James Clavell

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Postby Nefer » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:26 pm

It picks up, although like you I was waiting for more Noble House connections.
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Re: James Clavell

Postby nebogatoff » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:14 am

It's been a few years, but I still consider "Tai-Pan" to be possibly the best book I ever read. (Although there are others that I can say the same of...)
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Fri Jun 03, 2011 1:01 pm

I am about to start to read the book Shogun by James Clavell - reading the reviews in this thread I see a lot of very satisfied reviews by many readers so I am quite looking forward to the experience with the understanding it is a very large book as well.
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Re: James Clavell

Postby Nefer » Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:16 pm

Looks like I'll be reading along with you. I've been really sick since last Weds - came down with a nasty virus. The only unread books on my ereader are the Clavell books, so I started with Sho-gun and am hooked again!

Kinda OT - I've had a hard time finding Gary Jenning's first book in the Aztec series - Aztec. Kobo has the following titles Aztec Blood, Aztec Rage and Aztec Autumn. Will I miss much of the story if I don't read Aztec?

And also - if you can find "Whirlwind" by Clavell as an ebook please let me know as Sony and Kobo don't have these titles!
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:54 pm

Hi Nefer - I hope your feeling better sorry to hear you have not been feeling well.

I found Aztec available as an ebook on amazon.com as well I found it available online at chapters indigo available as a paperback - I do suggest you read Aztec first - however double check at gary jennings website.

Whirlwind by james clavell seems do be difficult to find I will keep looking for a copy for you and let you know.

SHOGUN - wow nefer I am in to this bigtime thanks to a lead by Matbow - I have not been this happy for a long time finally a book with meat and potatoes between the covers - James Clavell is my greatest discovery since Wilbur Smith - I am serious loving this book Nefer ready to compare notes with you any time about SHOGUN - I am thrilled to death :lol:
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Re: James Clavell

Postby E-Hoog » Fri Jun 17, 2011 2:46 am

So, I've finished Blood of the Fold and managed to rip myself away from Terry Goodkind long enough to start Shogun. I'm in about 60 pages. I don't have an opinion yet, apart from: it looks promising :)
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Fri Jun 17, 2011 9:57 am

Hi E-Hoog

I am about half way reading Shogun - this book is a very detailed and I am fortunate, I have the luxury of time to read and concentrate a lot of characters to sort out and plots to understand but I am enjoying it a lot.I think Nefer is doing a re read of the novel as well.A great history lesson and a vast insight to culture in Japan.If you find that it drags a bit here and there hang in it is worth it.
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Re: James Clavell

Postby E-Hoog » Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:26 pm

I will definately keep reading. I'm curious about the culture at the time. And look at that, I passed a 100 posts. Apparently I'm now a Member+, whatever that is :wink:

By the way, did any of you see The Last Samurai? That was actually my first lesson in Japanese culture, or at least, whatever Hollywood made of it. I really liked it.
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Fri Jun 17, 2011 7:50 pm

E-Hoog

I have got to tell you this book Shogun justs gets better and better as you read it.I have spent a good part of my day with my face glued to the book.I hear you loud and clear about the mystery of japanese culture,by the time your done reading Shogun you will be an expert not only that your japanese language skills will be enhanced.I am famiiar with the movie The Last Samurai but have never watched it.

There is a post on this James Clavell thread by Nefer I suggest you read she lists a proper order of the books so you read them in sequence.No kidding E-Hoog this book is very addictive and I am sure you will revel in it as you go along.

Question - how many pages long is the book I am reading it off my kindle and kindle only discloses percentages of book read and does not list the page number.

:D Congrats on your 101 post and your new found status
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Re: James Clavell

Postby Matbow » Sat Jun 18, 2011 3:36 pm

johnrogers wrote:Question - how many pages long is the book I am reading it off my kindle and kindle only discloses percentages of book read and does not list the page number.


