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Title: King Rat by James Clavell, David Case, Michael York ISBN: 0-7366-4558-6 Publisher: Books on Tape, Inc. Pub. Date: 28 May, 1999 Format: Audio Cassette List Price(USD): $88.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.48 (64 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Glorious Acheivement
Comment: This is the only only book that written that in my opinion supplants Clavell's own Shogun as perhaps the best historical novel ever written.
Partly autobiographical, King Rat recounts the story of Phillip Marlowe, a character no doubt based on Clavell himself, and his years spent in the notorious Singapore POW camp known as Changi during WW2.
What is so stunning about this novel, is that perhaps because of the very real life experiences that forged its narrative, it becomes more than mere words on paper, it becomes a very real world where the old class lines are broken down as officers and enlisted men sleep in the same mud huts, where getting an egg in your rice for dinner constitutes a great day, a transvestite becomes the sexual icon of the whole camp and the very concept of traditional ethics and morals are challenged.
What makes this novel so very magical is that the depth with which the characters and their respective personalities and fates resonate with the readers, their laughter becomes your laughter, their sorrow becomes your sorrow, their joy becomes your joy, very rarely is a novel simultaneously able to so superbly entertain and make you affect your outlook on life, after the end of this short novel you will feel as if you have emerged from three years in a Singapore prison camp, and like the men in this novel, you will never be the same again.
Rating: 5
Summary: A MUST READ! My favorite novel!
Comment: I read this novel for an oral presentation in my 10th grade honors english class. This was such a good book, in fact, that I produced a 15 minute presentation and earned a grade of an A+ from a teacher that has NEVER given an A+ in 30 years of teaching.
In his shortest Novel of the Asian series, Clavell fills every page with meaning. His contant references back to Christ build his every aspect of the setting. The last two pages of this novel are the best two pages of literature that I have ever seen in my 16 years on this earth. I have read and re-read them over 100 times (honest!). I recommend this book to all audiences, but especially to those who want a book with heavy information.
"And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest 'was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats" (352).
Rating: 4
Summary: Great adventure
Comment: An American corporal manages to swindle and manipulate his way to being the "King" of a Japanese POW camp. The one thing that sets this aside from Clavell's three other novels that I have read, aside from being semi autobiographical is the protagonist. The King has a rascal like charm to him that makes the character highly readable and fun. He is the underdog. Plotting and conniving to make a buck and sticking it to his superiors and relishing it. A man in the right place at the right time. He befriends a British Lieutenant by the name of Marlowe (A nice little nod to Joseph Conrad) whose honor and integrity is arguably the the conflict in the book. Finally, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the dutiful yet pitful antagonist Lieutenant Grey. Who, while morally and lawfully in the right, alienates himself by taking himself too seriously. These three make for some great tension and are the main drive of the story.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not an epic, despite this being his most personal story. However, Clavell fans will not be disappointed. The protagonist thinks two steps ahead of everyone else (I would hate to play chess with the author) and I would not be surprised if King's shrewdness was a precursor to Toranaga in Shogun. Any less qualified author would have made this story into glorified genre pulp. For those struggling for a visual reference, think Bridge on the River Kwai and Pappilon. A great read and highly recommended.
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Title: Noble House by James Clavell ISBN: 0440164842 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 01 October, 1984 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Tai-Pan by James Clavell ISBN: 0440184622 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 15 May, 1976 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Gai-Jin by James Clavell ISBN: 044021680X Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 03 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Shogun by James Clavell ISBN: 0440178002 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 01 September, 1986 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Whirlwind by James Clavell ISBN: 0380703122 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: October, 1987 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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