James Clavell Library: Gai-Jin, Tai-Pan, Noble House, & Shogun

Asian Saga: Publication Order #2-4,6

by James Clavell

Paperback

Published October 28, 1983

About the author

James Clavell, born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell was a British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and POW. Clavell is best known for his epic Asian Saga series of novels and their televised adaptations, along with such films as The Great Escape, The Fly and To Sir, with Love.


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James Clavell. (2007, November 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:16, November 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?t...

Reviews

[Derek Kinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only gave this compilation of books four stars because it included Gai-Jin. Otherwise it would have been a solid five stars.
After reading Clavell's Asian Saga, the reader most likely will walk away not only having enjoyed many good reads, but with a new understanding of cultures vastly different - in some ways superior and in some not - than those in the West.
And the way Clavell weaves Japanese and Chinese cultures into very thread of the stories is enlightening and entertaining.
Beware when beginning Shogun. It's long, but it's nearly impossible to put down. The plot twists are so numerous it's head-spinning, and Clavell slyly ends many chapters with the promise of something even more special to come. (So don't put me down quite yet, dear reader). I finished rereading Shogun this month, and seriously suffered from lack of sleep. The last night I had 140 pages left, actually put down the book with about 50 remaining, turned off the lights, tried to sleep, then turned back on the lights and finally finished it at 4:30 in the morning. And I didn't resent it at all the rest of the day, even though I was a but sleepy-eyed.
That's how good, and ultimately satisfying, Shogun was.
Tai-Pan is another wonderful read, with great historical insight into the founding of Hong Kong. However, the first time I read it, I had thoughts of putting it down early in the story. After 100 pages or so, that was no longer an option. The book is like a carefully woven spider web. A string here and a string there, and suddenly you're trapped.
With Gai-Jin, however, I couldn't shake the feeling I was reading Gone With The Wind set in Yokohama, Japan. There were no strong British characters like Dirk Struan and his nemesis, Tyler Brock, as well as many others, in Tai-Pan, nor like John Blackthorne, most of the Japanese daimyos and regents (especially Toranaga) and even, or especially, Blackthorne's love, Mariko-san, in Shogun.
In Gai-Jin, you have a bunch of weepy, stuttering characters (why does someone write so many stuttering quotes into a novel?), none of whom ever stand out as strong and wise. I honestly considered that perhaps Clavell was drinking when he wrote this book, but I forced myself to continue reading, fully expecting it to get better and for someone to rise above all the weak, sniveling characters and take charge of the course of the story. No one did. And even worse, the book ended sloppily, as if Clavell got tired of it, too. After the last chapter, he unsuccessfully tried to wrap up loose ends quickly in summary form. He did the same in Shogun, but with much greater impact. In Gai-Jin, he failed this reader.
Noble House was a fantastic update of the Hong Kong saga featuring the descendants of Noble House founder, Dirk Struan, and some very strong American businessmen and women, and various Chinese characters. It's another book that is difficult to put down, with each chapter following a different storyline, only to have them all come together in a massive reckoning in the end.
Clavell is one of my top five novelists ever. Anyone with the slightest taste for history, action, passion, intellectual discovery and surprise could do a lot worse than these books. But I would seriously suggest skipping Gai-Jin.

[James Buchanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the stories are masterfully done. The stories are flawless.

[Ugo Agada-Uyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bests of James Clavell's Asian Saga, telling the story of two ancient cultures like a native- Japan and China, showing the best and worst in them; their stregths and their weaknesses. His characters, very huge, very human. In Tai-Pan, Dirk Struan stood like a colossus above every other man, dominating them with his personality, starting a legend and dynasty that his death simply helped intensify. Centuries later, in The Noble House, his name still resonated through his descendants, sending shivers down the spines of people by a mere mention of a resemblance to the Devil Dirk. In Shogun Toranaga slaughtered his way to the Shogunate, removing all in his way. What made those characters so huge and at the same time loving is their human side, their relationships with those close to them. Dirk Struan's May-May demystified him, molding him like soft clay in her delicate fingers. The Lady Mariko-san, one moment, all woman, the next moment all samurai, remained honored by Toranaga, who kept his promise to her even after her death.
James Clavell is a master!You can't put him down once you have started on one of his books. His complicated plots and subplots keeps you captive. The romances that should have mellowed down the tension succeeds in adding an edge to the whole thing. He's simply irresistible!
Ugo Agada-Uyah

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is interesting to me that Clavell's novels no longer seem to be available individually except for Tai-Pan. During their hey-day, Nobel House was my favorite, but Shogun seemed to be the most popular by far. I am biased as I was living in Hong Kong and 'Nobel House' was written about the era in which I lived in Hong Kong. Clavell got it right. He must have had a wonderful research staff because he nailed the small details so that those of us who lived in Hong Kong felt like he must have lived their too. Apparently that was true of his other novels for other places as well. Great reads.

[Ice Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Believable storyline - nothing quite matched Shogun

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved noble house and shogun

[Adewunmi]

The James Clavell "classics".... a must read!

[Catherine Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

least favorite of the Clavell Asian Saga