043 4 I read James Clavell's other novel of Japan , ' Shogun ' obsesively , and finishing all 1000 + pages in under five days . This one , on the other hand , I have attempted to read twice , and NEVER finished it . Compared to the epic ' Shogun ' , this book was very slow and clunky . It is based in fact - the result of the forced opening of Japan in the mid-late 19th century . however , the story is so realistic as to be dull . Truth may be stranger than fiction , but in this case anyway , it is hardly as interesting . The story itself is very coherent and easy to follow . It is just too DULL . If you are looking for another Shogun , aside from a few interesting ( stress on few ) tie-ins to Shogun , there is nothing there . Shogun was the pinacle for Clavell . This just might be the nadir .
045 4 This review is from :
Gai-Jin ( Kindle Edition )
I am a fan of James Clavel and I am loving Gaijin . My issue is with the Kindle Edition . . .
I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY TYPOS IN MY ENTIRE LIFE ! ! !
It is criminal . There are at least two / three per page . For the money I spent , I should have gotten a clean copy . Whomever proof-read this was asleep at the wheel . Don't buy it unless Amazon proofs it .
046 4 I am a fan of James Clavel and I am loving Gaijin . My issue is with the Kindle Edition . . .
I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY TYPOS IN MY ENTIRE LIFE ! ! !
It is criminal . There are at least two / three per page . For the money I spent , I should have gotten a clean copy . Whomever proof-read this was asleep at the wheel . Don't buy it unless Amazon proofs it .
074 4 After reading Taipan , it was extremely disappointing going into Gaijin . The story line just dragged on and on . The author probably could've eliminated at least 200 pages . Also , this book lacks the strong characters that existed in Taipan . TWO THUMBS DOWN ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
a doorstopper tome ( 1000 pages in hardback ! ) with dozens of dovetailing plots and subplots revolving around the meeting of East and West in trade , tragedy , love and war . There's a typical list to the Asian Saga . Hundreds of characters , some historically important , others on the margin ? - Check . Culture clash , xenophobia , political manipulations , natural disasters ? - Check . Omniscient viewpoint chronicling the thoughts and decisions of multiple characters during a single event ? - Check . Sloppy grammar and occasional repetitiveness ? - Check . Dynamic protagonist and spellbinding storytelling ? - Well , unfortunately , while GAI-JIN starts strong and maintains a fascinating breadth of ambition for most of the book's length , the entropy of Clavell's own encroaching death seems to have infused this novel ; this book begins to lose some steam two-thirds of the way in . Moreover , Clavell's deviation from what made previous ` Asian Saga ' novels so successful can be seen as both brave and foolhardy .
In particular , the dominant characters of Malcom Straun and Angelique Richaurd make this volume a bit of a slog . Clavell has taken a risk with Malcolm , who comes off little more than a lovesick puppy , and especially in Angelique , who vacillates between victim and victimizer , claiming her true role in the end ; but while both are fully realized , they aren't exactly interesting nor sympathetic , and the latter character , in all her desperate scheming and core shallowness , made me wish evil tidings upon her fortune by the end , something I doubt Clavell intended .
Again , it seems like a calculated risk to use these characters for so much of the novel's bulk , in contrast to the truly fascinating and page-turning events of Japan's slow , resistant opening to the world . Set in 1862 , a few years after Admiral Perry forcibly wrested trade concessions from the ruling Shogunite , GAI-JIN chronicles several months of increasing tension as revolutionary groups struggle to overthrow the Shogunite in favor of the long-exiled Emperor , the Shogunite in turn tries to keep the Gai-jin barbarians at an arm's length and maintain order , and the European traders do what they always do in a Clavell novel : make lots of money under the flag of opening the world to civilization , dally with prostitutes and drink prodigious amounts of liquor , engage nature for mastery of the sea and engage the dinner-table with sumptuous and verbosely-described banquets , fight duels of honor and battles of commerce . This is the fourth Clavell novel I've read and , while certainly captivating , it does get a bit rote , augmented by the fact that the most interesting aspects of the novel are often sidelined or omitted completely for Philip Tyrer's efforts to secure his courtesan , Malcolm's lust-struck refusal to do what is necessary , Angelique's diary entries and constant flirting . I consider it commendable of Clavell to fashion such a gray character - the apotheosis of feminine coquetry and wiles - as his focus , but after hundreds and hundreds of pages I found the mechanisms of Brock and Sons vs . Strauns and the contention within the Shogunite far more appealing , and more often than not frustratingly denied to this reader .
Many have complained of GAI-JIN's lack of a satisfactory conclusion , and while I do believe the book does reach a form of completion , by the end I had to wonder . . . what was the point ? One can simply read the prologue to NOBLE HOUSE to glean the end results from this 1000 page buildup , and like SHOGUN , it can be argued that Clavell ended this volume well before the climatic events that ushered in a new era for Japan . Perhaps that is the point : the author is simply delineating a moment in history , the smaller threads that compose a larger portrait . But aside from a few dynamic resolutions , GAI-JIN feels lacking in the overall impression , a lot of tension and not much pay-off .
Despite my myriad issues , GAI-JIN does contain the classic Clavell hallmarks , particularly in exposing the racism endemic to Far East relations ( Japan vs . China vs . Korea vs . Europe ) , the way carefully-detailed plans often fall apart due to conflicting forces , and the overall description of a feudal empire in the transition to a modern ethos . These alone make the novel worth the hours and hours of required reading .
Recommended for those that have read other Clavell novels and wish to delve deeper into the aftermath of TAI-PAN . 3 and a half stars , rounded down .
001 4 First and foremost James Clavell was one of the most talented writers ever . Especially if you like fiction about Asia . Not only did he tell great stories but his books were filled with so much good history and culture about places like China and Japan . Though I was never a fan of King Rat books like Shogun , Tai-Pan , and Noble House were some of the best I ever read . They were books you never wanted to end .
Gai-Jin starts off that way as well . The first 400 or 500 pages of Gai-Jin are classic Clavell . Combining many of the stories and characters from Shogun , Tai Pan , and Noble House . The books first 500 pages are terrific . Clavell using some familiar faces from his other books sets the stage for the Meiji Restoration in Japan .
The book in typical Clavell fashion talks about the history of Japan after the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853 as well as of China while it was divided up into spheres of influence .
Gai-Jin is so good at setting the stage for Meiji with its characters discussing Japan's options of either learning for the Gai-Jin or attempting a futile resistance and facing humilation like China suffered under the Opium Wars .
Unfortunately Clavell died shortly after finishing this book . And unfortunately the affects of his illness affect the second half of the book . The book just loses focus 1 / 2 way through . My gut feeling is that Clavell's illness just caught up to him . Because the book just goes downhill and nowhere which is not typical of Clavell .
Clavell will never be replaced . Other fictional books about Asia do not even compare . Cloud of Sparrows , The Laura Joh Rowland Books , are ok but not in Clavell's league . The first half of Gai-Jin reminds us how good he was . Unfortunately , he will never be replaced .
002 4 Gai-jin is set after Clavell's Tai-pan . The heir to the Noble House trading company , established in Tai-pan , travels to Japan to expand the fortunes of his great company . However , the new heir is not a strong as the great Dirk Struan and the rivals of the Noble House conspire to destroy it . All this treachery is set against a backdrop of terrorism and diplomatic intrigue as the warlords of Japan conspire to take advantage of the presences of the gai jin .
This book has the murders , battles , rapes , natural disasters and convoluted politics that are the hallmarks of Clavell's writing . However , just like the Noble House heir , the book starts off wounded and never really recovers . Unlike many of Clavell's other books , there is no strong lead character to really carry the story , and as a result , it does not move as smoothly or as interesting as his previous books , Shogun and Tai-pan .
Unfortunately James Clavell has set the bar a little too high with his previous novels and this one isn't quite as good . Still , if you are a fan , it is worth reading . If you have never read a Clavell novel , pick up one of the others first and you will appreciate his writing more .
003 4 I am a 16 year old Japanese student and I , like a few other readers , before reading this book , thought Clavell was amazing . NOw I think he is semi-amazing . I read Shogun , and I was completely drowned in the book , I lived it as well as the characters ' lives . HOwever , I think Gai-Jin took all the wonderful aspects of Shogun to the extreme .
Clavell still takes the reader right into the story , and , as always , thrills us with his understanding of the Japanese way , but he goes a bit too far . . . I find there is way too much sex and lust . . . all surrounding the character of Angelique Richaud . I don't understand why he chose to put her in the novel as such a big part of it . . I agree she is a vital part , but I don't understand why every time Clavell would write anything about the gai-jin that he would have to include something about either Andre fantasizng about raping her , or someone else checking her out .
Other than that , the book was amazing .
