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Tai-Pan (Asian Saga #2)

4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 · rating details · 17,106 ratings · 396 reviews

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!

Paperback, Reprint, 734 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Dell (first published 1966)

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Aug 13, 2007 Jamie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Wanted to get a nice concise history of Hong Kong, ended up with James Clavell's Tai Pan. I read Shogun when I was 14, and remember liking it enough to read through the 1000+ pages (and that sex scene with the anal beads? Blew my 14 year old mind. And my DAD had read the book. Yikes.)

Maybe my taste is different now but Tai Pan is pretty dissapointing. Lots of cool historical details, but they feel a bit shoe-horned in, and the main character is, well, basically perfect. At least in James Clavel...more

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view all 8 comments

Brandon Lake I'm not "shitting" on people's opinions. Simply put, as I've stated before, I didn't think it was an accurate judgement. Hell, when reading Shogun it...more
updated May 15, 2013 12:50pm

Genesis Okay, let's tackle this again, but before I get into it, allow me a small tangent: I believe the reviewer is a he.
Not particularly important, just tho...more
updated May 15, 2013 05:44pm

Mar 06, 2009 Cassi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh yes, this is the Clavell I remember from Shogun. Even though it has been years, I remember that book vividly. Tai-Pan, although not a continuation of Shogun, is similar in style and character. There are some major storyline differences, but the extremely lucky, strategic and forward thinking main male character, and the bad-but not so bad antagonist. Then, a slew of wonderful side characters, the women being beautiful in different ways, but sly, clever and endearing, and the men, varying dram...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having begun with King Rat, I proceeded to work my way through most of James Clavell's Asian Saga before running out of steam - and interest - with the overly-long and rather lacklustre Whirlwind; and of them all, Tai-Pan was my favorite. Shogun was fantastic, mysterious, complex, cruel, violent, erotic, dressed with elaborate manners and rituals, alien thought patterns, ironclad honor, smelly Europeans, the whole works - but it didn't have the Struans versus the Brocks, which crackling, bloody,...more Having begun with King Rat, I proceeded to work my way through most of James Clavell's Asian Saga before running out of steam - and interest - with the overly-long and rather lacklustre Whirlwind; and of them all, Tai-Pan was my favorite. Shogun was fantastic, mysterious, complex, cruel, violent, erotic, dressed with elaborate manners and rituals, alien thought patterns, ironclad honor, smelly Europeans, the whole works - but it didn't have the Struans versus the Brocks, which crackling, bloody, rollicking, cutthroat competitive maneuverings grabbed me by the collar and yanked me into this Southwest Pacific tale, hanging me on the yardarm so that I could marvel at the entirety of the colorful, frantic pageant unfolding before my young and excited eyes.

From the very opening, with a virgin Hong Kong awaiting its annexation by the British, recently victorious in the First Opium War, and the first taste of the rough-and-ready, brutal-on-a-dime sensibilities of the coarse and cunning Brock, the somewhat more subdued and disciplined Yanks of Cooper-Tillman, and then the magnificent entrance of the swashbuckling-but-practical hero himself, Dirk fucking Struan, the Tai-Pan of the commercial empires, and his half-brother Robb - who so dearly wished to be like Dirk, but just wasn't - all of these heads of Western trading houses and the differing-in-details, but similar-in-spirit dreams of the almost endless potential for Hong Kong - serving as a leverage point for the commercial crowbar they wished to wield to crack open the unimaginable riches of the mysterious and vast Orient - everything is laid out to give the reader a taste of the excitement, the possibility that lay heavy in the humid air.