Not true! Hit the menu button when you're reading and it will tell you the page you're on.
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Re: James Clavell

Postby E-Hoog » Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:36 am

johnrogers wrote:E-Hoog

I have got to tell you this book Shogun justs gets better and better as you read it.I have spent a good part of my day with my face glued to the book.I hear you loud and clear about the mystery of japanese culture,by the time your done reading Shogun you will be an expert not only that your japanese language skills will be enhanced.I am famiiar with the movie The Last Samurai but have never watched it.

There is a post on this James Clavell thread by Nefer I suggest you read she lists a proper order of the books so you read them in sequence.No kidding E-Hoog this book is very addictive and I am sure you will revel in it as you go along.

Question - how many pages long is the book I am reading it off my kindle and kindle only discloses percentages of book read and does not list the page number.

:D Congrats on your 101 post and your new found status


You should really watch The Last Samurai. It is great.

I'm a bit further into the book and like it :-). Reading them in the proper order is indeed a tricky thing, as he wrote them more or less criss-cross (chronologically). But I'll stick with the chronological order of the stories.

My copy has 1242 pages. It's a pretty serious paperback :)
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:06 pm

Author Information - James Clavell

Clavell was born in Sydney,Australia in 1924.His father was an officer in the Royal Navy,so Clavell was raised in many different places within the British Commonwealth,In 1940 he joined the British Royal Artillery and was sent to Malaysia to fight the Japanese.Wounded by machine gun fire,he was eventually captured and sent to a Japanese POW camp on Java.Later he was transferred to Changi prison near Singapore,where he was one of only 10,000 survivors,out of an original 150,000 prisinors.His experiences there became the basis of his first novel,King Rat,published in 1962.Prior to this,Clavell pursued a career as a screenwriter with an eye on coming a director,achieving success in Hollywood with films such as The Fly and Watusi.He co - wrote and produced the classic film The Great Escape,which firmly established his reputation in Hollywood.After publishin King Rat in 1962,Clavell returned to his novels with Tai- Pan in 1966.Set during the founding period of Hong Kong in the 1840s,Tai-Pan became the model for Clavell's later novels,which invole a large number of characters and numerous loosely interwoven plots.Characters and families from one often appear in others,separated by as much as 400 years.Many of the novels follow the history of Strauns,a trading company,based on the actual company Jardine Matheson

His Novels
King Rat (1962)
Tai-Pan (1966)
Shogun (1975)
Noble House (1981)
Whirlwind ( 1986)
Gai-Pan ( 1993)

Series
The Asian Saga
Last edited by johnrogers on Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:17 pm

Series Information - The Asian Saga

The Asian Saga is comprised of seven books by James Clavell.The locations,which range from Japan to Turkey,are richly described by Clavell,who was a master at capturing the essence of the various locales.

For the most part,the saga revolves around the Struan family and their trading company,Straun's,also known as the Noble House.A couple of exceptions are "Sho-Gun",which takes place in medieval Japan,and "King Rat," which is a semi autobiographical novel drawn from Clavell's time as a prisoner-of-war in the notorious Changi Prison during World War 2.However,Clavell manages to tie both of those novels into the saga in "Noble House"

Cronologically - ( according to the storyline ) the books are

Sho-Gun 1600
Tai-Pan 1841
Gai-Jin 1862
King Rat 1945
Noble House 1963
Whirlwind 1979
Escape 1979
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:33 pm

I really take creedence to what Penient says in his post about reading Shogun it is a very good description to what the book is really like.I am debateing with myself that perhaps this is the best book I have ever read in my life but still working on that desicion.A long concentrated read with more intrigue that I have ever known the book has so many different aspects it is one of the most educational books I have ever read and unravels many mysteries of the ancient Japanese culture - simply amazing - a little insight in to the samurai and the mercenary ninjas of the era was a treat.Each and any one of the charaters are equal in importance it seemed to me there were several main characters in the book and each as interesting as the other.

One thing I did come across that flared a lot of questions in me was the Samurai acceptance of death thru the process of "seppuku" or otherwise knowen as "hari kaira" - why did the Japenese culture of the 1600s were so willing to commit "seppuku" for failing there task - what great honour did they get out of killing themselves it seems the culture almost embraced death as a good thing.Not me I would not take to the honour of deboweling my self with a knife..............Nefer-San and E-Hoog-San...................................
Have you finished the book yet? - I will start up Tai-Pan in a few days but had to break it off for a change of pace and read someting else in order to avoid james clavell sensory overload

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Re: James Clavell

Postby E-Hoog » Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:05 am

I am still at 100 pages in or so. Didn't have much time to read. But your post makes me eager to go on. My vacation is also coming up, for which I normally pack at least 4 books.