004 4 Just finished this book yesterday.I was positively hooked on it once I opened it . A friend recommended this one to me since I'm a big admirer of Japanese culture . This book has so many complicated stories going on it can be rough to keep up with them all at once , especially when they all weave together , but you still care for each of the characters . The story allows you to see all sides of every conflict , there is no black or white , it's all grey . You root for almost every character , even though they are all conflicting with each other . For example , the Shogunate rule the country with military might while the revolutionary shishi samurai , driven to poverty by the shogunate's excesses , are organising a coup to restore power to the emperor . The man passed over as shogun , Lord Yoshi , is strong and admirable and beset by enemies on all sides ; a target of shishi assassinations and power grabs from within his own shogunate . Meanwhile , he must deal with the gai-jin ( foreigners ) who have been allowed to settle in Yokohama and are hated by shishi and shogunate alike . But the British navy threatens to crush Yedo ( Tokyo ) and take Japan by force if not allowed to conduct their trade . As the Japanese have no guns or cannons , they must comply . . . for now . Hiraga ( who uses several names over the course of the book to hide his identity ) is a shishi who wishes to exterminate all gai-jin and the shogunate as well . Sounds like an evil character , but you come to understand his point of view and even root for the guy as he crawls through the snakes ' nest that is the politics of 19th century Japan . Like I said , a lot of grey area , when the shishi attempt to assassinate Yoshi you don't know who to root for . That kind of stuff makes this book so engaging . The Gai-jin themselves are the focal point of much of the book with Dirk Struan's son , Malcolm , falling in love with a beautiful frenchwoman against his mother's wishes and that conflict threatens to dominate the entire book . Dozens of characters and sub-plots to keep track of , I couldn't wait to see how this all ended . Sadly , the result is not pretty . A truly shocking event happens which throws a wrench into the last part of the book and taints the rest of the story with melancholy as the brilliant political machinations , schemes , and conflicts that made the book so exciting in the first place practically vanish unfulfilled as the aftermath of the tragedy takes over . Worst ending ever . Or should I say worst lack of an ending ever ? The epilogue is pointless and solves nothing . So much is unnecessarily built up at the end and then just left there to drive you insane long after the pages have ended . Well there it is ; read it and love it , but just don't expect anything to be resolved . Just be happy that life goes on for these characters , even if you don't get to read about it .
005 4 Before this book was , I wanted nothing more than another Clavell novel . King Rat was probably the moodiest book I have ever read ( Very well done movie adaptation , too ) , Tai Pan the most exciting and both Shogun and Noble House the grandest . Gai Jin , like his previous efforts , had a wonderfully complex plot , with many interesting characters and scenes of extreme violence .
The book also gave a good view of 19th century Japan , but made many errors . While I can't remember the particular details ( I read it four years ago ) , I do remember many errors in Japanese naming , wording ( I speak Japanese and have read 19th century literature ) , and political events . I can forgive a lot for a good story , and this qualifies , but being from Clavell , I expected perfection .
That he was old and sick when he wrote the book does make me thankful that at least I got one more Clavell novel to enjoy . It is still better than the Asian Historical Fiction of most other authors ( and there are so few ) .
006 4 Living in the shadow of Tai-Pan's Dirk Struan or Shogun's Lord Toranaga , the characters in Gai-Jin are far less heroic than in the previous novels , which makes it a different read than perhaps what's expected . Clavell fans may be disappointed that the Europeans in the book lack Dirk's epic qualities , but the character's limitations and weaknesses add to the interest as they try to get through situations that the legendary Struan may have wrapped up with little difficulty . Similarly , the centuries between Shogun and Gai-Jin have seen Toranaga's supreme feudal state slide into a corrupt bureaucracy , and the proliferation of firearms have made the samurai class much less invincible to the West . Where Shogun's Englishman Anjin-san was educated in the superior ways of Japan's strength and culture , Gai-Jin's Japanese characters have to face the culture-shock of the barbarian's superior technology and firepower . All in all , Gai-Jin is not Shogun 2 , nor is it Tai-Pan rehashed . They've already been done . It is simply a less epic novel that has more flawed characters in the volatile situation of an industrialized West meeting the ancient East .
007 4 This book has all the flaws mentioned by other reviewers , but for me it was an enjoyable read , particularly as it neared the conclusion . James Clavell's literature is all about thwarted expectations . There are numerous assasination attempts in this story , and NONE of them come off as expected . That thwarts the characters expectations , but Clavell also intentionally thwarts OUR expectations . He expends enormous ammounts of energy to set up what appears to be an innevitable confrontation , then somehow that confrontation never materializes . Clavell is observing and depicting the way that humans are obsessed with controlling the future , in spite of the fact that it is impossible . Most of the characters are desperately trying to believe that they can predict and control events to their advantage , when in reality random chance is deciding their fates .
For me the most annoying thing about this novel is not the story or characters , as other reviewers have said , but the structure . I can only guess that Clavell was trying something new here to keep himself interested , because the structure is complicated and confusing . The novel is full of miniature flashbacks , so that at any given moment we can be switched instantly to some other time and place , sometimes numerous memories of various characters overlapping so that it is hard to keep track of who's pov is currently active . For instance , two characters are having a conversation . During that conversation one of them has a memory , transporting the story into a fully developed scene that can go on for many pages , so that it is often jarring when the novel returns suddenly to the original conversation . This happens again and again , in no discernible sequence . I think there were even times when someone remembered something , then during that memory they remembered something else taking the story into an even more distant memory . At other times one person's memory includes things that show someone else's point of view . I think even Clavell got confused by this structure , because the flashbacks are used less and less as the story progresses .
But if you love Clavell , you must read this book .
008 4 Lots of negative comments are listed here regarding Gai-Jin , which is in equal parts sequel to Clavell's Shogun and Tai-Pan . Indeed , I'd strongly recommend reading both of those novels before tackling Gai-Jin , which builds tremendously on the characters and histories established in those works . All I want to say is this : I don't read Clavell for historical accuracy , nor am I offended by his supposed racist portrayals of Asian characters . This book , like all of Clavell's others , breaths tremendous life and will suck you into its many-layered web if you give it a chance . It's intense , so funny , so wonderfully dense , lots of action and intrigue , immensely informative , and oh so insightful into the cultural war of 1860 ' s Japan . If it's less than historically accurate , I could care less - - - this is a huge novel , a great story , a wonderful read . Pick it up , treasure it , give it a chance .
009 4 Well , i have heard many a scathing remark about Gai-jin . I have read the book and think it deserves to defended . The book is definitely not the sequel to Shogun , but does act as a nice epilogue to the book Taipan ( perhaps my favorite of Clavell's books ) . There are many subtlties to the book , such as the shishi and Yoshi and the Toranagas , and I have heard criticism as the historical innaccuracy behind all this . Clearly , Mr . Clavell did not intend to use the real names or else anyone whose read japanese history would already know the end . Yoshi is clearly not a real name for such a nobleman , but if he were named Yoshinobu , its obvious who he is and what happens to him . This can also be said of Shogun . The toranagas are obviously the Tokugawa family in real life and so on . But anyhow , others criticize the book is too long and could be written half as long . This is true , but Shogun and Noble House were equally . Besides , a book is never fun when its over in 300 pages or less ( believe me I know all about it ) . Is the book racist ? I doubt it . It probably wasn't researched as well as it could have been , but then again , since none of use have been there , we don't know if the Japanese really did say eeeee and so sorry all the time , though the modern day phrases eee , or yes , and anou , or excuse me , are probalby what he was trying to use . As for the Chinese , I found them most fascinating . I don't know my Cantonese , or my Hong Kong culture , but I think that Clavell had a great interest in their culture , rather than disdain , otherwise Taipan probalby would not have even been written . So I doubt Mr . Clavell is a asian-hating racist .
Most importantly though , remember that he was very sick , and had already written a number of fantastic novels already . I think this was a nice last novel and considering the shape he was in , as good a novel as anyone could write .
010 4 While I enjoyed Gai-Jin , I was also somewhat disappointed . While it didn't have the atrocious endings of Clavell's earlier efforts ( Shogun , Noble House ) and indeed has a giant surprise 75% into the story , there was absolutely nothing exceptional about it . I was never on the edge of my seat like I was in Shogun ( bad ending , notwithstanding ) or especially in Tai-Pan . Having read all of Clavell's novels - - excepting Whirlwind - - I have a pretty good idea of his strengths and weaknesses . So unless you're a diehard fan of his , skip this novel and read King Rat or Tai-Pan instead , then go to Shogun and Noble House , and if you're still up to it , read Gai-Jin .
( One major source of my disappointment is with the story's two Western protagonists : Malcolm and Angelique . They were , for most of the story , such empty-headed idiots , concerned more with soirees and dances . I was a lot more intrigued by Hiraga and Yoshi and the machinations of Japanese characters , and it's a same that Clavell didn't give them equal time with the English characters . Instead , 75% of the novel is spent with the antics of the idiots , and 25% with the truly fascinating characters ! At least in Tai-Pan and Shogun and Noble House , whatever their flaws as novels , they had incredible protagonists . )
011 4 As many others have noted , while Gai Jin is the third book ( chronologically ) in Clavell's saga , it was his last published effort and some of this definitely works its way into the book . That's not to say that I didn't find the book very entertaining , because I did . But somehow I felt that Clavell wrote this book and tried to force another story into the interceding years between Tai Pan and the Noble House , where it truly was not needed , or just plain didn't fit .
Of course , the story starts out in Japan on the cusp of the Meiji Restoration and , as usual , Clavell's masterful grasp of historical fiction shines through . Obviously , the characters are not real , and the things that occurred are not a historical depiction , but , as with the other Clavell books , you get the sense of history . . . . the glimpse into a culture on the verge of change .