And then fate and chance work their inevitable twists and unforeseen disasters into the mix, and we are plunged into a complex, interrelated web of schemes, ploys, conspiracies, violence, lusts, and desperation, as the House of Struan strives to recover from happenstance misfortune without selling the British portion of Hong Kong's soul, whilst the House of Brock, under the glint-eyed, heavy-handed leadership of Brock and the brutal energies of his hulking son, Gorth, do everything in their power to ensure that Struan and Company flounder and sink, thus enabling Brock to assume to title of Tai-Pan that he holds by right should be his. Into this mix the talented Clavell tosses wizened Chinese bigwig merchants and secret societies, four mysterious halved coins, stiff-lipped British naval officers, conniving Russian Grand Dukes, corrupt and incompetent English plenipotentiaries, Aye, matey pirates and lice-infested British rogue mercenaries, typhoons, storms, crazy oceanic currents and, topping it all, the heady and blossoming love between Dirk and his Chinese mistress May-May, an interesting microcosm of the tentative-but-burgeoning relationship between Western and Oriental civilizations, each with their own conceptions of pride, honor, barbarism, and justice; perhaps only in love do they operate on jointly familiar ground.

I have since come across plenty of criticisms of Clavell, about how much he got wrong, or mangled irredeemably in the process of crafting his complicated thrillers featuring clashing, pre-modern cultures. Whatever. The man could tell a tale, and one with enough recognizable features enmeshed within the exotic and the historic to propel his literary vessel across roiling, tempestuous seas. It is a magnificent and vastly entertaining book, one I've read several times, never failing to tense up when Struan is ghosting across the water, nursing his fortune-saving forty lacs of silver from a hungry Brock; or dearly wish Gorth would, at any point, receive a desperately deserved thrashing; or marvel at the long-range thinking of the wise Jing-Qua; or cringe when May-May, bedecked in all of the gaudy accoutrements of a European lady, earns an unexpected and humiliating look of horrified shock from her surprised lover; or feel a melancholy heaviness when the typhoon smashes the island towards the end of the book, dealing harshly with Dirk and May-May, but opening up new vistas of opportunity for Culum to emerge from his father's formidable shadow. It's been a long time since I last cracked it open, but do I harbor any doubts that it would still prove to be a first-rate page turner? Ha!(less)

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Sep 14, 2008 Michael Havens rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Historical Fiction lovers

What can I say about ‘Tai-Pan’? Is it really a Historical novel? Is it a Alternative History? These are the two questions I keep asking myself while working my way through the late James Clavell’s Asian saga, which for your consideration are the following:
‘Shogun’ (1600)
‘Tai-Pan’ (1841)
‘Gai-Jin’ (1862)
‘King Rat’(1945)
‘Noble House’(1963)
‘Whirlwind’(1979)

Before joining Goodreads, I had already read ‘Shogun’, so you, my friendly reader, do not have the luxury of a review of that as comparison, bu...more What can I say about ‘Tai-Pan’? Is it really a Historical novel? Is it a Alternative History? These are the two questions I keep asking myself while working my way through the late James Clavell’s Asian saga, which for your consideration are the following:
‘Shogun’ (1600)
‘Tai-Pan’ (1841)
‘Gai-Jin’ (1862)
‘King Rat’(1945)
‘Noble House’(1963)
‘Whirlwind’(1979)

