When the powerful Lord Takeda's soldiers sweep across the countryside, killing and plundering, they spare the boy Taro's life and take him along with them. Taro becomes a servant in the household of the noble Lord Akiyama, where he meets Togan, a cook, who teaches Taro and makes his new life bearable. But when Togan is murdered, Taro's life takes a new direction: He will become a samurai, and redeem the family legacy that has been stolen from him.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: A Teen's review Comment: This story displays a large cast. Being an ambitious young orphan, Taro hopes to follow his late father's footsteps and become a samurai. Fortunately, Taro has numerous mentors throughout his life, including a cook, a messenger and even a servant. While serving his lord as the distributor of rations Taro meets a young girl and immediately falls in love with her. This tale of a boy who struggles to achieve the highest military rank takes in a war torn Japan during the golden age of the samurai.
As the story progresses the reader follows the hero through his varied adventures. When a rival family kills his mother and siblings are killed, Taro is spared because of his bravery which is prominent throughout the story. He starts out a lowly cook's boy but later goes on to become a stable boy, messenger, and guardian / distributor of the armies rations. While Taro is the cook's helper, his mentor teaches him to be content with who he is and what he is doing as long as it is morally correct. However, Taro continues to strive to become a samurai.
(spoiler!!!)
Taro achieves his life goal. His name is changed. He engages in combat. the young man is very pleased with these knightly privileges. Sadly, his best friend dies in battle, and so Taro learns to respect life. After his lord is vanquished, Taro is reduced to rags , but when the story takes a final turn he forgets his sad state.
This is an enjoyable book. Being equally educational and pleasurable the reader is drawn into Taro's world. It is a typical life story with several subplots, making it hard to follow the main story line. Unfortunately, the reading is slow at times but mostly this story action-packed and not easy to put down. Customer Rating: Summary: A novel that kids love! Comment: I bought this for Alice, a 6-grader because she needs it for her homework. It turns out to be a very good and fascinating novel and Alice loves to read it.
Customer Rating: Summary: A great tale for all ages Comment: At first I was ambiguous on how the story was starting out but then everything began to unfold, and I was drawn into to the story, I saw myself not being able to put the book down. The reading level is very simple, but the imagery was fantastic. But in all and all It's a great story for all ages with a great message that even us as adults seem to forget. Customer Rating: Summary: The Samurai's Tale Comment: I think this was a ok book. For a 12-year old, we had to read it in class. It was sort of hard to understand, but still made sense. At first it was boring but got better during the end. It is about a boy named Taro. He is a samurai's son, until his dad gets killed by the lord's soldiers. They spare Taro's life, and let him live and work in the castle. He goes from different ranks, until he finally becomes a samurai just like his dad. Customer Rating: Summary: How this book influenced my life Comment: This book that influenced my life A Samurais tale by Eric G. Haugaard, addresses the Habbit of mind Intellectual Curiosity because I've always wondered what life was like back in the fuedal age of japan as seen through the eyes of a Samurai. This book tells the story of how a young boy,Murikami whos father(a samurai)killed in battle is given a life as a peasent, but later in the book he gains the rank of samurai.I recomend this book to people who like to know about history and japan