The story is a continuation of Tai Pan and focuses on Malcolm Straun , Culum Straun's son , who oversees the Noble House's venture in Japan and is on the verge of becoming tai pan of the Noble Houlse when he meets and falls in love with Angelique ; a frenchwoman who does not garner Mrs . Straun's approval . While there are the usual sub plots , this forms the basic story .
My criticism of this book , and maybe its a bit too picky , is that it fails to neatly fit in between Tai Pan and the Noble House as it should have . And while it does provide some background for Noble House , on many levels it just seems very disconnected . One example I have , and again , this may be me just being overly picky , is that no mention of Malcolm Straun is made in the Noble House , even when a history of the family line and the rise of the Noble House is recounted . Now , I guess it could be said that there may be reasons why this might have happened ( ones that I'd rather not get into for fear of giving away the plot of Gai Jin ) , but this is the type of disconnect that bothered me .
That being the case , however , still does not detract from the fact that Gai Jin is a very well written , entertaining book . It is my least favorite in Clavell's asian saga , but still great nonetheless and I recommend it highly .
012 4 Gai-Jin takes us back to Japan after the thriller Shogun , but with a cherry on top . Clavell combines characters that descend from the two previous books in Japan of 1862 . For fans of the Asian saga , Gai-Jin fits right in .
Some complain of the latter half of the book and the ending without a major climax . I don't agree . It's just Clavell's style . There's really no need for a major happening in the final pages since the entire book is filled with climaxes .
013 4 Halfway through this daunting novel with 600 hundred pages left to go , I couldn't see how Mr . Clavell , with his colorful if longwinded prose , was going to tie all the ends together satisfactorily . My suspicions were confirmed . Turning the final page , it became clear that the novel was unfinished and probably needed a couple of hundred more pages . Many reviewers have correctly noted the weak ending and the general unpolished feeling of this otherwise magnificent tale . However , in the authors defence , he passed away the year after it's publication . It is entirely possible that he was unable to complete the novel due to ill health . Having had the time to read through this romping tale of nineteenth century Japan , I am glad that it was published at all . Since time immemorial , sex and ambition have been the two of the major driving forces behind human advancement . James Clavell's novel is loaded with both . Strong , sometimes politically incorrect , characterization of Asian and European people and language bring this enjoyably detailed tale to life . If you are interested in recent history , Asian cultures and what ideas lie behind them , then Gai-Jin is a fascintating read .
014 4 Hold onto your hat ! James Clavell has done it again . After Shogun and Tai-Pan , one has to wonder how he could come close to a better effort , but in Gai-Jin , he's done it . Action that begins right in the first pages never lets up . This book is exteremely well written , the characters well developed , and all eventually tied together in a remarkable climax that will shock even the reader accustomed to Clavell's writing .
The story of the Struan family continues with young Malcolm , the next in line to be Tai-Pan after the death of his father in Tai-Pan , and Angelique , the object of his affections and his mother Tess's objections . Clavell takes the reader all over Japan , including right into Osaka castle and conflict with the Japanese , with more drama and suspense than one could hope for .
Gai-Jin , set around 1865 , not only gives the reader an insight into 19th century Japan , as the Shogunate era is approaching its end ( in 1868 ) , but it also ties in the stories of Shogun and Tai-Pan with references back to characters and events from those books . I would recommend reading those two first , then take on Gai-Jin ; it all makes for sense that way . If you can't wait to get into it , though , go ahead - - Clavell has not made Gai-Jin dependent on the others .
015 4 I was captivated by Shogun , and it sparked what has come to be a life-long fascination and study of Japan . As I learned , I recognized that Clavell's characterization of Japanese culture and this particular period in Japanese history was not entirely accurate . But he was telling a story for Western audiences , and it was an historical novel , not a history . Had he not taken artistic license , perhaps I would not have been so entranced .
The opening of Japan is one of the country's most fascinating periods , when centuries of tradition were turned topsy-turvy and the way of life was wrenched into the Modern Age almost overnight . I eagerly awaited Gai-Jin and Clavell's interpretation .
Perhaps he was old and forgetful , perhaps he was too sick , or maybe he was so important a writer that no one dared tell him , Jim , you need to do more research before you publish this - - your Japanese characters are using Chinese ( ? - anyway , not Japanese ) words , and phonemes that aren't even in the Japanese language . You've given men's names to women , and bonze ( Buddhist priest ) names to young men who haven't retired to the priesthood , and your leading Japanese character only has half a name . ( Yoshi is a sometimes a modern nickname , but for a full given name like Yoshinobu , Yoshitada or Yoshi-e . No samurai or noble would have ever used a half-name in a formal introduction . ) As I read further , I found that the mistakes weren't just in the details , but even in the fundamental characterizations of the factions and forces that were struggling within Japan about what to do with the foreigners on their shores .
Historical fiction has constraints that other forms of fiction do not , and writers who choose the genre have a responsibility to their readers to provide a well-researched framework in which to cast their story . To the best of my knowledge , Clavell did this in the other books of his Asian saga , but when it came to Gai-Jin , he apparently couldn't be bothered . I felt cheated , and did something I have never done before : halfway through , I threw the hardcover book in the garbage .
016 4 Having read and truly enjoyed Shogun and Taipan ( as well as King Rat and even Noble House ) I welcomed the opportunity to enter Clavell's well-researched and fascinating world of intrigue and inter-culture strategy set in 19th century Japan .
Fans of Clavell's will undoubtably be a little forgiving , but there's so much to be apologetic for the volume would strain anyone : 1200 pages in total with very small print , a very dense plot , characterization that approaches engagement but leaves you just short of knowing where your loyalties lie . Short of telling you the plot , it's enough to call Gai-Jin unsatisfying . . . to say the least .
Malcolm Struan is the heir apparent to Struan's Trading , long a dominating force in Hong Kong , and now expanding into the insular world of Japan . At the same time , forces of renegade samurai called shishi are maneuvering to return power to the Emperor from the strangehold maintained by the military dictator - the Shogun . To further their cause , the shishi carry out a terrorist attack against Gai-Jin , ( loosely - foreign devil , I believe ) and Malcom is injured pretty greiviously . Arriving at the same time is a beautiful young social climber who has been shipped to Yokohama to seduce and marry young Malcom in order to restore her gambler father to his formerly wealthy state .
The rest is vintage Clavell : Lots of stuff happens , loyalties are earned , changed , betrayed ; and there's plenty of sex , murder , intrigue , and gamesmanship set against the clash of the industrial West meeting the traditional and reclusive East , who is by turns repulsed and fascinated by the technology and opportunity of a seemingly less civilized people .
It's a pretty good start , but rather than the well-oiled Chinese puzzle of a plot of Shogun or Tai-Pan , Gai Jin has all the appeal of a well-oiled deli tray . Plot threads sit next to one another , only interact on a fairly superficial level ; characters rub against one another but never quite enough to change each other's individual destiny or direction . Tess Struan , the matriarch of the Struan clan , and Malcolm's dominant motivating force , and one of the most interesting characters of the lot , never appears . We only read her letters and are treated to opinions of what she might do or think . And since you know that Malcolm is a headstrong young lad in the mold of his grandfather , well , the outcome is inevitable .
I don't know whether the passage of time affected me as a reader , or Clavell as a writer , but the use of language in Gai-Jin sinks to a pretty low level . One glaring example is - amongst a regular sprinkling of both Chinese and Japanese words , twice Clavell uses the word siesta to describe a short nap , which struck me as incredibly lazy and completely out of place . How hard would it have been to put nap into Mandarin , Japanese , or even French ?
If you're a Clavell fan , you might as well read Gai-Jin to complete your journey through his body of work , but casual readers will be bemused , befuddled and bewildered by this less than noble finish to an otherwise pretty solid series .
017 4 This review is from :
Gai-Jin ( Kindle Edition )
Great story that ties Shogun with his Noble House books . My only problem is the huge amount of typographical errors . Almost every paragraph has some sort of error . I am almost embarrassed for the publisher . I'm hoping my other Kindle books from Clavell won't be so messy .
018 4 Great story that ties Shogun with his Noble House books . My only problem is the huge amount of typographical errors . Almost every paragraph has some sort of error . I am almost embarrassed for the publisher . I'm hoping my other Kindle books from Clavell won't be so messy .
019 4 Much to my chagrin , Gai-Jin was no Shogun - not even close . It felt very strange that after reading 1,000 + pages I did not find any storylines that truly held my interest nor did I discover any endearing characters that captured my imagination . The Japan that eloquently radiated so much beauty and mystery in Shogun was rendered absolutely mundane in Gai-Jin . An unfair comparison , I know . But after turning the last page I felt like nothing happened . There was no real climax to the novel . Not disappointed , just unfulfilled .
020 4 This review is from :
Gai-Jin ( Mass Market Paperback )
Aside a few mistakes ( contradictions with earlier novels , such as the mention of May-May being Gordon Chen's mother when in Tai-Pan , she was not , among other things ) , this was a decent read .
Like Tai-Pan , this plodded in some places . In my opinion , Shogun remains the best of the lot - though I have yet to read King Rat and Noble House . I am reading them in the order that the books were set in , not written , hence this .
