I found this book surprisingly flat. It was an enjoyable enough read, but Kato seems to be more interested in dropping names than building stories. Chang's copious footnotes demonstrate this aptly -- she adds information on writers that you never "hear" from again. I would have enjoyed hearing more story-building details from him about his friends, life abroad and in Japan, career, marriage.

I would have given 'A Sheep's Song' five stars if I hadn't expected something much different. But what I got was refreshing and at times philosophically profound. It is difficult to recommend the autobiography of a person you have probably never heard of, and even more difficult because I expected a concise look at Japan over the last seventy years through the eyes of one of that country's great thinkers. Little did I know how much he yearned to be away from Japan, if for no other reason, to learn to appreciate it more through his absence. What Shuichi Kato provides is an in depth look into his reasoning for wanting to be away from Japan and a detailed account of his life and in the process gives the reader a taste of Japan's contemporary history and the adventures of a Japanese abroad throughout Europe. Of particular interest is Kato's perspective on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This section is worth reading the whole book for. While not for everyone, 'A Sheep's Song' is recommended for those looking for a world perspective that is intriguing and entertaining.

I found this autobiograhpy to be an interesting view into the life struggles and journey of Kato Shuichi. I feel the translation was done quite well and was deeply moved by the details and insight the author put into his autobiography.