Gai-Jin [Paperback]

James Clavell (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: New York Delacorte Press 1993. (1993)
• ASIN: B000GQ41VM
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,754,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Clavell, who died in 1994, was a screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although he wrote the screenplays for a number of acclaimed films, including The Fly (1958), The Great Escape (1963), and To Sir With Love (1967), he is best known for his epic novels in his Asian Saga.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Now I remember why, March 29, 2011

By 

Malia Nash "Malia Nash" (Hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gai-Jin: A Novel of Japan (Audible Audio Edition)

I never finished the book the first time it was published. I thought I'd try the audio as the book was extremely long and to be fair, the reader was great. Unfortunately, the story has NO character the reader can root for or empathize with. The heroine wasn't a good Catholic, the hero was too ill, the bad guy didn't really rape the girl, and her one friend kept wanting to blackmail her into sleeping with him, even though he had V.D.! Unlike Shogun where the Japanese were strangely honorable or Taipan where the Chinese were clever or Noble House where the hero literally fought for his legacy...the people in Gai-jin were remarkably stupid and selfish.

The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 was because of the occasional mention of the Hag and Uncle Gordon and Toranaga...characters bigger than life. It is the reason I listened to the end. Quite sad that Clavell created characters so rich that it could keep a reader going thru a truly bad novel--just to get whatever tidbits of characters that fascinate--only to create characters in his last novel, that, hopefully, will be forgetable.