---
title: 'Reading Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa'
date: '2018-11-12T16:30:49+00:00'
completed: '2018-12-13T23:55:56+00:00'
---

I first heard about this book on Jocko Willink's podcast [episode 50](http://jockopodcast.com/2016/11/23/50-with-tim-ferriss-darkness-how-to-stay-on-the-path-last-days-of-life-what-to-do-back-up-plans-misconceptions/). Him and Tim Ferriss recommended it effusively. Considering that I enjoy their content and I love japanese culture, I decided to give it a shot.

Man, was it a good choice. The book is very long (1000+ pages), but I'm enjoying it a lot and I don't want it to end. It's divided in 7 parts and I'm currently reading the 6th.

I didn't realize it at first, but turns out one of my favourite manga, [Vagabond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagabond_%28manga%29), is based on the book. I love Takehiko Inoue's artwork, so it's awesome to recall his drawings while reading the book.


## Activity

### 2018-11-12 16:30:48

Task started

### 2018-11-20 11:34:04

Well, it is time. I finished part 6 so I'll now start reading the last one: Book VII - The Perfect Light.

I'll surely miss reading Musashi. Some people don't enjoy long stories, but I'm quite the opposite. Once I become familiar with the characters, as long as it maintains its quality, I wouldn't mind it running forever.

Of course, it's very difficult to maintain quality for long before it starts degrading. That's why I believe authors should end on their own terms, instead of dragging it. And there's no denying the value of a good ending.

Looking forward to the climax!


### 2018-12-05 00:57:55

I just finished reading this book and it's for sure one of the best I've ever read. I'm even considering replacing my favourite book: the Sherlock Holmes Anthology. But it's too soon to say.

I'm not closing the task yet because I want to review the notes I took and do some summary. The book is very long and there are a ton of gems within, so it's only fair to take some time to digest it.


### 2018-12-13 23:55:41

After looking over my notes, I decided to publish some of them in a [blog post](https://noeldemartin.com/blog/lessons-learned-musashi-by-eiji-yoshikawa). I'd have liked to use some images from the manga Vagabond, but I couldn't find anything good that was available without copyright infringements. So I ended up using the image that's found in Musashi's wikipedia page. But you should [check them out](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=vagabond+takehiko+inoue+illustrations&atb=v1-1&t=h_&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images)!

I see myself coming back to review this book at some point, because it was so awesome. But for now, that's it for this Task.


### 2018-12-13 23:55:56

Task completed