Before joining Goodreads, I had already read ‘Shogun’, so you, my friendly reader, do not have the luxury of a review of that as comparison, but I believe that what I say about ‘Tai-Pan’, set in Hong Kong, can easily be said of it’s predecessor.
First off, let’s talk about historical content. Clavell has said himself in interviews that the reason his characters are based on historical figures, the changes of names from historical to fictional ones are due to the fact that he wanted them to do something and say something outside their historical content (an interesting text ‘What we can learn from ‘Shogun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy’ :Editor Henry Smith/The Program for Asian Studies, University of California, Santa Barbra), is available online as a searchable text: (http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/) is an interesting group of essays both praising and criticizing certain aspects of Clavell’s novel, but he makes clear that as a novelist, he was not so interested in historical accuracy as he was in storytelling. This puts him somewhat apart from the likes of John Jakes, who attempts to portray the American epochs in his long Kent family chronicles and shorter Civil War epic as true as can possibly be. But Clavell goes farther, for while there is a George Washington and an Abraham Lincoln who resemble who they generally were in history in Jakes‘ series, Clavell actually invents names to stand in to the company of historical figures. So, with ‘Shogun‘, instead of William Adams, we have John Blackthorne and in place of Tokugawa we have Toranaga. In the case of ’Tai-Pan’ and the case of William Jardine, we have the Scotsman, Dirk Struan.
Why am I making such a big deal with names? Nothing, except that what Clavell is doing rather than telling a historical story, is to make commentary on the times, not by addressing what a given period does that can be seen and addressed like many pieces of literature can and does do (note that I’m not criticizing Clavell’s desire to make commentary here), but by allowing the historical characters to think and do things which may not be historically accurate, yet can ultimately serve Clavell’s point on the subject, especially of East/West cultural and political issues, and one with an Anglo-centric slant.
I have read many commentaries about Clavell being balanced in his view of the far East and the West, for example, unlike Blackthorne, who by the end of the novel practically swallows Japanese culture whole, Dirk Struan’s character in ‘Tai-Pan’ wants to strike a balance between Eastern and Western sensibilities. But while trying to see their point on two novels so far, I find something rather interesting. It seems that there is a circular argument, at least in ‘Tai-Pan’ that while Struan appreciates Chinese/Cantonese culture, it is because he is not only a merchant, and one waging a personal vendetta/war against the other merchant rival, Tyler Brock, former, somewhat sadistic shipmaster, but because he’s from Great Britain proper, that his perspective carries more weight, and not necessarily that China has truly (e.g. “spiritually“), opened his eyes, and certainly not to the degree of Blackthorne’s love affair with Japan. So, in the end, rather than being a balance between Eastern and Western cultures, as an Asian saga might imply, it is more Asia as seen through Anglo-Saxon eyes.
Another point in the novel that brings this home and actually puts ‘Shogun’ ahead of ’Tai-Pan’ is the fact that scenes in ’Tai-Pan’ are almost entirely set up in the British settlements around Hong Kong. We don’t see an equal representation with the Asian side of things as we do with ‘Shogun’ and the interplay with Toranaga (Historical name: Tokugawa) and other Japanese in dealing with the “foreign issue” What we get are snippets, then brought back to the British side of things, for example, we get Struan’s mistress, May-May and himself in conversations, or there are dealings with her bastard son through Struan, the secret Triad member, Gordon Chen, the only two “major” Chinese/Cantonese characters in the book. There are other more minor scenes and references, but the story is always planted more firmly in British soil. Around this time, there was an ever growing xenophobia in China that could have been more fully examined, but never reaches that point, only touched upon. This could have allowed more characters from the Asian side to participate in the drama. As it is, the main center of the story revolves around the one-upmanship between Struan and his company, Noble House which is based on the real Jardine Mattheson Holdings Limited company, and Tyler Brock, with British politics, both domestically and abroad, occurring intermittently.
Once again my question. Just what type of novel is this? Is it historical fiction, or historical commentary wrapped around an Anglo-centric bias? Why, if this is an Historical fiction, are there not major, or even minor fictional characters finding themselves in the time period, experiencing things for themselves, and addressing what they see are the main issues? Even the word “Tai-Pan” is used somewhat incorrectly, as it implies in the novel that the Tai-Pans (Definition: The head or owner of a business establishment), have great political power, maybe even more impressive power than the British Government itself, certainly something that Struan leaves an impression on from time to time, but not an emphasis which the word lends itself to.
The most irritating thing about the book is Clavell’s Chinese character’s sense of diction, accent, and manner of speech. Most of the Chinese dialog in this novel is dominated by May-May, semi-main characters, like her and Gordon Chen. In any given pages she comes out sounding cartoonish. Dialect, accent, and diction are very hard things to do. In fact, to take Clavell off the hook , there are only a few great authors who can pull these things off without a hitch, so I sympathize. But reading May-May’s lines I grimace, as they sound so clunky. For a few lines, May-May sounds proficient, adding to her vocabulary Struan’s Scottish nuances, like “You dina…” (‘Tai-Pan’ 194), or “Na so loud! The sea god may hear you.”, as she attempts to appease the Chinese god’s to help their listing boat to safety, by pretending to offer the god gold, but “cheating” in the end, and promising Struan that the god would never know that she tricked the god out of her end of the bargain by not dropping some gold into the sea (195). As she is Struan’s mistress, picking up on Struan’s Scottish dialectical and phonetic nuances are understandable. We are never really given an approximation as to how long she had been with Struan, but it seems to be a significant time. Long enough to pick up the habits of the user of the second language she is learning from. But like many other Chinese characters in the book, she reverts at times from perfect sounding English to becoming the stereotypical Asian woman, speaking cute, quaint, but gibbering English (and I won’t repeat the sexual innuendo associated with Asian women trying to speak English, but I assume you get the idea!).
What gives this book a plus, aside from the historical problems is that it is a decent drama and adventure. It has all the passion of ambition, love, and danger one can expect from a story with an “exotic“ setting and an adventure behind it. For this, I gave it three stars. But it doesn’t get more, because it doesn’t significantly deliver on its promise on the cover to be part of an ASIAN SAGA; one in which two cultures encounter one another, and the political and cultural consequences that follow. There is a Hong Kong hidden somewhere between two formable and foreign entities rivaling each other. But it is mostly a shadowed figure sandwiched between an Anglo-centric storyline, no matter how much Dirk Struan asserts his admiration and assimilation to some, and in the pages of the book, very little, Chinese culture.
I still have four more novels in this series to go. I wonder how much further along Clavell will get in addressing things from both sides of the world?

