Big, chewy, lip smacking, gut busting fiction. How appropriate that I should have finished it on Thanksgiving - a day given to gastronomical excess.Whew.
This is not a historical tome. It is a fictionalized account of the first year of the British colony of Hong Kong (1841). The characters are all loosely based on actual people - as are their trading companies. That is what Clavell did in his novels and it's important that one understand that.
Clavell was also an ardent supporter of Free Trade, an avowed opponent of Communism and Fascism and an admirer of certain aspects of both Asian and Western culture. Much has also been written about Clavell's fondness of blending those aspects that he believed were the best of both worlds to make a new culture. I would have to agree with those folks. All these aspects of Clavell come out strongly in his novels and will either drive you crazy or have you nodding in agreement. Whatever route you take it might be helpful to be prepared.
Finally, and this is something that many seem to never take into account, James Clavell made his career for many years as a Hollywood screenwriter and movie director. He wrote popular entertainment (The Great Escape, The Fly and To Sir, with Love) and they were mainstream, big budget (mostly) affairs. Clavell brought this aspect to all of his novels as well.
Being aware of the before mentioned details are important. They all play a major part in Clavell's writing.
When you get right down to it Tai-Pan is a historical romance in the older sense (a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as having heroic qualities, who goes on a quest) only in this case Dirk Straun's quest is the never ending struggle to ensure that his company continue to thrive. As has been pointed out by others there is no grand battle to fight in this story, no Uber Villain to be brought down, no single event at all. The journey is the story. As a result there is a never ending series of "mini-adventures" within the story. Schemes are enacted, others are discovered, moves and counter-moves, friends are enemies and enemies are friends, and sailing ships race across the South China Sea. Grand adventure - not academia.
It's entertaining. It's not historical scholarship. Are there problems? Of course there are. At times Dirk Straun does become tiresome. He's too perfect - a paragon of male virtue. Or at least what James Clavell considered to be male virtue. He's lucky (too lucky at times), smarter than most, better looking, wiser, etc. etc. I would be willing to bet that Dirk Straun is probably the idealized version of James Clavell. Not unheard of for authors to do that - especially in this type of fiction. However styles and tastes change over the years and this novel was written in the mid-1960's. For many younger readers Dirk Straun might grow tiresome and that's understandable.
The role of women in the story will be jarring to younger readers as well. They are important and capable, but only to a point. Then the men have to take over. There are things that are just best when handled by the men. Ultimately women are about bearing children and taking care of the home. Their occasional forays into intrigue are ultimately motivated by their desire to protect their families and help their men. To a 1960's reader this wouldn't have been unacceptable, but in 2012 I have to agree that it might be difficult to swallow. Just keep reminding yourself when the book was written and that it was written by an adult male who had made his living writing for Hollywood.
But despite these aspects (and a few others that I just don't want to get into right now - such as the pidgeon English conversations - ugh) Tai-Pan is entertaining. It grabs you and keeps you interested. Though it took me a month to get through it (it was a very busy month and novel reading had to take a back seat) when I did sit down with it I would often go through fifty and sixty pages with no effort. In other words it's a "page turner" and that's okay as well. As I noted at the beginning this isn't a work of historical research. It's a big thick piece of popular entertainment. So dig in and enjoy.......or not depending on your tastes.
Ironically enough this is one book that I classify as a Beach Read that I actually finished at the beach (Lincoln City, Oregon). It's appropriate. (less)
This is not a historical tome. It is a fictionalized account of the first year of the British colony of Hong Kong (1841). The characters are all loosely based on actual people - as are their trading companies. That is what Clavell did in his novels and it's important that one understand that.
Clavell was also an ardent supporter of Free Trade, an avowed opponent of Communism and Fascism and an admirer of certain aspects of both Asian and Western culture. Much has also been written about Clavell's fondness of blending those aspects that he believed were the best of both worlds to make a new culture. I would have to agree with those folks. All these aspects of Clavell come out strongly in his novels and will either drive you crazy or have you nodding in agreement. Whatever route you take it might be helpful to be prepared.
Finally, and this is something that many seem to never take into account, James Clavell made his career for many years as a Hollywood screenwriter and movie director. He wrote popular entertainment (The Great Escape, The Fly and To Sir, with Love) and they were mainstream, big budget (mostly) affairs. Clavell brought this aspect to all of his novels as well.
Being aware of the before mentioned details are important. They all play a major part in Clavell's writing.
When you get right down to it Tai-Pan is a historical romance in the older sense (a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as having heroic qualities, who goes on a quest) only in this case Dirk Straun's quest is the never ending struggle to ensure that his company continue to thrive. As has been pointed out by others there is no grand battle to fight in this story, no Uber Villain to be brought down, no single event at all. The journey is the story. As a result there is a never ending series of "mini-adventures" within the story. Schemes are enacted, others are discovered, moves and counter-moves, friends are enemies and enemies are friends, and sailing ships race across the South China Sea. Grand adventure - not academia.
It's entertaining. It's not historical scholarship. Are there problems? Of course there are. At times Dirk Straun does become tiresome. He's too perfect - a paragon of male virtue. Or at least what James Clavell considered to be male virtue. He's lucky (too lucky at times), smarter than most, better looking, wiser, etc. etc. I would be willing to bet that Dirk Straun is probably the idealized version of James Clavell. Not unheard of for authors to do that - especially in this type of fiction. However styles and tastes change over the years and this novel was written in the mid-1960's. For many younger readers Dirk Straun might grow tiresome and that's understandable.
The role of women in the story will be jarring to younger readers as well. They are important and capable, but only to a point. Then the men have to take over. There are things that are just best when handled by the men. Ultimately women are about bearing children and taking care of the home. Their occasional forays into intrigue are ultimately motivated by their desire to protect their families and help their men. To a 1960's reader this wouldn't have been unacceptable, but in 2012 I have to agree that it might be difficult to swallow. Just keep reminding yourself when the book was written and that it was written by an adult male who had made his living writing for Hollywood.
But despite these aspects (and a few others that I just don't want to get into right now - such as the pidgeon English conversations - ugh) Tai-Pan is entertaining. It grabs you and keeps you interested. Though it took me a month to get through it (it was a very busy month and novel reading had to take a back seat) when I did sit down with it I would often go through fifty and sixty pages with no effort. In other words it's a "page turner" and that's okay as well. As I noted at the beginning this isn't a work of historical research. It's a big thick piece of popular entertainment. So dig in and enjoy.......or not depending on your tastes.
Ironically enough this is one book that I classify as a Beach Read that I actually finished at the beach (Lincoln City, Oregon). It's appropriate. (less)
