enrich herself with fruits of her father's creativity. And a credit to Mr. Winslow that he could somehow put aside his own morality to write a story, which was crafted well enough, but clearly showed he had the bottom line in mind.I could write a long review on the story, but the moral outrage is what I wanted to express. Alexandra Whitaker clearly sold the literary rights to her father's character for profit. All the way through reading Satori, this was all I could think of. And just as reprehensible, how could a talented writer such as Mr. Winslow go along with the plan? And how could he put such energy into the character who wasn't his, and of course much worse, was not Trevanian's either?Trevanian was a master of the combination of character and story. Almost all modern writers can handle one or the other but Rodney Whitaker's genius was in combining the two. In Shibumi, Nicholai Hel was cleverly and painstakingly carved out of 1930's Shanghai and the mix of the Orient and Europe, genetics, culture and influence. The novel was a masterpiece. I doubt any other novel of the twentieth century could match the impeccable mastery of character and story, wit, and the sheer excitement of Shibumi. No other novel comes close, not even Trevanian's other works. So the debauchery of Nicholai Hel was an outrage.Mr. Winslow is clearly a story writer. And Satori was such a weird attempt at a sequel to Shibumi it left me shaking my head all the way through. First, it began as if we already knew Nicholai, but then the question arose, "Then why is he doing everything over again differently?" We already knew what happened in the prison and in the aftermath. Now it was as if Winslow was saying, "No, no it was this way. . ." But it didn't work. I thought possibly if I had been an unsuspecting millenial who had never read Trevanian's works he might have slid it by me. But it was as if one had to already know the character... which the new Nicholai certainly was not....and so it went on in bewilderment through the entire story.What was even more silly was when DelHandes suddenly appeared, not as the gnome from Shibumi but through some mistaken character swap as a short and odd version of Le Cagot. In Shibumi Le Cagot was endeared to the reader as a man full of unending creative metaphors. So how his unmistakable speech became that of the gnome's was puzzling, and .. again, it simply. . . did not work.I read as a forgiving reader. I gave Winslow credit for his hard work. Some of his plotting required forgiveness, as in Solange's conveniently becoming the Cobra, which was utterly not-believable. But all in all it was a fun story. I just wish he had done it on his own, with his own characters (and hopefully developed those characters) rather than bending to a talent-less and money hungry descendant of Whitakers who obviously sold her father's name... and disgraced him...all in the name of profit.

It’s a fun read that connects Hel with his final victim in Shibumi. Hits a spot for someone nostalgic about shibumi

Very good quality. BT very high unfair pricing.

While looking for another Don Winslow to read I found Satori. Curiously the reviews lead me to the books inspiration Shibumi by Trevanian. So I read Shibumi first. Shibumi is a tale about a killer for hire, Nikolai Hel. Shibumi, written in 1979, was held at the time in very high regard for its style and prose.Broken into two sections Shibumi starts with a well crafted back story and finishes with a very exciting current story. In the middle a very large middle story was alluded to but not expanded on leaving what I felt was a gaping hole in Nikkos story. I am sure many readers felt the same including Winslow. Satori is Winslow's idea of what was sadly missing.Here, I am not going to tell you a synopsis of either story as both are ripping yarns, though I will sayunfortunately I found the writing (prose and style) of Santori are neither the quality of Trevanian or Winslow and more of an early Lee Child. In order to not fall into the style of Trevanian, Winslow lost his own.

Nachdem mir die kalifornischen Kriminalromane Don Winslows ausgesprochen gut gefallen hatten, hatte ich mich richtig auf Satori gefreut. Das Vergnügen hielt sich dann leider in Grenzen.Der Roman ist zwar, wie erwartet, schnell und brutal, und man erfährt eine Menge über das Ostasien der frühen Fünfziger Jahre. Nach sechs Jahrzehnten kann eine kleine weltpolitische Auffrischung sicher nicht schaden, und eine von Don Winslows Stärken ist das gründliche Recherchieren.Was dem Roman allerdings völlig fehlt, sind irgendwelche Nuancen. Die Charakterzeichnungen haben tatsächlich etwas groschenromanhaftes: Der Held ist edel, hochintelligent, im Kampf Mann gegen Mann unbesiegbar und kann sich deshalb immer wieder frohen Mutes in Situationen begeben, aus denen es nach menschlichem Ermessen kein Entrinnen gibt. Schließlich hat er ja als Held von Trevanians "Shibumi" auch die Pflicht zu überleben. Sehr hilfreich ist dabei übrigens sein "proximity sense", der ihn auch im Schlaf spüren lässt, wenn Gefahr im Anzug ist, und auf den wir anlässlich jeder Attacke hingewiesen werden. Und deren gibt es viele.Die Bösewichter hingegen sind verschlagen, versoffen, pervers und sadistisch und riechen nach Wodka, Schweiß oder Knoblauch oder allem zusammen. Die Heldin wiederum ist bildschön und eine hervorragende Köchin und lässt auch im Bett keine Wünsche offen, also ein richtiger 50er-Jahre-Traum. Dazwischen gibt es kaum etwas.Etwas Unangenehm berührt war ich durch die Folterszenen. Ich muss mir eigentlich nicht unbedingt ausmalen lassen, welche Sequenzen der Pekingoper jemand von sich gibt, dem man langsam und genussvoll die Hoden zerschneidet. Hier bedient Don Winslow mit offenkundigem Vergnügen eine Klientel, die die politischen Passagen dann vermutlich diagonal gelesen hat.Trotzdem, drei Sterne (= nicht schlecht) hat das Buch allemal verdient. Am Schluss wird es wieder richtig spannend, und die eine oder andere Überraschung wartet auch auf den Leser, zumindest auf jemanden, der sich so gerne überraschen lässt wie ich. Also eine durchaus unterhaltsame Reiselektüre, aber mehr auch nicht.

Was and is one of the best thriller on secret service games writtenMore tha expected, holds the reader with every chapter