(less)

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Jan 02, 2008 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007

Tai-pan is a novel set in the mid-1800s in China; following the story of a group of European and American traders as they take over the island of Hong Kong after the Opium Wars. As with Clavell's other books, Tai-pan is based is based on actual events and people. The story centers on the Tai-pan (translated as "Supreme Leader") of a powerful British trading company and follows the Tai-pan as he navigates the political and economic waves associated with colonizing a new island in a foreign countr...more

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Jan 09, 2009 Danielle rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: relates-to-china, fiction

My first Clavell read was Shogun - that was good. Not great, but good - I remember being engaged, interested enough in the subject matter, the way the plot developed. Years passed and I tried Gai-jin - I only finished that because I constantly hoped that even turn of the page would somehow bring about the book's miraculous redemption. Far from redeeming itself, that book actually got worse as it progressed. Because I had heard that Tai-pan was better than Gai-jin, I gave it a try this week. Not...more My first Clavell read was Shogun - that was good. Not great, but good - I remember being engaged, interested enough in the subject matter, the way the plot developed. Years passed and I tried Gai-jin - I only finished that because I constantly hoped that even turn of the page would somehow bring about the book's miraculous redemption. Far from redeeming itself, that book actually got worse as it progressed. Because I had heard that Tai-pan was better than Gai-jin, I gave it a try this week. Not the best idea I've ever had.

Especially for one who has read Gai-jin (and probably for anyone who hasn't), Tai-pan is a terrible disappointment.

First of all, there is the problem with the actual quality of the writing. It's crap. Not the crappiest crap I've ever seen, but really - if an author has to repeat the same "foreign-flavor" word 4 times on one page, he clearly doesn't have the most innovative of spirits.