Like Tai-Pan , the ending disappointed me . The reason I loved Shogon so much was because Blackthorne was completely immersed in Japanese culture and had to learn his way through or die . In Tai-Pan and Gai-Jin , much of the novel is centered on the actions of the Europeans , something I did not have too much interest in .
The writing style though is solid , and is clearly well-researched , a definite plus for this book . I only wish that there was at least a short chapter from Culum , Tess , and Gordon Chen's points of views , to show what has happened to them since Tai-Pan , and what happened to the deal set between Dirk and Jianqua , of which there is NO mention at all in Gai-Jin . It was a decent continuation of Tai-Pan and a bit better in my opinion , not not as wonderful as Shogun . Overall , four out of five stars for a good and entertaining read .
021 4 Aside a few mistakes ( contradictions with earlier novels , such as the mention of May-May being Gordon Chen's mother when in Tai-Pan , she was not , among other things ) , this was a decent read .
Like Tai-Pan , this plodded in some places . In my opinion , Shogun remains the best of the lot - though I have yet to read King Rat and Noble House . I am reading them in the order that the books were set in , not written , hence this .
Like Tai-Pan , the ending disappointed me . The reason I loved Shogon so much was because Blackthorne was completely immersed in Japanese culture and had to learn his way through or die . In Tai-Pan and Gai-Jin , much of the novel is centered on the actions of the Europeans , something I did not have too much interest in .
The writing style though is solid , and is clearly well-researched , a definite plus for this book . I only wish that there was at least a short chapter from Culum , Tess , and Gordon Chen's points of views , to show what has happened to them since Tai-Pan , and what happened to the deal set between Dirk and Jianqua , of which there is NO mention at all in Gai-Jin . It was a decent continuation of Tai-Pan and a bit better in my opinion , not not as wonderful as Shogun . Overall , four out of five stars for a good and entertaining read .
022 4 I love history and was really impressed by Clavell in Shogun and Tai-Pan , though I never understood the need for renaming the true historical characters such as Tokugawa vs . Toranaga , etc . . .
In any case - this book is horrendously slow . The last half is just being plain awful . It fills like Clavell was being paid per word and had to come up with as many of them as he could describing totally ordinary events that hardly deserve mentioning , while leaving aside so much that could be very interesting .
Definitely NOT RECOMMENDED , especially if you value your time .
023 4 I agree with the other reviewers who comment on the second half / finish of the book . After over 1200 pages too much is left unresolved . I might feel differently if there was a direct sequel continuing the story of these characters , but of course there isn't one .
While I still enjoyed the setting and the development of the character's view of their world and their strategy for dealing with it , it's really more of the same from Shogun and Taipan . Further , possibly the most interesting character , Tess Struan , appears in the book only through her letters written to other characters .
Wish I'd read 1200 pages of something else .
024 4 A big fan of Clavell , I was thoroughly disappointed with Gai-Jin . This novel does not hold up to the other books in the Asia Saga . Although Noble House was one of my favorite books and I usually enjoy Clavell novels , it was an effort to finish this book . Clavell does a fine job recreating ancient Japan ( I know , I lived there for many years ) and the character development is sound .
The problem is the reader never knows who to root for and the ending is a letdown . There are a few wonderful twists that truly surprised me and I couldn't put the book down through the first 500 pages , but the story went downhill from there and fell flat .
026 4 I used to be a fan of Clavell and now could not go past the first few chapters of this book . Authors need to write from their heart and not follow a particular theme or fad just because it seemed to work before .
027 4 Many of the reviews express disappointment in the book . However , I found the many , many interconnecting plotlines to be wonderful and rich . I do most of my reading in bed at night , and as each day neared its conclusion , I was chomping at the bit to get to Gai-Jin .
You get a wonderful sense of the society of westerners that barely clung to their tiny foothold in Japan , always in danger of being overrun by Samurai . You also see that the various European nations represented barely remained civil to each other , and yet had to band together to earn some measure of cooperation from the Japenese , who also have about 20 different motives and agendas .
There are some great individual characters as well . I enjoyed Nakima , the rebel Japanese samurai who wants to kill Gai-Jin ( foreigners ) but ends up infiltrating them and slowly becoming fascinated with their ideas and actually developing a friendship with two of the Brits . The character of Malcolm Struan is complex as well , a young man who has inherited the title of Tai-Pan , but because he is recovering from a serious injury , is unable to fight for what he thinks is rightfully his . I could go on and on . If you like fast reads with easy to follow plots . . . look elsewhere . This novel , although it spans only a very few months of time , feels like a major , multi-generational epic .
Weak spots : Clavell often has his characters thinking things that really only serve to provide us with historical background , but it is stuff we need to know , and though the device is a bit obvious and pedestrian , I'm also not sure what else he could have done . The ending of the book is a bit much like NOBLE HOUSE ( nature wreaks havoc like a deux ex machina ) , and many of the plotlines are wrapped up disappointingly thinly . We've invested a lot in these characters and plots , and some get very short shrift . After 1235 pages , what would another 30 - 50 of better wrapup have been , Mr . Clavell ? ?
I highly recommend the book , but you MUST have read NOBLE HOUSE at least in my opinion ( and although SHOGUN isn't all that essential , everyone should read that book anyway ! ) .
028 4 Part of the Asian saga written by James Clavell , Gai-Jin focuses on the many lives of the inhabitants of the coastal European legation stationed in Japan around the mid - 1800 ' s . Along with these gai-jin , or outsiders when translated into English , there are Japanese officials and rebels trying to come to terms with an ever changing situation that these foreigners bring within their sanctuary . What you get is a rich , textured story that interweaves the lives of these two opposite forces .
This is Clavell's true strength as a writer . His ability to merge a compelling personal story with historic fiction , to yield an adventure that is intriguing . Yet on this particular outing it can be frustrating at the same time .
While you do have a sense that this is a total continuation of his previous works and timeline , the end result comes out as a disjointed tale from the beginning that somehow becomes compelling into the last few pages of the book .
What truly rambles the enjoyment of the book , in my opinion , is the choice by Clavell to introduce too many characters at the beginning of the book . This really limits the reader's attempt to attach themselves to a centralized character . Throughout my read , I didn't feel connected to any single character , we jumped through the thoughts of so many of them . In turn it made the story seem scatterbrained and loose - - and in some cases downright confusing .
Also , I felt that some key characters needed to be more important and proactive in the story , particularly Malcolm Struan and Toronaga Yoshi . These were both counterparts of each other . Leaders in their own spheres of influence and central characters to their own cause . Yet in the end , they both felt misused and almost unimportant to the end of the story . As much as these two main people failed to provide a satisfactory conclusion in their own storylines , the secondary characters were actually more rewarding than Yoshi and Malcolm - - most notably Angelique and Edward Gornt . Again , keeping the story line intact for you pleasure , these two players come out of nowhere and create a very surprising life to the book's end .
And that's when you feel like Gai-Jin makes a comeback , by book's end . Once a key event midpoint through the book happens , all of a sudden the turmoil between foreigners and Japanese begins to sizzle and create a riveting read . It almost feels like the book should really have cut off 400 pages from the beginning and start at that key event . This is when Clavell really takes his true form and writes with wit and cleverness . The story lines between characters begin to intertwine and thus create a much more compelling read . You actually start to root for people , and find surprising compasion for others .
And this is a shame that most people will be dissapointed with this piece of work . It really is a labor of love to finish it , and in my opinion it really does a good job of pulling you back in . Does the end give you an outstanding conclusion ? No I don't think so , but it does give you a conclusion that you can sleep well on . It doesn't force to give you granduor , but it finishes with a conclusion that gives you enough to not feel cheated .
If you have read the previous works in this saga , then I say finish this one off . It will satisfy in the end . If this is your first outing , this will try your patience and you're better off starting at Shogun and start where Clavell was at his finest .
Otherwise a good read if you can get past the beginning .
030 4 This review is from :
Gai-Jin ( Mass Market Paperback )
I need more . What happened to Angelique and Gornt ? How did Tess deal with the Gornt scheme ? Quillan in Noble house is obviously a descendant of Gornt with the hate continuing - even though the Noble House was written first . There is a Marlowe in Noble house , a descendant of Capt Marlowe ? Did Jamie marry that stupid Irish girl that followed him to Japan ? And Hiraga , my favorite , what happened with him ? Did he make it to England ? All these carefully created characters and no ending for them ? The book really had me involved but I was left looking for a sequel . Had it not been for the hanging , I would have given this a 4 star .
031 4 I need more . What happened to Angelique and Gornt ? How did Tess deal with the Gornt scheme ? Quillan in Noble house is obviously a descendant of Gornt with the hate continuing - even though the Noble House was written first . There is a Marlowe in Noble house , a descendant of Capt Marlowe ? Did Jamie marry that stupid Irish girl that followed him to Japan ? And Hiraga , my favorite , what happened with him ? Did he make it to England ? All these carefully created characters and no ending for them ? The book really had me involved but I was left looking for a sequel . Had it not been for the hanging , I would have given this a 4 star .
032 4 The theme of this book is classic Clavell - adventures in the early days of Asian and Western contact , with all the risk , bravado , danger , characters , politics , etc etc of the earlier Asian Saga books Shogun and Tai-Pan . ( King Rat is also a part of that , but a shorter novel with a unique theme set in WW2 ) .
