betty reviewed Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 1 by Fumi Yoshinaga (Ōoku, #1)
Review of 'Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 1' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Read this and don't know what I think., I suspect I would have to read all eleven or so volumes to know what I think, and I think I don't want to do that.
The premise is, in Japan, a disease has rendered the male population quite small, such that women hold all positions of authority, and the Shogun has a harem of men. Most women cannot afford a husband, and only hope to conceive a child they can raise as their heir.
So, know the premise, you might expect this to be looking at gender, maybe through a feminist lens? And yet I am not convinced this book really cares about that sort of thing. The story follows a man who enters the Shugun's harem to provide for his family. There he discovers that the harem is a viper's nest of politics, and that newcomers are (often?) subjected to …
Read this and don't know what I think., I suspect I would have to read all eleven or so volumes to know what I think, and I think I don't want to do that.
The premise is, in Japan, a disease has rendered the male population quite small, such that women hold all positions of authority, and the Shogun has a harem of men. Most women cannot afford a husband, and only hope to conceive a child they can raise as their heir.
So, know the premise, you might expect this to be looking at gender, maybe through a feminist lens? And yet I am not convinced this book really cares about that sort of thing. The story follows a man who enters the Shugun's harem to provide for his family. There he discovers that the harem is a viper's nest of politics, and that newcomers are (often?) subjected to rape. In the harem, the country's gender ratio is inverted, and some men rise in power inside the harem by currying favour (sexually) with higher ranking men.
Our hero (I've forgotten his name) avoids rape, distinguishes himself among the other men of the harem by being an accomplished kendo practitioner, and does a favour to the new Shogun that allows him to escape the harem and be reunited with his childhood sweetheart. So... :shrug emoji:
I don't even know if this the sort of thing that, if this is your sort of thing, will be your sort of thing.