Throughout Tai-pan dialogue drones, characters overlap each other in their thoughts, choice of words, and actions - and nothing all that exciting really happens in the overarching plot. Even the sex is dull, despite it being set out to somehow shock "Western" minds. As at least one reviewer has already noted, the main character is indeed the paragon of male perfection - it's just dull to read about him, and that's terribly unfortunate, considering nearly all of the characters seem to be obsessed with him. They spend a good portion of their time thinking to themselves how annoying it is that he is perfect and that they are weak. Who's the Tai-pan? Oh, Dirk Struan is the Tai-pain. The Tai-pan as the reader is reminded seeming every two pages. Gagfest.

I hate it when women are characterized as high-strung purebred horses - Clavell does this explicitly in this book in at least one scene, and implies it in others. Hasn't the "hot tempered but sexy" lover motif been worn out by now? I think that's partially why Shogun succeeded in its characterization where Gai-jin and Tai-pan failed - the main female of Shogun was more of a human than an animal and behaved accordingly, even if she was a bit idealized.(less)

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Jun 09, 2011 Jeruen Dery rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have an affinity for historical fiction. And one such series of books that I am slowly working my way into is James Clavell's Asian Saga. Last year, I read Shogun. This time, I finished the second book, which was set more than 200 years after the first one, Tai-Pan.

The current book is about the founding of Hong Kong, after the Opium Wars. It centers on the main character Dirk Struan and his family and company, The Noble House. He is a merchant who owns an armada of trading ships, plying the ro...more I have an affinity for historical fiction. And one such series of books that I am slowly working my way into is James Clavell's Asian Saga. Last year, I read Shogun. This time, I finished the second book, which was set more than 200 years after the first one, Tai-Pan.

The current book is about the founding of Hong Kong, after the Opium Wars. It centers on the main character Dirk Struan and his family and company, The Noble House. He is a merchant who owns an armada of trading ships, plying the route from Hong Kong to London. His biggest rival is Tyler Brock and his company. There are several back stories involving their respective families, their love affairs, their sexual relationships with European and Asian prostitutes and concubines, and so on. Several other plotlines emerge, including European diplomacy with America and Russia, Chinese gangs, and so forth.

Perhaps one weakness of my review here is that I cannot help but make a comparison to Shogun, since after all, it is part of the same series. Every detail I notice here brings back similar aspects in the previous novel. With that disclaimer, I still think that this is a marvelously written book and worth recommending.

Instead of describing the plot (which, if I did, would take immense space here as the plot is enormous), I would rather focus on the good (and bad) points of the novel. I suppose the main theme of the novel (and perhaps of the whole series) is the culture clash between the East and the West. Several instances of this appears in the novel. The European general dislike for bathing is described, together with the superstition that bathing actually causes diseases and death. The Eastern tradition of concubinage is tackled, and also how this was viewed by the Europeans. It is actually amusing and ironic to contemplate the fact that the Europeans are offended when the Chinese call them barbarians, and yet they also call the Chinese heathens.

I am not a history buff, so I do not know whether the actual events are indeed true, chronologically. However, a quick glance in an online encyclopedia says that there are real-life characters that served as inspirations for several of the characters in the book.

As with Shogun, the ending was rather surprising. In the previous book, I wrote last year that the ending was inconclusive. Here, it was rather abrupt. Several story lines were terminated with the passing of a strong typhoon, and power changed hands. As always, the ending provided for a segue so that the generation of the characters can have another story to follow them. I won't give any details as to how Dirk Struan fared in the end, but I should say that for a book that belongs to a series, it holds its end of the bargain very well.

Compared to Shogun, there's less sex in this book. The only mention of sex here in Tai-Pan has something to do with whorehouses and sexually transmitted diseases. Also, there is one snippet about perhaps the never-ending theme of Asians being so fascinated with respect to the size of the European main character's manhood: the Japanese geisha were gawking at Blackthorne's penis size in Shogun, and the Chinese servants were gawking at Struan's penis size in Tai-Pan. Depending on one's taste, that may be a good or bad thing. At least, Clavell is consistent in this respect.