Having read the book , its easy to see why Gai-Jin recieved reviews split down the middle - it is NOT the book Shogun and Tai-Pan are .
Part of it may be a more complicated ( and less interesting ) time period for the average adventure reader . Gai-Jin is complicated , with a lot of characters and themes from the outset vs the other two novels , and gets more so as the book progresses . The plot gets too convoluted for those that cannot read it in a reasonable time ( meaning its hard to put down and pick back up over and over ) . Like the other two , it weakens in the second half only much more so . . .
I also noticed some modern phrases that creep into the spoken parts . I doubt they would have been used even in 1862 . I have an uneasy feeling Clavell kept writing and writing beyond what this should have been , perhaps under pressure . . . or perhaps this was too much of a deliberate effort ( marketing expectations ) ? ? ?
I liked it OK , but it marked the end of my interest in this series .
Its not a bad book , but it was a let-down after Shogun and Tai-Pan .
033 4 Gai-Jin is the third novel in Clavell's Asian saga and consequently the third novel of his that I have read . After such promising predecessors , ( Shogun and Tai-pan ) I was really looking forward to Gai-Jin and tackled it with gusto . Being familiar with both the Shogunate and Tai-pan character line , I found Gai-Jin , ( unlike both Shogun and Tai-pan ) extremely easy to get into . The first 500 pages are fantastic and I couldn't put the book down . However , around the mid-point of the novel , the story starts to fizzle and becomes a little stale , the plot comes to a roaring halt and nothing much else happens for the remainder of the book , which is too bad because Clavell , built it up so well . On a more positive note , I really enjoy the handle Clavell has on oriental politics and train of thought and how he contrasts it with the mentality of the Gai-Jin Europeans . All in all , the weakest book of the series so far , but still not a total disaster . Next up , King Rat !
034 4 Don't expect Shogun . But considering that this 1000 + page monster was written by an aging man , he did a very commendable job . As a matter of fact , he even managed to shock me - - REALLY shock me - - with that scene after the wedding night . You'll KNOW what I mean when you get there . The characters are somewhat likable and you should have no problem differentiating between who's who . I didn't read it as fast as Shogun , but I still read it . Another part that I really like is this huge run-on-sentence dealing with politics . Bear in mind that Clavell is obviously not Japanese , so , despite his research , don't expect complete authenticity . If you want that , read some works by Eiji Yoshikawa . In the end , apart from a few failings , this book is fairly entertaining and might make good reading while you wait for that special book from your favorite author to come out .
035 4 I'm not sure why this book received so many low ratings . I liked it and was able to plow through its 1,230 pages within a few weeks . The story is similar to Tai-Pan as it involves a taipan with a forbidden love interest . It takes place in Japan in the 1800 ' s and concentrates on the resistance / animosity the Japanese have to the colonial British . There is not much for us to learn about Japan like we did in Shogun . I suppose the book could have been a bit shorter but I liked it just the way it is . If you've read the 1st two books in the series I'll bet you'll like this too .
036 4 Gai-Jin is James Clavell's synthesis-sequel of two of his other epics Tai-Pan Shogun . The formula works complete with all the classic Clavell elements ( political intrigue , espionage , passionate lovemaking , sword fights , earthquakes , fire ) . Unfortunately , the book barely misses the mark because of its long sprawling narrative ( albeit well detailed ) , keeping all the action restricted to Japan instead of taking the reader to Hong Kong where most of the important events in the book take place , and there's somewhat of a lack of bringing new Clavell readers up to date as to what took place before Gai-Jin started . However , Clavell has my praise for making a bold attempt at extending the memorable storylines of both Tai-Pan and Shogun into one book that is highly entertaining despite its flaws .
038 4 I was surprised to hear that people didn't enjoy this book ! I loved it . It definitely was not Shogun , but then again , what is ? ? ? I still think that this book provided much entertainment and suspense . I couldn't put it down ! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of James Clavell's novels . ( Why is Whirlwind out of print ? )
039 4 After reading Shogun and Tai-pan , I was expecting that Gai-jin would be of the same quality , it wasn't . The story moves far too slowly . This 1200 page novel could easily have been half that size . The story itself was a good one , but I was hard pressed to spend the time to finish it .
Gai-jin may be an okay novel , but is doesn't measure up to Clavell's previous works . It's a sad end to the career of a great author .
040 4 Though there have been numerous negative comments surrounding this book , I thought I would tackle it anyway . And I have to say it was well worth it .
I will admit that at times , Clavell has characters ' space out ' when they are in the middle of a conversation . At times it is difficult to keep up with the transitions he goes through .
But I still had to give it 5 stars because I loved every minute of this book . The characters are superb and if you have read shogun and tai-pan then you feel like you are still in the same book only later in life .
Read it , it will not disappoint you . . .
041 4 Although GAI-JIN is chronologically the third of James Clavell's Asian Saga , it was the last written of the six novels , completed right before the author's death in 1994 . If you've read Clavell before , then you know what to expect : a doorstopper tome ( 1000 pages in hardback ! ) with dozens of dovetailing plots and subplots revolving around the meeting of East and West in trade , tragedy , love and war . There's a typical list to the Asian Saga . Hundreds of characters , some historically important , others on the margin ? - Check . Culture clash , xenophobia , political manipulations , natural disasters ? - Check . Omniscient viewpoint chronicling the thoughts and decisions of multiple characters during a single event ? - Check . Sloppy grammar and occasional repetitiveness ? - Check . Dynamic protagonist and spellbinding storytelling ? - Well , unfortunately , while GAI-JIN starts strong and maintains a fascinating breadth of ambition for most of the book's length , the entropy of Clavell's own encroaching death seems to have infused this novel ; this book begins to lose some steam two-thirds of the way in . Moreover , Clavell's deviation from what made previous ` Asian Saga ' novels so successful can be seen as both brave and foolhardy .
In particular , the dominant characters of Malcom Straun and Angelique Richaurd make this volume a bit of a slog . Clavell has taken a risk with Malcolm , who comes off little more than a lovesick puppy , and especially in Angelique , who vacillates between victim and victimizer , claiming her true role in the end ; but while both are fully realized , they aren't exactly interesting nor sympathetic , and the latter character , in all her desperate scheming and core shallowness , made me wish evil tidings upon her fortune by the end , something I doubt Clavell intended .
Again , it seems like a calculated risk to use these characters for so much of the novel's bulk , in contrast to the truly fascinating and page-turning events of Japan's slow , resistant opening to the world . Set in 1862 , a few years after Admiral Perry forcibly wrested trade concessions from the ruling Shogunite , GAI-JIN chronicles several months of increasing tension as revolutionary groups struggle to overthrow the Shogunite in favor of the long-exiled Emperor , the Shogunite in turn tries to keep the Gai-jin barbarians at an arm's length and maintain order , and the European traders do what they always do in a Clavell novel : make lots of money under the flag of opening the world to civilization , dally with prostitutes and drink prodigious amounts of liquor , engage nature for mastery of the sea and engage the dinner-table with sumptuous and verbosely-described banquets , fight duels of honor and battles of commerce . This is the fourth Clavell novel I've read and , while certainly captivating , it does get a bit rote , augmented by the fact that the most interesting aspects of the novel are often sidelined or omitted completely for Philip Tyrer's efforts to secure his courtesan , Malcolm's lust-struck refusal to do what is necessary , Angelique's diary entries and constant flirting . I consider it commendable of Clavell to fashion such a gray character - the apotheosis of feminine coquetry and wiles - as his focus , but after hundreds and hundreds of pages I found the mechanisms of Brock and Sons vs . Strauns and the contention within the Shogunite far more appealing , and more often than not frustratingly denied to this reader .
Many have complained of GAI-JIN's lack of a satisfactory conclusion , and while I do believe the book does reach a form of completion , by the end I had to wonder . . . what was the point ? One can simply read the prologue to NOBLE HOUSE to glean the end results from this 1000 page buildup , and like SHOGUN , it can be argued that Clavell ended this volume well before the climatic events that ushered in a new era for Japan . Perhaps that is the point : the author is simply delineating a moment in history , the smaller threads that compose a larger portrait . But aside from a few dynamic resolutions , GAI-JIN feels lacking in the overall impression , a lot of tension and not much pay-off .
Despite my myriad issues , GAI-JIN does contain the classic Clavell hallmarks , particularly in exposing the racism endemic to Far East relations ( Japan vs . China vs . Korea vs . Europe ) , the way carefully-detailed plans often fall apart due to conflicting forces , and the overall description of a feudal empire in the transition to a modern ethos . These alone make the novel worth the hours and hours of required reading .
Recommended for those that have read other Clavell novels and wish to delve deeper into the aftermath of TAI-PAN . 3 and a half stars , rounded down .
042 4 I picked up Gai Jin in a used book store for $1.00 and was hooked by page 3 ( before even leaving the store ) . I vaguely remember reading Shogun as it was over ten years ago . Anyway , Gai Jin's pace is fast and the plot's twists and turns were quite exciting . However , as a Chinese American , I felt the way the Asians ( Japanese and Chinese ) depicted in this novel-and perhaps in all his books - was less than complimentary . Granted that Gai Jin's heroine and other non-Asian characters were as scheming and devious , I was left feeling a bit queasy as Clavell's books are read by the millions and unless the readers know better , Clavell's images would be all they have of Asians . Otherwise , I thought the book was entertaining and enjoyable . The ending was left a bit too loose as though a sequel could be conjured up . But alas , with Clavell's passing . . .
