King Rat [Mass Market Paperback]

James Clavell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1986

The time is World War II. The place is a brutal prison camp deep in Japanese-occupied territory. Here, within the seething mass of humanity, one man, an American corporal, seeks dominance over both captives and captors alike. His weapons are human courage, unblinking understanding of human weaknesses, and total willingness to exploit every opportunity to enlarge his power and corrupt or destroy anyone who stands in his path.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

King Rat is named after the central character in Clavell's spellbinding masterpiece about the brutality of prison camp life in Japanese-occupied, World War II Malaya. The King, an American corporal, seeks to dominate both captives and captors by his courage, profound insight into human frailties, and pragmatic American business techniques in a class-ridden society where Japanese and British actions are bound by bankrupt codes of "honor." The novel, originally published in 1962, is made more engrossing by flashbacks to the home front. Reader David Chase superbly transfers Clavell's genius as a writer to this superb audio. His skill lies in communicating the author's uproarious black humor and in his fabulous timing and phraseology. Highly recommended.
-James Dudley, Westhampton Beach, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Review

“A magnificent novel.”—Washington Post

“A dramatic, utterly engrossing novel...harsh and brutal in its revelations...James Clavell is a spellbinding storyteller, a brilliant observer, a man who understands much and forgives much.” —New York Times

“Tension wound up to the snapping point.”—Christian Science Monitor

"Breathtaking....worth every word, every ounce, every penny."—Associated Press

“Tension wound up to the snapping point.”—Christian Science Monitor


“A dramatic, utterly engrossing novel...harsh and brutal in its revelations...James Clavell is a spellbinding storyteller, a brilliant observer, a man who understands much and forgives much.” –New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (September 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440145465
• ISBN-13: 978-0440145462
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.3 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,665 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

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lest We Forget., May 2, 2000

By 

Dennis J. Buckley (Harrisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: King Rat (Paperback)

James Clavell is renowned for his works such as _Shogun_ and _Noble House_. This darkly autobiographical novel was, so far as I am aware, his first literary work. It remains his best.

Clavell was a prisoner of the Japanese. He was held at the infamous Changi prison on the eastern end of Singapore island as described in the novel. Like the protagonist, Peter Marlowe, Clavell came from a good family, though due to his eyesight he was in the Royal Artillery, not the Royal Air Force (a little harmless wish-fulfillment, there).

I think the novel impresses so many readers due to its stark simplicity and forthrightness, particularly in describing the moral dilemmas that confront Marlowe. With the issue of survival in the balance, does morality become relative? Marlowe concludes that the only man who could answer his questions, his father, is dead-- killed on the Murmansk run. But just as Changi is rebirth for Marlowe, perhaps it is the King-- the trader with the Japanese-- who becomes Marlowe's father and answers those questions.

There are many, many layers to this book. I have read it many times and have always walked away with something new. As with the Changi experience, itself, I sense that there is never complete resolution.

Clavell died several years ago. I hope that he found peace.

Add this work to testaments like Iris Chang's, _The Rape of Nanking_, as a remembrance of what the Japanese did to the defeated.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book really makes you think!, June 17, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King Rat (Mass Market Paperback)

Of all Clavell's books, this has always been my favorite. I will not deny that Clavell tends to use the same story and characters in every novel (compare shogun with tai-pan and noble house). I love all his books (even gai-jin which few seem to enjoy), but King Rat is the best. It really makes you think about human nature, and what's really important in life. All these people grew up in a certain lifestyle, and suddenly and thrown together in a POW camp, and under brutal circumstances. I have done research on POW camps at this time,and the findings are not pleasant, so it really is interesting to see how people change, and what they really value. Seeing as how Mr. Clavell spent time in Changi himself, all that we see in King Rat is an extension of that, and so you can really appreciate what he endured. It for these above reasons that I truly enjoyed this book above his other great novels, and why I have read several times over.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The black sheep of the saga, April 20, 2004

By 

therosen "therosen" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: King Rat (Mass Market Paperback)

King Rat has many unique aspects amongst the other novels in the Asian saga:
- It was written first, with less connections to the rest of the series.
- It's the shortest of the lot.
- It's the most autobiographical, as Clavell spent time in that same prison.
- There is the least cross-cultural interaction.

Having said all of this, this WWII POW survival story is a compelling study of what people do to survive. In a sense, we all become rats, with one as king. Much of the book studies the manipulations between folks vying for power. There are the Americans trying to enforce prison standards. There are people living off of rank to hold a grasp of dignity. And then there is the King of the title, who finds a way to transcend above the problems, living off the black market and a network of informants.

We are introduced to the character that most closely resembles Clavell in this novel too. Though he reappears in Noble House, we first catch the author as the King's sidekick, a downed soldier who has to struggle with where his loyalties are.

I can not recommend the series enough. Whether you go through it chronologically as written, or in the order of time periods written about, you'll find this a deep addition to the series.