Gai-Jin: The Epic Novel of the Birth of Modern Japan (Asian Saga, Book 3), by James Clavell
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Gai-Jin: The Epic Novel of the Birth of Modern Japan (Asian Saga, Book 3), by James Clavell
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The heir to the magnificent English trading company, the Noble House; the direct descendant of the first Toranaga Shogun, battling to usher his country into the modern age; a beautiful young Frenchwoman forever torn between ambition and desire -- their lives intertwine in an exotic land newly open to foreigners, gai-jin, and torn apart by greed, idealism, and terrorism. Their passions mingle with monarchs and diplomats, assassins, courtesans, and spies. Their fates collide in James Clavell's masterpiece set in nineteenth-century Japan.
Gai-Jin: The Epic Novel of the Birth of Modern Japan (Asian Saga, Book 3), by James Clavell- Amazon Sales Rank: #3533606 in Books
- Published on: 2015-05-26
- Original language: English
- Binding: MP3 CD
- 1 pages
From Publishers Weekly The second volume in Clavell's Shogun quartet was a 13-week PW bestseller. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews Back to feudal Japan, which now enters the modern world, from the master of the three-decker behemoth (Shogun, Tai-pan, Noble House, etc.). Once you're into it, you forgive Clavell his galloping grammar and anachronisms and are swept along by spirited storytelling. Although Clavell clearly takes this hackwork as weighty and worthy entertainment, the heart quails at a serious weighing of a novel peopled with larger-than-life comic-strip characters caught up in clich‚s of Japanese exotica and international business deals as well as of internecine warfare--all of which Clavell writes at full throttle as if infused by the soul of Alexandre Dumas. A sequel to Tai-pan (1966), this is the sixth novel in Clavell's Asian saga and takes place in 1862. The gai-jin (foreigners) have arrived, intent on doing business with the Japanese. With laws against the use of the wheel in carriages or carts, the Japanese, their tradition- bound Emperor and competing warlords detest the foreigners, who have ruined the Chinese with the Opium Wars. The mighty Struan shipping empire, Noble House, has built a base in Yokohama, but with the illness (fatal) of Culum Struan, tai-pan (head) of the business empire, 20-year-old Malcolm Struan stands ready to become tai-pan. In the first chapter, however, he's attacked by samurai assassins on the Tokaido road and lies either bedridden or hobbles about for the rest of the novel. Young Angelique Richaud, 18, Parisienne daughter of a gambler who has lost what money the family had, sets her eye on Malcolm. Angelique is raped by a rogue samurai and now secretly carries his child, unbeknownst to the love- besotted Malcolm. Angelique's syphilis-stricken fellow Frenchman Andre Poncin wends his way through the plot toward a glorious love- death with his Japanese mistress while Japanese warlords fight each other, samurai endlessly behead samurai, earthquakes shiver, and Yokohama burns. You get your money's worth if you want to spend it here. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for Summer) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review “With great skill and intelligence…Gai-Jin is just the ticket. It has it all: murders, battles, rapes, earthquakes, sword fights, insanely convoluted political intrigues, and innumerable accounts of ‘pillowing’ with beautiful women.”—San Francisco Chronicle“A grand historical perspective that makes us feel we’re understanding how today’s Japan came into being…absorbing…full of rich characters and complicated action.” —New York Times“Engrossing…entertaining…the broad portrait is accurate and as colorful as an ancient Kabuki play.”—People "Breathtaking....worth every word, every ounce, every penny."—Associated Press From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
116 of 126 people found the following review helpful. Clavell was the best dest Gai-Jin By wutanglen First and foremost James Clavell was one of the most talented writers ever. Especially if you like fiction about Asia. Not only did he tell great stories but his books were filled with so much good history and culture about places like China and Japan. Though I was never a fan of "King Rat" books like Shogun, Tai-Pan, and Noble House were some of the best I ever read. They were books you never wanted to end.Gai-Jin starts off that way as well. The first 400 or 500 pages of Gai-Jin are classic Clavell. Combining many of the stories and characters from Shogun, Tai Pan, and Noble House. The books first 500 pages are terrific. Clavell using some familiar faces from his other books sets the stage for the Meiji Restoration in Japan.The book in typical Clavell fashion talks about the history of Japan after the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853 as well as of China while it was divided up into spheres of influence.Gai-Jin is so good at setting the stage for Meiji with its characters discussing Japan's options of either learning for the Gai-Jin or attempting a futile resistance and facing humilation like China suffered under the Opium Wars.Unfortunately Clavell died shortly after finishing this book. And unfortunately the affects of his illness affect the second half of the book. The book just loses focus 1/2 way through. My gut feeling is that Clavell's illness just caught up to him. Because the book just goes downhill and nowhere which is not typical of Clavell.Clavell will never be replaced. Other fictional books about Asia do not even compare. Cloud of Sparrows, The Laura Joh Rowland Books, are ok but not in Clavell's league. The first half of Gai-Jin reminds us how good he was. Unfortunately, he will never be replaced.