047 4 This review is from :
Gai-Jin ( Kindle Edition )
I bought the Kindle version of this book as I love James Clavell books .
The kindle version is really bad - almost every page contains typing and spelling errors . I don't think it has ever been spell checked , otherwise a number of them would have been picked up by the spell checker .
I paid $9 + for the kindle australian version and I'm disappointed .
I can't believe that the publisher is not ashamed of its efforts , it needs someone to proof read the book . Please get it done ! !
048 4 I bought the Kindle version of this book as I love James Clavell books .
The kindle version is really bad - almost every page contains typing and spelling errors . I don't think it has ever been spell checked , otherwise a number of them would have been picked up by the spell checker .
I paid $9 + for the kindle australian version and I'm disappointed .
I can't believe that the publisher is not ashamed of its efforts , it needs someone to proof read the book . Please get it done ! !
049 4 Start with Shogun by Clavell and work up to Gai-Jin , Noble House , King Rat and the rest of the Asian saga . They are tremendous and educational
050 4 This is more of the twisting tale that had me enthralled in Tai Pan . He makes many references to events that would only make sense if you Read Tai Pan . I began to notice a literary device he uses which I enjoyed in this story was to have a character make a statement , then provide some background on what the person was really thinking . This would be especially interesting when it was a Asian character because many times they would show the European compliance and respect while they really were thinking foolish , no class , barbarians . I found the ending not completely to my liking , but it was surprising . I guess the next stop would be on to the Noble House . My advice ; try and read the novels in their chronological order .
051 4 I purchassed Gai-Jin years ago in the 90 ' s but just got around to reading it . I finished it 07102008 . First , it has been years since I read Clavell . When I first read Sho-Gun - back in 1977 - I didn't have the questions I have now concerning the Japanese . The two questions I have now are did they really think this way concerning politics and sex ?
I recommend this book as I do all of James Clavell's works . I think that people should read these in chronological order though , not in the order they were published . Though I recommend the book , I only gave it 4 stars because with 1,000 plus pages , after awhile , the intrigue , double-plots , spies plans and counter-plans become somewhat tiresome .
052 4 I was torn between four and five stars on this novel but finally settled on a full score because it managed to keep me completely riveted from beginning to end - its pace simply frantic ! I have to disagree with some of the other comments which describe the story as unfinished . When you spin a web as complex and intricate as the storyline in this book , spanning only a few months time and involving a staggering cast of characters , it's simply impossible from a social and human standpoint to completely close all loose ends . We're talking about clashes between multiple European countries , battling for the supremacy of Asian territories , various foreign trading companies clawing at eachother to gain ownership over Japanese precious raw ressources such as coal , personal conflicts and schemes which are vast in scope , all this mingled with the brutality and elegance of feudal Japan , torn between the Shogunate , the Emperor's court and various factions , all pulling in different directions . Not to mention , dozens of parallel plots , treachery , blackmailings , assassination attempts , deadly courtesans , spies and lust-fueled relationships , all intermingling in a cauldron of destruction . Does the author satisfactorily complete most action threads ? - yes , definitely . Does he provide a solution to the political puzzle he portrayed ? - no , simply because the timeline is too small and not everything was meant to be solved in such a short period .
In my opinion this book is almost as good as Shogun , perhaps the absence of a main hero with whom we can identify and cheer for , makes it a bit harder to win our sympathy , however Gai-Jin introduces more subplots and a larger array of colorful characters than Shogun does , whose inner motivations , personalities , strengths and weaknesses are perfectly portrayed , almost making us feel we grew up with them , leaving us wanting more , so much more .
I can say without any doubt , that Clavell is one of the best storytellers of the past century . Even while being seriously ill ( this being his last book before dying ) , he still managed to captivate us with his wit , and his masterful command of the English language . Highly recommended read !
053 4 Some people seem to believe that since this wasn't an absolutely accurate depiction of the people and customs , therefore it must be trash . For a lot of reasons , Clavell wrote what he wrote . On the basis of a historical novel , it's likely quite poor . Personally , I liked how everything worked through Malcolm - He could not live up to Dirk or to Hag Struan , made a large number of bad choices and paid for them .
It may not have been as gripping a novel , but it did explain a lot of how Tess was running things , the continuation with Gordon and noble house Chen .
Regardless . Much better fiction than I've read in a while .
054 4 It's true that this is one of Clavell's weaker works , but it still surpasses most modern literature . This book contains all of his stylistic nuance and a captivating plot , although his characters are somewhat less lovable than those in his other works . Nevertheless , this book is requisite for anyone who loved Clavell's other works and still a great read for everybody else .
055 4 I'm a big fan of Clavell and looked forward to reading Gai-jin , but was pretty disappointed . I highly recommend his other books like Noble House , Taipan , Hawaii , Alaska , and King Rat . Pass on this one unless you have time to kill or lower your expectations .
056 4 I heard somewhere that this was the sequel to Shogun . It is not . And I am glad it is not . Shogun is perfect as it is . But this is most deffinantly a sequel to Tai-pan . Many of the characters from that novel are mentioned , but only one ever appeaers in this book . The rest are either dead , or are the post office's best friend . So in this book you get a lot of Tai-pan-isms of business dealings and rude servants . But because the Toranagas are still in power , after 250 years , from Shogun , you get a lot of Shogun-isms too . Like sneak attacks , swords , and pillowing . But all that there is to follow up on Shogun is about a pageworth of what happened to Blackthorne ( sort-of ) . But you learn alot about the Noble House , and that's good .
I am giving this book a 10 because there is somthing on every page , and some great action scenes . Plus if you know a thing or two about the real Japan and its history , you will discover a lot of subtle things about this power struggle going on , that are kinda hidden throughout the text .
The big problem is ( and I know this is why it has recieved less than favorable reviews ) that there is no real ending , and throughout the book I never knew who to root for . The shishi , Yoshi , Angelique , Malcom , or what ? ( But I know that we are supposed to boo Tess ) . Plus I loved the last page of Tai-pan , and this book burst that bubble . But it is Clavell , and his writing is facinating
057 4 Very good , but very long and at times confusing . This book is basically a sequel to tai-pan , 20 years later . The continuing feud between the Struans and Brocks , the introduction of the hag and Gornt's who we read about in Noble House . With every Clavell novel you learn about times , places and people , Gai-Jin is set in Japan in 1862 . Gai-Jin is another grand historical novel with tremendous character development and insight to the Japanese . There are also some interesting references to the U.S . civil war . Although I liked the book , I must admit I was a little disappointed and felt the book could have cut out 300 pages . A must for fans of Clavell , fourth in line for those that haven't read his other masterpieces
058 4 Very disappointing . Anyone looking for Shogun II , can't help but be let down . Kind of a hard act to follow . I especially didn't like the way the main protagonist was treated . Why he chose to do that to him half way through the book is a mystery to me . Don't waste your time
059 4 This review is from :
Gai-Jin ( Mass Market Paperback )
I don't think it's a stretch to say that if you love historical epics at some point you're going to make the acquaintance of James Clavell . His six volume Asian saga is legendary ; has been made into movies and mini-series and gone through countless printings . And as someone who loves nothing more than an absorbing historical epic ( especially a nice long one ) it was inevitable that I would get around to the series one day .
But though they may be famous and revered , Clavell's books are also a lot of work to read . Crammed full of history , cultural details and political machination they can be tiring to read so even though I really , really loved Shogun it was a long time before I sought out the sequel , Tai-Pan , which , while not as action packed as its predecessor ( in fact it was a little tedious at times ) , was still strangely wonderful . And then I moved on to Gai-Jin .
Spanning four months the novel reveals the tensions and struggles of the isolationist Japan against the white men determined to break into the trading markets . Most of these traders are either characters from Tai-Pan , now 21 years older and hopefully wiser , or their descendents . Basically the novel is made up of the strife between the Japanese and the Gai-Jin ( the white men ) , Japanese fractions against other Japanese fractions , the lives of the white people living in their designated village and an assortment of not so romantic romances .
Clavell's writing style is very soothing and descriptive and has always reminded me of James Michener . But in this novel , which boasts an impressive page count of 1236 , the writing becomes tedious . Yes , there is action , adventure ; romance , family conflict and a great deal of political strife but after about 500 pages it all started to loose its appeal and I started counting down to when I'd be finished . By page 1000 I had no more will to go on .
To be clear , there's nothing really objectionable about the rest of the book ; but after a certain point reading this novel became a chore instead of a joy . And just dragging myself through the dry spots , as I sometimes had to do in Tai-Pan didn't work here because there were just too many stretches where nothing happened . In addition there was not nearly enough character development . From the very beginning of the novel to after the ordeals the principal players went through most of the characters were flat and uninteresting . The exception to that rule was that what small changes that did occur in certain characters were completely inconsistent and constantly shifting .