Good post John, I'm anxious to continue :-).

PS: I saw a kindle recently, and I admit that it looks stunning. Almost as if reading from real paper. And the travel-argument is definately valid :-). Still, actual books rule :wink:
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:39 pm

I am about to start reading Tai-Pan by James Clavell.I recently read Shogun and after finishing that read The Hunger Games triology by suzanne collings.I am looking forward to continue the james clavell series.
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Re: James Clavell

Postby E-Hoog » Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:47 am

Ok. so I'm back from my holliday and have read Shogun.

It is brilliant in a lot of aspects. Actually, almost all aspects, but there is one thing that ruined it a bit for me.

Spoiler:
The ending. I mean, we spent 1200+ pages looking forward to some big battle between Toranaga and Ishido and then the description of it is only a footnote/small epilogue. Same with Blackthorne's ship. I was waiting for the sea battle between the Black ship and the Erasmus, but that doesn't happen either. I needed that :wink:.


Still, I will keep going with this series, as Clavell is a brilliant writer, no doubt about it.
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Sun Aug 07, 2011 3:00 pm

E-Hoog wrote:Ok. so I'm back from my holliday and have read Shogun.

It is brilliant in a lot of aspects. Actually, almost all aspects, but there is one thing that ruined it a bit for me.

Spoiler:
The ending. I mean, we spent 1200+ pages looking forward to some big battle between Toranaga and Ishido and then the description of it is only a footnote/small epilogue. Same with Blackthorne's ship. I was waiting for the sea battle between the Black ship and the Erasmus, but that doesn't happen either. I needed that :wink:.


Still, I will keep going with this series, as Clavell is a brilliant writer, no doubt about it.



I guessed your spoiler right on the button before I read it - I agree it should have detailed the final showdown a lot more than it did.

[b7] - I have decided to read Jeffs new book Sons of Africa instead of Tai - Pai
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Re: James Clavell

Postby Nefer » Sun Aug 07, 2011 4:31 pm

You mean Tai-Pan? :lol: It's my favorite of the series!

I've been tearing through the series, stopped after Sho-Gun to read "A Dance with Dragons"; and I've got King Rat (not my fav), Noble House and Whirlwind (competes with Tai Pan as my fav Clavell) to go!

I find that Clavell doesn't show much battle action - instead he focuses on the political & personal side of the decisions leaders and followers make; and how those decisions arise.

A few of his books were made into t.v shows back in the 70's & 80's; very well done IMO. I've watched Sho-gun and Noble House (borrowed the VHS tapes from the library as that was the only place I could find them!)

After you've read the books watch the shows -you'll be pleasantly surprised :)
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Re: James Clavell

Postby johnrogers » Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:46 pm

Nefer wrote:You mean Tai-Pan? :lol: It's my favorite of the series!

I've been tearing through the series, stopped after Sho-Gun to read "A Dance with Dragons"; and I've got King Rat (not my fav), Noble House and Whirlwind (competes with Tai Pan as my fav Clavell) to go!

I find that Clavell doesn't show much battle action - instead he focuses on the political & personal side of the decisions leaders and followers make; and how those decisions arise.

A few of his books were made into t.v shows back in the 70's & 80's; very well done IMO. I've watched Sho-gun and Noble House (borrowed the VHS tapes from the library as that was the only place I could find them!)

After you've read the books watch the shows -you'll be pleasantly surprised :)


Hi Nefer

I was only about 50 pages in to reading Tai - Pan - when I read Jeffs post - I was so excited to read Jeffs Sons of Africa that I downloaded it from amazon.com - I will read Jeffs new book then get back to james clavell Tai - Pan - as well I bet you guessed Ehoogs spoiler before you read it as I did

Happy Reading :lol:
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