Tai-Pan (Asian Saga) [Paperback]

James Clavell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Asian Saga | Publication Date: May 19, 2009

It is the early 19th century, when European traders and adventurers first began to penetrate the forbidding Chinese mainland. And it is in this exciting time and exotic place that a giant of an Englishman, Dirk Straun, sets out to turn the desolate island of Hong Kong into an impregnable fortress of British power, and to make himself supreme ruler…Tai-Pan!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Unforgettable!”—Chicago Tribune

“A fabulous epic of the Far East that will disturb and excite you…a thrilling and enticing tale of adventure and human relationships…dramatic episodes, exotic vignettes and heady descriptive passages.” –Baltimore Sun

“Clavell is, as always, a matchless tale-spinner.”—Cosmopolitan

“Every five or six years there appears on the horizon a book so vast in scope, so peopled with bold, colorful characters, it eclipses other efforts…. Such a book is Tai-Pan.”—Pittsburgh Press

“Grand entertainment...packed with action...gaudy and flanboyant with blood and sin, treachery and conspiracy, sex and murder...fresh and vigorous.” —New York Times


From the Paperback edition.

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.


From the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Delta (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385343256
• ISBN-13: 978-0385343251
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #548,050 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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once the Sails Catch Wind, Watch Out, April 28, 2010

By 

Michel Nicolas - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tai-Pan (Asian Saga) (Paperback)

Having first read Shogun, I was distraught at what I considered to be a slow start. With so many characters, I was even a fan of the antogonist at first. However, after about the fifth chapter I was a Struan fan for life. Fast-paced and sexy. It is a must read for historical fiction fans.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Come With Me Now To Those Thrilling Days, December 17, 2009

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Tai-Pan (Asian Saga) (Paperback)

King Rat got all of the Good reviews and Shogun got the big miniseries deal, but if you love Jame Clavall this is the one. The sweep of history with blood, sex and big business, this is the Count of Monte Christo breaking the Paris Stock Exchnage and Indiana Jones fighting his way through China. Turn the first page and read, "Buy a coffin..." if you can stop this really isn't for you, if you can't there's good news and bad, there are more books but the master is dead. No matter the ones he finished before his death are all delicious and low carb. Read this first and then read Noble House, Whirlwind and Gai Jan and you'll start the new year right. Be a complete rat and buy Tai Pan and give it as a gift. This works especially well if you own a bookstore, because once read the rest surley have to follow. James Clavell, writer, Hong Kong Dan and gentleman...and perdition to his enemies!

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific saga of Hong Kong's founding, action packed if overlong, December 2, 2011

By 

Laurence R. Bachmann "LRB" (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Tai-Pan (Asian Saga) (Paperback)

What Nelson B. DeMille does for Biblical times, James Clavell does for Asian sagas. And like those action packed films of yore, Tai-pan is a big, sprawling and somewhat overwrought adventure. Circa 1840 the English are trading with China but not allowed to settle anywhere within the country. Portugal has had the colony of Macao for two centuries, but the English, a generation after Trafalgar are straining at the bit for digs commensurate with their power and prestige.

Traders and shippers who have made England the wealthiest and most powerful nation of the 19th century are tired of their lack of muscle. Led by the Tai-Pan or Supreme Leader, Dirk Straun the novel combines overarching themes like English toff v. upstarts and personal rivalries among the traders. And what would our Tai Pan's vision be? Why the colony of Hong Kong and thereby unfettered access to mainland tea and silk. Founding the colony requires what seems like a cast of thousands and certainly a few too many story lines. Complaints that it is bloated are not unfair. The 800 pages could trim 200 easily. Having saiid that, it's still a terrific read.

The Horatio Alger hero is good enough to be admired, but greedy enough be despised. He is talented and generous but also arrogant, immoral and merciless when crossed. Complex is the perhaps the kindest description of Straun. He does after all procure the tea and silk of China by foisting opium on the Chinese people. And when the Emperor occasionally objects to Westerners turning his people into junkies, the traders are on the sidelines fanning the flames of war. Some reviewers have complained that Taii Pan is too action packed. To that I say nonsense. It's the a great example of the historical adventure genre.

Add to the mix an appreciable amount of fascinating information about the Middle Kingdom (19th century China), cultural clashes and the two most common human attributes--lust and greed--and you have a splendid week's reading.