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful. Good, but the sequel doesn't surpass the original By SH in Tampa Gai-jin is set after Clavell's "Tai-pan". The heir to the Noble House trading company, established in Tai-pan, travels to Japan to expand the fortunes of his great company. However, the new heir is not a strong as the great Dirk Struan and the rivals of the Noble House conspire to destroy it. All this treachery is set against a backdrop of terrorism and diplomatic intrigue as the warlords of Japan conspire to take advantage of the presences of the "gai jin".This book has the murders, battles, rapes, natural disasters and convoluted politics that are the hallmarks of Clavell's writing. However, just like the Noble House heir, the book starts off wounded and never really recovers. Unlike many of Clavell's other books, there is no strong lead character to really carry the story, and as a result, it does not move as smoothly or as interesting as his previous books, Shogun and Tai-pan.Unfortunately James Clavell has set the bar a little too high with his previous novels and this one isn't quite as good. Still, if you are a fan, it is worth reading. If you have never read a Clavell novel, pick up one of the others first and you will appreciate his writing more.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful. Brilliant and addictive, but unsatisfying in the end. By trashcanman Just finished this book yesterday.I was positively hooked on it once I opened it. A friend recommended this one to me since I'm a big admirer of Japanese culture. This book has so many complicated stories going on it can be rough to keep up with them all at once, especially when they all weave together, but you still care for each of the characters. The story allows you to see all sides of every conflict, there is no black or white, it's all grey. You root for almost every character, even though they are all conflicting with each other. For example, the Shogunate rule the country with military might while the revolutionary shishi samurai, driven to poverty by the shogunate's excesses, are organising a coup to restore power to the emperor. The man passed over as shogun, Lord Yoshi, is strong and admirable and beset by enemies on all sides; a target of shishi assassinations and power grabs from within his own shogunate. Meanwhile, he must deal with the gai-jin (foreigners) who have been allowed to settle in Yokohama and are hated by shishi and shogunate alike. But the British navy threatens to crush Yedo (Tokyo) and take Japan by force if not allowed to conduct their trade. As the Japanese have no guns or cannons, they must comply...for now. Hiraga (who uses several names over the course of the book to hide his identity) is a shishi who wishes to exterminate all gai-jin and the shogunate as well. Sounds like an evil character, but you come to understand his point of view and even root for the guy as he crawls through the snakes' nest that is the politics of 19th century Japan. Like I said, a lot of grey area, when the shishi attempt to assassinate Yoshi you don't know who to root for. That kind of stuff makes this book so engaging. The Gai-jin themselves are the focal point of much of the book with Dirk Struan's son, Malcolm, falling in love with a beautiful frenchwoman against his mother's wishes and that conflict threatens to dominate the entire book. Dozens of characters and sub-plots to keep track of, I couldn't wait to see how this all ended. Sadly, the result is not pretty. A truly shocking event happens which throws a wrench into the last part of the book and taints the rest of the story with melancholy as the brilliant political machinations, schemes, and conflicts that made the book so exciting in the first place practically vanish unfulfilled as the aftermath of the tragedy takes over. Worst ending ever. Or should I say worst lack of an ending ever? The epilogue is pointless and solves nothing. So much is unnecessarily built up at the end and then just left there to drive you insane long after the pages have ended. Well there it is; read it and love it, but just don't expect anything to be resolved. Just be happy that life goes on for these characters, even if you don't get to read about it.
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