I enjoyed a great deal of this book , really I did . But the tedium of the last 1 / 3 or so of the book made it something to slog through instead of enjoy . The experience of reading this did have me thinking for a time that I should give up on Clavell's saga , but my experience with
Shogun
and
Tai-Pan
, as well as the favorable reviews for
King Rat
,
Noble House
and
Whirlwind : A Novel of the Iranian Revolution
helped me quickly discarded that notion .
Three stars and the possibility that someday I'll give it another shot to see if my perception of it could be changed .
If you want to read this book make sure to read Tai-Pan first , or most of the relationships between the trader's families just won't make sense . Reading Shogun isn't necessary to understand the story but it makes an excellent background to the culture and history of Japan . And it's a truly excellent book .
060 4 I don't think it's a stretch to say that if you love historical epics at some point you're going to make the acquaintance of James Clavell . His six volume Asian saga is legendary ; has been made into movies and mini-series and gone through countless printings . And as someone who loves nothing more than an absorbing historical epic ( especially a nice long one ) it was inevitable that I would get around to the series one day .
But though they may be famous and revered , Clavell's books are also a lot of work to read . Crammed full of history , cultural details and political machination they can be tiring to read so even though I really , really loved Shogun it was a long time before I sought out the sequel , Tai-Pan , which , while not as action packed as its predecessor ( in fact it was a little tedious at times ) , was still strangely wonderful . And then I moved on to Gai-Jin .
Spanning four months the novel reveals the tensions and struggles of the isolationist Japan against the white men determined to break into the trading markets . Most of these traders are either characters from Tai-Pan , now 21 years older and hopefully wiser , or their descendents . Basically the novel is made up of the strife between the Japanese and the Gai-Jin ( the white men ) , Japanese fractions against other Japanese fractions , the lives of the white people living in their designated village and an assortment of not so romantic romances .
Clavell's writing style is very soothing and descriptive and has always reminded me of James Michener . But in this novel , which boasts an impressive page count of 1236 , the writing becomes tedious . Yes , there is action , adventure ; romance , family conflict and a great deal of political strife but after about 500 pages it all started to loose its appeal and I started counting down to when I'd be finished . By page 1000 I had no more will to go on .
To be clear , there's nothing really objectionable about the rest of the book ; but after a certain point reading this novel became a chore instead of a joy . And just dragging myself through the dry spots , as I sometimes had to do in Tai-Pan didn't work here because there were just too many stretches where nothing happened . In addition there was not nearly enough character development . From the very beginning of the novel to after the ordeals the principal players went through most of the characters were flat and uninteresting . The exception to that rule was that what small changes that did occur in certain characters were completely inconsistent and constantly shifting .
I enjoyed a great deal of this book , really I did . But the tedium of the last 1 / 3 or so of the book made it something to slog through instead of enjoy . The experience of reading this did have me thinking for a time that I should give up on Clavell's saga , but my experience with
Shogun
and
Tai-Pan
, as well as the favorable reviews for
King Rat
,
Noble House
and
Whirlwind : A Novel of the Iranian Revolution
helped me quickly discarded that notion .
Three stars and the possibility that someday I'll give it another shot to see if my perception of it could be changed .
If you want to read this book make sure to read Tai-Pan first , or most of the relationships between the trader's families just won't make sense . Reading Shogun isn't necessary to understand the story but it makes an excellent background to the culture and history of Japan . And it's a truly excellent book .
061 4 James Clavell's writing in Gai-Jin probably contains the worst grammar and syntax ever written by a published novelist . Once you get beyond that though , there's decapitations , rapes , castrations , the mild titillations of the ' Flower World ' , and a host of laughable characters . There's Andre Poncin , the syphilitic spy with the perverse heart ; there's the impossibly beautiful Angelique with the hourglass waist who every man swoons over ; there's the tyrannical Tess Straun ( whom we never meet ) who makes men and women quake with fear . There are plots within plots that are sometimes hard to follow due to Clavell's butchering of the English language . Despite all this , the book is strangely enjoyable in a depraved way . There are so many loose ends at the book's end that it is obvious that Clavell was planning a sequel . Alas , Mr . Clavell passed on and we'll never know what happened to our poor Angelique , the dashing Mr.Gornt , or the wicked Tess .
062 4 _ Gai-Jin _ is unlike the rest of Clavell's Asian Saga , and in my opinion is not as good as some of the others . However , Clavell is good enough that even his second-rank efforts make good reading .
What did Clavell do right ? He's pretty good at not telegraphing his endings ; one can't be quite sure how it will all come out . I am not knowledgeable enough about Asian cultures to say whether his portrayals are accurate - - he gets both praise and criticism for them depending on the reviewer . I felt he told an entertaining story .
What I didn't like was some of the stereotyping ( a little is ok , there's a little much here ) ; the choice of time period ( a more interesting subject would have been Tess Struan's elderly years , and this would have been better spaced between _ Tai-Pan _ and _ Noble House _ ) ; the avoidance of any action in Hong Kong except as related by characters , despite the fact that events in Hong Kong bear heavily on the outcome ; and the fact that there are no real compelling characters in this one except for Tess Struan , who appears only in correspondence .
By no means a bad book , but could have been far better .
063 4 Gai-Jin , the last of James Clavel's books and in my opinion is his worst . If you are a James Clavel fan and have not yet read this book I suggest that you don't and if you are a first time reader start with Shogun or Taipan . Pathetic , is the best word I can use to describe this novel . It really brought down my opinion of James Clavel as a great author .
064 4 Mr Clavell could have polished this a bit . The Malcolm-Angelinque reltionship was a bit tragic , and I'm sorry but I actually laughed when I read how Malcolm died . There are a few racial stereotypes in a way , but Clavell manages to describe the cultural and political aspects quite accurately . A good read .
065 4 This is probably the most excruciatingly boring book I have ever read . Were it not for the $22.95 that I spent on it and my previous joy with Clavells ' work , I would have detached myself from it and thrown it in the trash . The characters are shallow beyond belief , with the men fawning over the resident bimbo with nauseating chivalry . Having read it some time ago , I'm now struggling with any memory I have of this ridiculous story to vent here . Don't waste your time or money !
066 4 I can not believe I wasted a month reading this book . It has way too much sex and violence and moves too slowly . It is nothing like Tai-Pan or Noble House ( which I am now reading for the second time . ) I'm glad I got it at a used book store and did not have to pay full price for it .
067 4 The author , the late James Clavell , had seven fictions left for us to remember him . And this one is the last one . A little error , timing was not as the actual historical events , the Russian authors , Dostoyevsky ( 1821 - 1882 ) and Tolstoi ( ( 1828 - 1910 ) mentioned in this book were not in that era , but that didn't affect the readable of this book . Fron this book , we learned that the strong powers , such as Great Britain , France , Prusia , Russia , even the USA , forced Japan to open her doors for foreign trading . Now we know that if , only if , that our ancestors didn't do that , then there wouldn't be the event of Pearl Harbour or Japanese's involvement in the WWII . But from that , we've learned nothing . Or-else , China , a communism Country , a Totalitarian Country wouldn't be a threat to the world peace .
068 4 What can I say ? I got this book from a secondhand bookshop and I sat down excited and started reading it . In a month I have only managed to read 50 pages . Despite my expectations this book turned out to be so boring . Clavell could have easily described what he did in 50 pages in less than 15 - the writing is so long-winded that makes you lose interest . . . The book is still on my desk and I don't think I'll ever finish it . I wouldn't advise anyone to buy it , unless you have a lot of patience .
069 4 The thought that kept churning through my head was , Has Clavell lost his touch / mind ? Was this written by some ghost writer pretending to be Clavell . I'm the chronological reader of Clavell's book , meaning I'm reading it according to the date it is placed in his historical saga .
Obviously , that means King Rat will be my next novel in that Saga .
Sho-Gun was a damn masterpiece , and Tai-Pan . . while not quite the masterpiece that Sho-Gun was . . Tai-Pan actually caused me to shed a tear or two at the very end when Dirk and May May died , whereas I didn't even shed a tear for Sho-Gun however I was riveted at the edge of my seat for both of those novels !
I can't express how frigging disappointed I was in Gai-Jin novel . It's approximately 1234 pages long of absolute DRIVEL . The characters never quite got the treatement that they were due . I guess it's just a misfortune case where you have 50 characters vying for attention , while the pseudo-star players kept on pulling prima-donna rules , they were simply A-list characters written by C-list novelist . Hell , I even lost track of which courtesan belonged to whom . I even thought that Andre's new courtesan was the same courtesan that Tyrer was [ working with ] at the same time under different names , like the stunt that Hirgana / Otami / Nakama pulled ( at least I could keep up ) ( of course , briefly . . thank GOD for the character description at the end of the novel . . kept me on track . )
Clavell tended to use last name and first time , but mostly never together . So sometimes I got confused about who Phillip and Tyrer were ( hint : they're the same person ) . There apparently was two different Chens . I'm not even going to go to that Aho-Soy-whatever chinese chicks , hat share nearly similar names that I kept on messing ' em up that , apparently they love being cursed at like a bunch of machoist servants .
The book was awfully scripted together and I refuse to believe that Clavell wrote this book . This is totally beneath him . I can see where he might have had a touch or two , especially in the outline . . but the meat and the fat . . weren't his . I totally do not recommend this novel to anyone . . . .