Overall, as with Shogun, I recommend this book for those people who are big fans of historical fiction. It is a page turner, but it isn't an airport novel. It brings life to boring historical events, at least for some. I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.(less)

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May 10, 2010 Sean rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is phenomenal. Anyone who is interested in China, past and present, should read it. Anyone who likes a brilliant historical fiction, should read it. And anyone who loves “larger-than-life, but still realistic and wonderfully developed” characters, should read it.

Set in 1840s China (Canton), Macao and most importantly, the brand-new English colony of Hong Kong (which Dirk negotiated away from the Emperor through the oh-so-pliable governor), the story is set around Dirk Stuan, a larger t...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Cruton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Taking into account that I am bad with names if you can plow your way through the first 20 or so pages you are golden. In the first 20 pages Clavell introduces 30 different characters all of different nationalities, and personalities, with wildly hopes, fears, and dreams and each one giving their thoughts on the other 29 characters. It was this segment that foiled my first attempt at reading Tai-Pan. However having gotten through that Clavell settles down and we follow Dirk Struan. The other cha...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Max Fallon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brilliant! Tai-Pan introduces Dirk Straun, the founder of the Noble House - the principle trading company in Asia. Set during 1842 during the European take over of Hong Kong, Clavell perfectly captures the attitudes and feeling of the time (I think). His character development is amazing. Dirk Straun is the Tai-Pan, the ruler or the boss of the Noble House. There can only be one Noble House and only one true Tai-Pan. Dirk is constantly balancing economic ruin with opulent living, while battling o...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Blackthorne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Tai-Pan

Tai-Pan carries a lot of potential. It follows up after one of my all time favorites characters and places. It falls short though in that it doesn't take the time that Shogun did to formulate characters and places. In Clavell's first book, the characters all had these deeper personalities and motives that you were still discovering even by the end of the book. In Tai-Pan however, all the characters have their personalities out in the open the moment they are introduced. The same is with

...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Peter rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 07, 2013 Øystein Bjaanes rated it 3 of 5 stars

Tai-Pan er en bok om maktkamp og handel. Boken er lagt til opprettelsen av Hong Kong, og vi følger konkurrerende handelshus i kampen for å bli det største - og gjerne drive motstanderen konkurs i samme slengen.

James Clavell er dyktig til å lage intriger. Han opererer med et veldig persongalleri, som alle har sine motivasjoner, ønsker, drømmer og mål - og ingen av dem klarer helt å kontrollere situasjonene som oppstår. Dette er etter min mening hans sterkeste punkt som forfatter. Historien endrer...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Johnny D rated it 2 of 5 stars

I actually read Gai-Jin before reading Tai-Pan so I really have no excuse for having dug myself into a hole again. I'm the type who always finishes a book that I start, so once I started this one there was no turning back . . . unfortunately.

I suppose I was hoping for another Shogun or even another King Rat, but instead I had subjected myself to another Gai-Jin. While reading this book I had a recurring vision of Dirk Struan artwork on the cover of some Godawful Harlequin. Basically, it's Dirk S...more

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Jul 30, 2010 Nick Klagge rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is the sequel to Shogun, which I read about a year ago (just before starting Goodreads!) and greatly enjoyed. A friend told me I would like it because it was about the founding of Hong Kong and "the good old days when finance was conducted with cannons." That indeed is a good description of the plot, but I would say that Tai-Pan fell well short of Shogun, and I'm not in a hurry to read any of the further sequels.

I often said about Shogun that I could barely stand how bad the writing was (th...more This is the sequel to Shogun, which I read about a year ago (just before starting Goodreads!) and greatly enjoyed. A friend told me I would like it because it was about the founding of Hong Kong and "the good old days when finance was conducted with cannons." That indeed is a good description of the plot, but I would say that Tai-Pan fell well short of Shogun, and I'm not in a hurry to read any of the further sequels.

