This book explores the Japanese notion of hakanasa - the evanescence of all things. Responses to this idea have been various and even contradictory: asceticism; fatalism; conformism; hedonism; materialism; and careerism. This book examines the ties between an epistemology of constant change and Japan's formal emphasis on etiquette and visuality.
#2993478 in Books Xlibris; Corp. 2003-04-18Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x 1.00 x 5.50l; 1.29 #File Name: 1401072240444 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Well written; engaging "what if" on WaterlooBy SchwerpunktI really like alternate military history books; and this one is excellent. I'm not a hardcore student of the Napoleonic wars; but recently reread 2 books on Waterloo; and have also read one Hofschröer's books. That's what prompted me to check this one out.Highlights- comes across as plausible; strengths and weaknesses of respective forces and leaders are very consistent with what I've read elsewhere.- level of detail is truly impressive.- engaging writing style: this is a 430+ page book; but I read it in 2 sittings.- thoughtful critique of decisions that I haven't seen discussed elsewhere (e.g.; Wellington's decision to detach a large body of troops as a rearguard; most importantly; where he placed them). I found myself agreeing with the author.What I would change- the maps aren't very good. See Rick Atkinson's WW2 trilogy for an example of great battlefield-level maps.- in some cases; the author didn't explain; or passed over lightly; why things happened differently in this scenario. For example; Napoleon was much more actively engaged -- what brought this about?- it would be fun if the author added an appendix that covered the things he changed; and his argument for why these changes were within the realm of possibility. See "Disaster at D-Day" for a good example of this.Overall; highly recommended; and I look forward to reading vol. 2.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. If you like alternative history; you'll like this bookBy E. KimI went into this not knowing what to expect and it turns out that both volumes of the book were very good and very much worth reading. Volume one actually goes into a good chunk of the historical battle up until Grouchy's faithful decision when Gérard; one of his two corp commanders; implores him to "march to the sound of the guns." That is when the story takes a decisive turn.I would consider myself quite an educated layperson on the Battle of Waterloo; having read some six some odd books on the matter and I found Marthinsen's grasp of tactics; logistics and chain of command on early 19th century warfare quite solid. He likes to breakdown battles into battalion and regimental levels as if he played a lot of hobby war game board modeling. When reading the book; you can see the pieces on the war game board moving about.I will not get into the specific different command decisions made by Grouchy and Gérard highlighted in the book; that changed the course of the Waterloo battle; but I will say that I found them both plausible and realistic (NOT what you probably think and Marthinsen addresses the logistical problem of the impossibility of Gérard to directly intervene in the Waterloo battlefield quite creatively). The only thing I have an issue with is how easily Grouchy allowed Gérard to convince him to change the order of his march. What we know about the historical Grouchy would indicate that he was rather obstinate to such a suggestion. I would have wanted Marthinsen to have fleshed that out a bit more and make the scene between the two more realistic and explain Grouchy's change of decision with a bit more detail.Another smaller issue I have is that Marthinsen approaches the story telling voice as if this is a history book. So; this novel is written like a history book as if the events already happened and that a historical narrator is giving an account of a past event. I found that to be rather unnecessary. I would have wished Marthinsen had taken a different track; like how Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen had written their alternative history books of the American Civil War as a novel and the action was happening real time while one was reading the story. In this book all the events are spoken about in the past tense; like a non-fiction history book.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy James M BodineA great read. Perfect for wargamers.
