I, from time to time, like to mention authors that have been a bit
forgotten. Today, I would like to write about James Clavell. At one time,
Clavell sold a lot of books, and deservedly so. He was a fine writer of
adventure stories.
The first book I read by him was King Rat,
a story of US soldiers in a Japanese POW camp in World War 2. It is a
tale of survival under brutal conditions and delves into the psyche of a man
detrmined to, not just survive, but thrive in the camp. It pits the interest of
the individual against the group interest and is a great story of moral
ambiguity.
Then came his masterpiece, Shogun. The story is of an English sailor
shipwrecked and taken captive in medieval Japan, the land of samurai and great
warlords. The idea of placing someone from one culture into a totally alien
world is compelling, especially when that world is going through a period of
upheaval. Neither he, nor his captors are sure how they can interact and the
Japanese are involved in a world of intrigues, of many inticate plans and
machinations. Clavell creates this completely alien world and fills it with
wonderful characters. Is it historically accurate? Maybe, He researched it
extensively, but, really that doesn't matter. The tale's the thing and this is
a fine one. They did make a wonderful many-part mini series out of it. If you
can find that, it is well worth watching.
He wrote another good novel, Tai Pan. This was set in Hong Kong as it was
beginning to become a player in the Global economic world. The story is less
epoch that Shogun but it is still a good story, well written.
I always hate to see good writers forgotten. I imagine you can find
Clavell's novels on line for a decent price. Try them and I am sure you will
enjoy them.
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