070 4 This review is from :
Gai-Jin ( Paperback )
James Clavell is a wonderful storyteller . Anyone interested in Japanese history and their rich culture should pick up one of his novels . Tai-Pan is a good place to start . The saga also encompasses the British and Chinese cultures that had such a tremendous influence over this unique country . You won't be disappointed .
071 4 James Clavell is a wonderful storyteller . Anyone interested in Japanese history and their rich culture should pick up one of his novels . Tai-Pan is a good place to start . The saga also encompasses the British and Chinese cultures that had such a tremendous influence over this unique country . You won't be disappointed .
072 4 This review is from :
Gai-Jin ( Mass Market Paperback )
I really enjoyed this book , from James Clavel's Asian saga , the same style as in his other books , easy to read , interesting , describes very good asian traditions and customs , good entertaining .
073 4 I really enjoyed this book , from James Clavel's Asian saga , the same style as in his other books , easy to read , interesting , describes very good asian traditions and customs , good entertaining .
075 4 Shogun is one of my favorite books , and I was pleased to find Gai-Jin in a used book store while I was travelling in New Zealand .
Unfortunately , I just can't recommend Gai-Jin . I struggled through the first half , hoping that it would really grab me at some point , but alas , it didn't . I did a spot read of the second half of the book , and really don't feel like I missed anything that was really worth taking the time to finish it properly . I just never cared about any of these characters . Too bad .
076 4 This is not one of my favorite Clavell books - It is longwinded and the ending ( is there one ? ) is appalling
077 4 I would not go so far as to say I hated this book . It was just so inconsequential that there are very few elements worth remembering . There are so many characters thrown at you , with their 2 + page back stories , at the very beginning I found myself backtracking through most of the book . Who was that again ? Oh ! he was the delagate way back in . . .
When the action does kick in , it picks the book up a tad and they are exciting , but over too soon and you have to wade through another 200 pages for anything to happen . The one character that is fascinating is Tess Straun , but she never actually makes an apearance in the book . She only corresponds through letters and is talked about by others . People who are familiar with the Clavells Asian saga , will remember her from Tai-Pan . It's a shame that we don't see the arc that this character makes for the shy waif in the first book , to the shrewd and somewhat domineering matriarch in this one . It is a good book and it was interesting while reading it . But after finishing it two days ago , it troubles me that I can't recall what hapens at the end .
078 4 I have read the first 2 books , Shogun and Tai-pan and this is definitely the least best of the 3 so far . Not just that , but man it's long . . . it could have been so good too .
Seems like we'd spend 100 pages leading up to something , only to have it figured out and counter played by another character and nothing happens . This happened over and over . . . drove me nuts .
The book ends and after you think about it . . . thing really happened . . . it was just 1230 pages of , nothingness . . .
Gonna take a break from this series and live life again
079 4 Clavell is often ranked among the greatest writers of the last quarter of the twentieth-century , and I am not at all sure he belongs there . I've read several of his books and while I loved Shogun , ALL his novels had :
A ) The same recurring themes and in a few cases literally the same storylines ( and even the same sentences ) recycled for re-use . . . .
B ) The same frustrating lack of a definite ending . . .
C ) A habit of carrying the Asia good / Europe bad tone a little too far .
Clavell here dishes up a looooong , slow as a melting glacier , story of westerners in 1860 ' s Japan , all of whom are trying to better themselves with economic or political opportunities in this newly-opened Asian kingdom . The French , the Americans , and the British are all in competition for control of the island , as are a number of cut-throat international corporations . Gai-Jin ( a rude Japanese term for a person of foreign birth , roughly equal to such western slurs as WOP Spic or Mic ) is simultaneously the story of internal strife in a Japan in transition from the age of the samurai to the era of industrialization : and ultimately global ambitions .
Clavell introduces generally well-conceived characters but there isn't much of a story to move them through . As is so often the case with this man , there is a constant sense that wow , something big is going to happen soon in this novel and then upon reaching what passes for an ending , discovering that despite your long-held hopes , nothing ever does happen .
When I completed this demanding , often far-fetched novel , I cannot say I had regrets for having read it , but I do remember a strong sense of letdown . For those interested in saving themselves roughly a hundred hours of reading time but getting the same story in return , watch Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai , which is set in the same time and place as Gai-Jin , and deals with roughly the same themes and issues .
080 4 Of all the authors I have read books from in the past years , none have caught my eye like James Clavell . Gai-jin is the third book I have read by Clavell , and it does not disappoint .
I have never read a book with more depth and research evident in the topic . James Clavell has obviously spent many months studying the lifestyles of Japan circa 1850 , and he captures the feeling perfectly . Every detail is explained , from the style of speak to eating habits and manners . The reader is immersed in ancient Japanese culture . The only author I can use as comparison is James Michener , when I read Hawaii .
If you have a bad memory , you may want to bring a pen and pad along for the ride . Gai-jin rivals The Lord of the Rings trilogy in terms of names and places , and it can become quite confusing at times . The sheer number of proper nouns , many of them Japanese , can overwhelm you , especially when the names are as similar as Ori and Shorin . With careful reading , however , it becomes apparent how deep the story is . It may dive to deep for some readers , though , and there are many chapters where nothing would be lost if they had been left out .
One thing that struck me as something Clavell left out was any kind of satisfaction at the end . The character left standing is not a role-model , and the heroic characters slip into obscurity . This left me feeling a bit cheated at the end , as the book did not give me the ending I wanted . However , I would recommend it all the same , as it delivers the same punch reminiscent of his earlier works . It is not up to the bar Shogun set , but it will live as a masterpiece for years to come .
081 4 I was very disappointed to discover that a novelist as famous or hyped as James Clavell appears to be could produce such trite , hackneyed prose which merely serves to perpetuate rascist stereotypes . As a Chinese who has lived in Japan for a number of years , I was dismayed at this poorly researched effort which presents Westerners as implicitly superior to the natives who appear spouting pidgin in bizarre and often historically inaccurate situations . Let me give you an example of this : On pg77 of the paperback version , a typical Chinese comment on a European woman is described as Ah , haughty young Missy who feeds on unrequited lust , Lim thought with vast amusement . I wonder which of these smelly Round Eyes will be the first to spread you wide and enter your equally smelly Jade Gate ? . . . By all gods great and small , I shall know soon enough because your maid is my sister's third cousin's daughter . . and so forth ad nauseum which is probably not w ! orthy of being reprinted . Needless to say , this juvenile , puerile writing is often highly offensive to Asian readers like myself .
Clavell's so-called Asian vocabulary is also a constant irritant . As far as I know , I have never heard any Chinese say Ayeeyah . His Japanese characters also seem to have a few set phrases such as Eeee , Baka ( stupid ) and So sorry . Clavell seems to have dreamed up dialogue which comes mostly from condescending stereotypes . It would have been easy enough to research this aspect properly . What if some Asian writer wrote a so-called historical romance of the West where a typical English or American comment was only confined to a choice of Gee whiz , # @ ! - hole , or a thousand pardons ? And if these comments appeared not once , not twice but liberally everytime a so-called native character appeared ? I think many Westerners would protest that few people con ! stantly use such limited , stilted , and peculiar vocabulary . ! They would be up in arms that Westerners were portrayed in this crude and one dimensional manner and would be rightly offended .
082 4 I read Shogun before and it's binding is falling apart as it was an hand me down .
I really expected more . . .
I somewhat expected the characters to be engaging and somewhat
realistic .
I was left unconvinced by his characterizations of British ,
American and even Japanese .
I actually found the Japanese characters more believable than the
Gai-Jins .
The novel is in my mind a failure and the history of the era seem also faulty in it's interpretation .
I think that even the names of the Japanese characters are totally false
in historical terms from what I can find in history books .
083 4 Sometimes amusing , sometimes irritating . Too often the writing seems to be there only in order to show off mr Clavell's research that he however hasn't put in perfect use , as others have pointed out .
I have a question . Why Angelique ? Why do I have to suffer trough the mewlings of the airhead ? And however unearthily beautiful , do all the men of the book really have so unified taste as to drool after the self-centered bimbo ?
I liked the Japanese characters much better than the gai-jin . Was rooting for the shishi all the time .
I love to read about the samurai era Japan , but next time I'll pick a Japanese author .
084 4 This novel is based on a bona fide historical incident which sounds like it should have made the foundation for a great novel . However , Mr . Clavell should have let this one lie if he didn't have a decent story to go along with it , but he didn't . The story wallows along for hundreds of pages , and the only thing that seems to motivate any of the characters is the pursuit of the cheapest kind of prestige . After investing many hours of tedious reading , you might expect something to happen at the end , but don't hold your breath .
085 4 This book was unfortunately rather bad . It was full of cliched characters , so-so plot twists and offensive racial stereotyping . There seems to be little attempt to explore the culture and plenty of ways in which it exploits it . Clavell introduces all the possible racial stereotypes he can e.g . the beautiful , lustful French woman , the suicidal Japanese spy , the greedy and conniving Chinese servants , the upright English man . The list goes on . Some of the dialogue appears to be straight from a B movie . As an Asian , I felt quite offended by certain sections of the novel .
086 4 Again a slower read but the characters become such real people . I feel like I know them .