I often said about Shogun that I could barely stand how bad the writing was (think cheesy Dan Brown style, but set in the 17th century), but I couldn't put it down because the plot was so great. The same was pretty much true of Tai-Pan, but I didn't get into the plot as much. I think that's largely because the plots of the two books are quite similar--"heroic Westerner gets himself involved in an Eastern culture and claws his way to the top." Also, one of the main things I liked about Shogun was the existence of Toranaga as a strong foil to Blackthorne, temperamentally and culturally quite different, but an equal if not a superior in terms of intellect and power. Tai-Pan lacked that, with everyone playing second fiddle to Struan.

I thought, while reading Tai-Pan: this is what a right-wing book looks like. I haven't read any Ayn Rand (yet), but in several passages I thought the writing was similar to what I would expect from her: glorifying Struan's solitary quest for power, and his inability to form any strong relationships because of that. Struan is an opium trader, but the book only provides the lightest intimations that there might be anything wrong with that. Although I believe Clavell is very meticulous in getting the historical detail of China (Japan in Shogun) right, he's also unpleasantly Orientalist at times. If I recall correctly, both Shogun and Tai-Pan have scenes where the Westerner, who has taken an Eastern mistress, is "forced" to abuse her because that is what is "culturally demanded", and then of course that pleasantly resolves everything and they have sex. (less)

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Sep 20, 2012 Valerie rated it 5 of 5 stars

first read this when i was in eighth or ninth grade (guess my love of history started early) and have read it four or five times since. my all time favorite clavell novel. i have a deep fondness for the character dirk struan, he's one of my favorite fictional heroes. i'm sure that i adore this particular work so much is due to my general love of the age of exploration and this novel captures the oriental/occidental duality well. i dearly appreciate clavell's treatment of the chinese culture it i...more

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May 26, 2011 Graham rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, historical

An outstanding historical saga and my first exposure to James Clavell. On the strength of this, I'll be sure to read the rest of his work.

TAI-PAN is epic in scope, a novel whose background is the inception of Hong Kong by the British, circa 1841. Into these turbulent times comes a tail of rival opium smugglers, piracy, betrayal, love, hatred, incest, murder, friendship and natural disasters. Pretty much everything is here, giving this the flavour of a historical saga of old with a distinctly mas...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Naomi rated it 4 of 5 stars

James Clavell has managed to do it again. He presents you with a western sea-faring man and gives him a love--obsession, almost--with the oriental land and those who inhabit it. I went into this book with heavy expectations after having read and adored Shogun. I was not disappointed in the least. An amazing novel that weaves characters so realistically you forget what is truly fact and fiction. Dirk Struan, Tai-Pan (Supreme Lord), guides the reader through the Opium Trade and Wars of early Hong...more

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May 01, 2010 Matthew Raleigh rated it 5 of 5 stars

I can't believe I waited this long to read this book. It was simply luxurious and engaging. I am not exaggerating when I say it is the best book I have ever read. The characters were so rich, the plot perfectly balanced, the language so authentic - it was truly a journey back through time and Clavell makes an excellent tour guide.
Tai Pan is a story about the birth of Hong Kong through the eyes of an English clipper ship captain. In America, we often gloss over the history that was happening dur...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Matt Seeker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tai-Pan was the shit. I sifted through the user reviews on here and got both perspectives, though I found a huge gap in how males and females felt about the book. I personally loved it. As I said about Shogun, this isn't filled with awesome prose and incredible writing techniques. What it is, is filled with daring, adventure and romance. The book has excellent cadence and pace. The characters are a bit 2-D, but who cares, this is popcorn historical fiction at its finest. Dirk Straun has a doctor...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Feathzzz rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone!

Shelves: action, adventure, british-historical-fiction, chinese, historical-fiction, romance, sea-faring-journey, victorian-era, favorites

I love this book; it's amazing! Ayeee yahhhhhh!! I'm still debating giving it five-stars and only because I'm extraordinarily picking about giving only thee absolute best books of all time five stars.

