The Book of Five Rings: A Graphic Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

"This graphic novel version of The Book of Five Rings" A graphic novel retelling of the classic martial arts manifesto on swordsmanship, strategy, and winning-by the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi This graphic novel version of The Book of Five Rings, the iconic book of confrontation and victory by the famed seventeenth-century duelist and undefeated samurai Miyamoto Musashi, illuminates this brilliant manifesto, which has long inspired martial artists and anyone interested in cultivating a strategic mind. With evocative drawings and a distilled but faithful text adapted by acclaimed manga writer Sean Michael Wilson, The Book of Five Rings comes alive both as a guide to swordsmanship and strategy, and as a view into Musashi's world.

Reviews

Truly a tribute to the original [classic]. There is a tremendous amount of depth and insight into this work, an exploration of the five elements of life (the five rings of the title) that represent the cosmic Buddha. Readers get complex but eminently readable explorations of each ring and are led to see them all together as an overriding philosophy that enriches and broadens the life of any reader.
Jason Sacks, Comics Bulletin

This graphic adaptation of Musashis seventeenth-century treatise on the martial arts makes careful, effective use of imagery to emphasize both the narrative and instructional aspects of the original text. . . . Musashis lessons, in their focus on preparation and mindfulness, can easily be applied to most areas of life. Kutsuwadas art is delicate and clean, balancing the physiological dynamics of swordplay with a clear-eyed appreciation of Musashis natural environment. An engaging, thoughtful update of what could be esoteric.
Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

SEAN MICHAEL WILSON is a comic book writer from Scotland, living in Japan. He has had many books published with a variety of US, UK, and Japanese publishers, such as The Book of Five Rings, and edited the critically acclaimed AX- alternative manga (Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of 2010" in comics). In 2016, his book Lafcadio Hearn's "The Faceless Ghost" and Other Macabre Tales from Japan was nominated for the prestigious Eisner Award. And in 2017, his book Secrets of the Ninja won an International Manga Awardfrom the Japanese Government.