Джеймс Клавел е един от стоте най-големи писатели на XX век според класацията на „Модърн Лайбръри". Романът му „Търговска къща" е част от така наречената азиатска сага заедно е„Шогун", „Тай-пан" и „Цар плъх".
Време на действието - средата на 70-те години на XX век. Място на действието - Хонконг, град на древно минало и ултрамодерно бъдеще, средоточие на световно богатство, притегателен център на всички разузнавания, място, където не важат правилата на почтената игра, град на удоволствията, където човек се влюбва и изживява мечтите си... „Търговска къща" е роман за съдбата на фамилия Струан, която владее Азия и зад кулисите на огромното си богатство управлява града, за нейния последен тай-пан и смъртоносната му битка за оцеляване и надмощие.
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.
My mum bought me this book in around 1980, and I've only just read it. I was put off by the immense size, 1115 pages in hardback. So 40 years after I got the book I have finally read it, and it took over two months. So many interwoven stories and characters centred around the tai pan (head) of the Noble House, a British family business based in Hong Kong. It's a fascinating story, but overlong. Best summed up as: money, business, family, British, Chinese, triads, communists, capitalists, CIA, FBI, MI6, Russians, Russian secret service, nuclear warship, piracy, gun smuggling, drug smuggling, legacy of war, kidnap, murder, bank runs, prostitution, motorcar racing, horse racing, gambling, honour, stocks and shares, lust, disaster, tragedy, poverty, immense wealth, British privilege – but mainly… cocktail parties. I couldn't follow much of it, the business deals are unfathomable, multi-million pound mergers and acquisitions being tossed about in casual conversation over a martini. The 'action' takes place in just over one week in Hong Kong 1963. The build-up is slow, but involving. And whilst I enjoyed the book I was desperate to get to the end. It could easily lose 600 pages without spoiling the story. The characterisation is very good, and maybe that would suffer in a brutal edit, but it would still be a better read. About two thirds of the way through I didn't care about any of them, I just wanted it to finish. I knew very little about Hong Kong before I read this book, so it was interesting and informative in a historical sense. It would make an excellent TV series in the style of Mad Men. A great story, skilfully told, but far too long.
Nobila Casa, volum 1 - a 18-a din 2023 si a 9-a din Saga Asiatica a lui James Clavell Este o continuare a lui “Tai-Pan” si “Gai-Jin” si se concentreaza pe cea mai mare companie din Asia, Nobila Casa, mostenire lasata de primul Tai Pan, Dirk Struan, cu peste un secol in urma, cu un regulament clar pentru fiecare Tai Pan care avea sa ii urmeze, cu obligatiile si datoriile din generatie in generatie. Te introduce in lumea afacerilor de cel mai inalt nivel, a ce trebuie sa stii despre fiecare partener de afaceri, un exemplu: Tai Pan-ul(seful) Nobilei Case stia dinainte ca partenerul lui din America bea doar un anumit tip de bere si a facut rost dinainte de el in Hong Kong… Actiune continua, descrieri incredibile, mentalitatea asiatica si cea europeana imbinate…acelasi stil clar de care m-am atasat deja a lui James Clavell…de abia astept volumul 2, AZI IL INCEP, nu maine!💯💯💯
I am really enjoying this read, but it is different than the other novels I've read from this author. And while this did take place about 60 years ago, it feels less like Historical Fiction, and more like fiction, than the earlier works.
The intrigue is still legit. The business transactions are obviously more modern; very much based on the stock market and manipulating it. This might have been much more exciting 60 years ago before we all knew about how rampant the manipulation is of the market these days.
There is a mystery, Clavell is doing a great job making the previous books pertinent to this story, and the characters are rich and full of depth.
This was a very good read, with an excellent storyline. There are multiple stories going at the same time that involve numerous people. For me, keeping them all straight at times was kind of difficult. A lot of this book relates to the ancestry and legacy of the Tai-Pan (who is head of the family and a multinational corporation). The Tai-Pan is a very a powerful and respected person who wields both wealth and corporate success. This book veers away from that of Shogun with having more modern issues of corporate mergers and acquisitions, bank failures, and Russian espionage. I won't get into any more details, I'm just glad I took the time to read it and am now on to Noble House, Volume 2.
The Clavell two-parter has been on my bookshelves for years. Before then, my dad had it. A Russian-novel cast of characters set in 1963 Hong Kong warring with another over wealth, power and politics. Dated in the treatment of women, but likely viewed as progressive at the time it was written.
If traveling or moving to Hong Kong, this is a 40-hour master class of traditions, culture, history, geography, multicultural influence, business practice and intra-Chinese commerce, including banking and shipping.
This is my 3rd Clavell novel, after Tai-Pan and Shogun. Now on to Vol. #2.
Лично за мен най-мащабното произведение на Клавел. Много ми допаднаха различните сюжетни линии, наситеността от развръзки и по-широкият набор от персонажи.