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A review by calistareads
Gai-Jin by James Clavell
4.0
This is the 3rd book in the Asian Saga, but the last book that James Clavell completed. He was working on another when he died. The story of Asia still coming into the west is now up to the 1800s and the American civil war is going on and talked about in the story.
We get into the world of the Japanese, but not as much as in Shogun. This is centered on the English village of Yokohama and the story revolves around how they were trying to open Japan up to trading.
I love Shogun and it's one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing. Tai-pan was a great story too. The amount of work that went into these books is amazing and its understandable that James only had time in his life to write 6 of them. This book was written almost 30 years after Shogun. All the historical elements were there, the research into the culture was there, but the story didn't feel as sharp as the others. Shogun is like a samurai sword slicing perfectly. This story, the blade feels duller to me, less focused.
Plenty happens in these 1100 pages. There is a love story at the heart of this book between Malcolm Straun, the newest Taipan and Angelique, an young French woman. Around them, there is the floating world or the 'whore' houses where all the politics and scheming seem to happen. There are plot twists and each side trying to outsmart the other. The difficulty of the translators is on display and we see how different each side thinks and how they both can't understand the other because their worlds are so different.
There is a band of shishi, which are like terrorist trying to overthrow the shogunate and support the emperor. The shishi are interesting and especially Hiraga. He takes Sun Tsu to heart and he is trying to know his enemy and looks on the outside like he is becoming them. It's all fascinating.
This did take me awhile to read. I am simply having a hard time focusing. One time I would read 100 pages a day and then it might be 2-3 pages with no reading at all and then I would read maybe 20 pages or so for a while. It wasn't the story, it was me. This is my tome for the year, so I am going to try some short fun books to try and ease me back into more focus.
I do love this series and I do plan on reading the other 3 books in the future. They are a lot to digest. This Asian world is so foreign and so hard to believe that's how things were. I'm sure there are still threads that exist in Asia. It's understandable to see why people commit suicide when deals go bad or other people die. It's in their history. Their society is beautiful and oh so harsh.
I would never make it in that society. You have to be so cunning to have a chance at making it in society or you will be under someone's book heel and I am simply not that cunning. Maybe if I were to be brought up to think that way, but the way I am now, oh lord, I would not make it. You have to expect everyone is plotting and scheming against you and you must outsmart them or be swallowed. It's a harsh society in many ways. I do love how clean they are and it simply makes Westerners look so dirty, at that time.
Imperialist western ideas are on full display here and we see the empire building and how they came in and forced themselves on this society who didn't ask for it. They make sure they get the best deals and everything is to their advantage. So much is talked about here as what is happening in world events.
I wouldn't start with this book, but it should be read. James Clavell is a master at his craft and I enjoyed immersing myself in this story. It was worth the time.
We get into the world of the Japanese, but not as much as in Shogun. This is centered on the English village of Yokohama and the story revolves around how they were trying to open Japan up to trading.
I love Shogun and it's one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing. Tai-pan was a great story too. The amount of work that went into these books is amazing and its understandable that James only had time in his life to write 6 of them. This book was written almost 30 years after Shogun. All the historical elements were there, the research into the culture was there, but the story didn't feel as sharp as the others. Shogun is like a samurai sword slicing perfectly. This story, the blade feels duller to me, less focused.
Plenty happens in these 1100 pages. There is a love story at the heart of this book between Malcolm Straun, the newest Taipan and Angelique, an young French woman. Around them, there is the floating world or the 'whore' houses where all the politics and scheming seem to happen. There are plot twists and each side trying to outsmart the other. The difficulty of the translators is on display and we see how different each side thinks and how they both can't understand the other because their worlds are so different.
There is a band of shishi, which are like terrorist trying to overthrow the shogunate and support the emperor. The shishi are interesting and especially Hiraga. He takes Sun Tsu to heart and he is trying to know his enemy and looks on the outside like he is becoming them. It's all fascinating.
This did take me awhile to read. I am simply having a hard time focusing. One time I would read 100 pages a day and then it might be 2-3 pages with no reading at all and then I would read maybe 20 pages or so for a while. It wasn't the story, it was me. This is my tome for the year, so I am going to try some short fun books to try and ease me back into more focus.
I do love this series and I do plan on reading the other 3 books in the future. They are a lot to digest. This Asian world is so foreign and so hard to believe that's how things were. I'm sure there are still threads that exist in Asia. It's understandable to see why people commit suicide when deals go bad or other people die. It's in their history. Their society is beautiful and oh so harsh.
I would never make it in that society. You have to be so cunning to have a chance at making it in society or you will be under someone's book heel and I am simply not that cunning. Maybe if I were to be brought up to think that way, but the way I am now, oh lord, I would not make it. You have to expect everyone is plotting and scheming against you and you must outsmart them or be swallowed. It's a harsh society in many ways. I do love how clean they are and it simply makes Westerners look so dirty, at that time.
Imperialist western ideas are on full display here and we see the empire building and how they came in and forced themselves on this society who didn't ask for it. They make sure they get the best deals and everything is to their advantage. So much is talked about here as what is happening in world events.
I wouldn't start with this book, but it should be read. James Clavell is a master at his craft and I enjoyed immersing myself in this story. It was worth the time.