If you’re into Japanese martial arts you’ve definitely heard of Ellis Amdur, maybe even read some of his books. In case you haven’t, he’s written some of my favorite books on the subject (and I don’t actually train JMA) which you can check out here. Suffice it to say he knows a lot about traditional Japanese martial arts and also a lot on the general body mechanics of fighting. He’s also quite knowledgeable on Japanese culture and history and wrote a short novel called The Girl with the Face of the Moon. This is the book I’m here to talk about.
Outline
Our titular girl is a young woman from a samurai family, but only in name and alleged status. Her father is samurai caste but they live in an impoverished village, leading a life no different from the other peasants. She’s not at all happy with her life. Her bitter parents mistreat her. However, her life changes when a stranger arrives. A Matagi, a member of a hunter caste from the north of Japan. She runs off with him, learns his skills, becomes his equal. They have a boy and the three live a happily together for a few years. Until one day tragedy strikes. A demon (in the metaphorical sense or as literal as those terms can apply to a human) comes to steal their child and raise him as his own. Left alone, blind and almost dead she will face anything to get her child back.
The story is set in the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods of Japan. A transition era, but far away from the conflict and the politics. This is a story about peasants and hunters and people who live in the fringes of society. My personal knowledge of these subjects is quite limited but from what I could gather it feels like the author knows what he’s writing about. He describes different strata of society, or different societies within the big one. There’s the girl’s parents, both proud samurai who live like commoners but look down on them all the same. The villagers just living their daily lives. The matagi, a caste of hunters who trade furs and are almost outcasts to the main Japanese society (and still exist to this day). Yakuza (Japanese mobsters), ronin (masterless samurai), even brothels and sex workers.
The Demon
The demon is the creepiest, yet realistic depiction of ninja I’ve read. The author describes them a sort of caste of hunters trained in the arts of killing and stealth, able to do some deeds that would seem almost superhuman. The only difference is they hunt humans instead of animals. Our demon comes from one such clan. The last in a line living almost in secret, devoted to killing to the point of almost worhipping death. So secluded he’s the last of the line. His parents and siblings trained him in the cruelest of ways. He has the directive to perpetuate the bloodline but is biologically unable to do so.
His skills are described with some detail, he’s able to move almost without a trace, his skill with the knife is such that in the middle of combat he carves our protagonist in awful and detailed ways, yet no wound is lethal. We also get an idea of his knowledge of toxins and poisons when he starts training the young boy, after drugging him for days and making him forget his past life.
The Girl
The young woman receives training of her own after being rescued by an Anma, (a blind masseusse skilled in traditional medicine) who keeps her as an apprentice, assistant, and uses her a bit too. The anma acts as a sort of surrogate mother to our protagonist, she nurses her back to health and teaches how to live relying on her other senses, as well as the skills of an anma. How to tell which plants are medicinal, how to relieve pain but also how to inflict it when necessary.
Kenko
Another interesting person is our final character in this story, Kenko. He meets our protagonist near the end and passes on some of his skills. We learn earlier in the book that he used to be a yoijimbo, a bodyguard/bouncer, who worked a lot in brothels, protecting the women from clients who didn’t behave. He’s an expert in jujutsu. A big man with a hammer fist that can knock out most men. He’s also kowledgeable of spear and sword techniques.
Conclusion
So, while strictly speaking this isn’t a martial arts novel as you could say it is something out of the wuxia genre, it is very much informed by martial arts. There are fight scenes. Most of them brutal and described with enough detail that one, as a martial artist, might feel some familiarity. I say might because the author takes time in describing how the bodies move, how they dodge and block and thrust. That said it’s not a wordy description of a fight as you might find in the works of JRR Tolkien, but you can get what he’s talking about and form an image in your head. The book doesn’t rely so much on naming techinques or somesuch. I’m pretty sure anyone can enjoy the book, but maybe martial artists will get a better understanding of some parts.
All in all it’s a short and very enjoyable book. You can buy it at here, incidentally you can get other books from the same author on that same site. The ebook is also available on amazon.
If you get it or have read it, you’re more than welcome to comment on this post about it.
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Sounds like an engaging, well-written novel. Thanks ror the recommendation.
Sounds like an engaging and well-written novel. Thanks for the recommendation.
Thanks!
Very well written review. Inspiring to read about the discipline and possibilities for strength the martial arts can give us when faced with the darkness we encounter in this life. Thank you, Ezequiel.