What a vast, dynamic cast of characters, wonderfully written intertwined intrigue, and excellently written action sequences balanced perfectly with the right amount of lush historical detail and cultural descriptions. It was so engrossing to read. Really a story and adventure you can get lost in.

I...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Andreas rated it 4 of 5 stars

This massive novel dramatizes the events surrounding the founding of Hong Kong. Our hero, Dirk Struan, is a merchant prince, head of his trading house. He is known by the Chinese expression “Tai-Pan”, meaning “supreme leader”. The book chronicles his efforts to found and develop Hong Kong as a way to both open up trade with China and ensure that the West be exposed to Chinese influence.

The book is skillfully written and a page turner. The characters are larger than life. Great fun all around. Cl...more

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Apr 07, 2009 AJ rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not really sure why I picked this book up and started rereading it, after not rereading it since going on a James Clavell kick 10 or 15 years ago. I read Shogun in 6th grade and loved it, mostly because it's a gigantic soap opera in a (to my eleven year old self) completely unknown land. Plus there was sex, and I thought I'd pretty much taught myself how to speak Japanese by the end of it. I read almost everything else Clavell wrote when I was in my early twenties and enjoyed those books in...more

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Aug 12, 2009 Irina Mateciuc rated it 5 of 5 stars

Since Clavell is one of my favourite writers I culdn't not forget about Tai Pan. This novel, which was preceeded by Shogun and was followed by Gai-Jin continues the story of Dirk Struan ans Tyler Brooks, death enemies even if before were shipmates. They're running two huge trading companies, being in continous competition from personal and professional point of view.
Stuan is made by J.Clavell "Tai-Pan" - the head of the biggest trade companies from Asia. The novel has political substrat and desc...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Checkman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, historical-fiction, beach-read, drama

Big, chewy, lip smacking, gut busting fiction. How appropriate that I should have finished it on Thanksgiving - a day given to gastronomical excess.Whew.

This is not a historical tome. It is a fictionalized account of the first year of the British colony of Hong Kong (1841). The characters are all loosely based on actual people - as are their trading companies. That is what Clavell did in his novels and it's important that one understand that.

Clavell was also an ardent supporter of Free Trade, a...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Cecilia W Yu rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not a well written book and historically not a very interesting perspective about a world/people I know intimately (from both sides of the equation). Like The Far Pavilion, it was far too ethnocentric and pandered to the then British perception of the Occidental in the worst cliche possible!

My only response to the Entire book is...a single line from the Brilliant play: M.Butterfly
"Why don't you come to the Beijing opera and educate yourself some time?"

Those who knows the play will know exactly...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Arizona Mildman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Again, like Shogun, "I Loved It!" As Shogun, the first and second volumes, shows us ancient Japan as seen through the eyes of the same European family with a few additions and twists, with love stories and affairs. Clavell with his expertise as a historical fiction writer, and insights as to Asian culture, like Louis L'Amour is to Western writing. Tai-Pan is set in Hong Kong, in ancient China and is the Chinese chapter of a multi-part series that Clavell did and like Tolkien, concludes each nove...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Paul Boden rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hong Kong, 1841 just an island to the naked eye, but to Dirk Struan and his ambitions, this small desolate rock is the gateway to China and the limitless wealth and oppertunity that lies within.
Having already read Shogun (and enjoyed it greatly) i was fully prepared for Tai Pan and Clavell's writing style that draws you into the story making you feel apart of the community that he describes so vividly and beautifully. little did i know however that i would enjoy this book so much more than Shogu...more

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Oct 14, 2009 Grant added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone

Re-reading this as an audio book (guess that should be listening then instead of reading but as we are lal friends here we'll not split threads eh?) Really enjoying this epic tale again. Jstu as I remembered form all those years ago is thoroughly well researched agianst the history of the time. Have always enjoyed this mix of fiction blended into real places and events. You have to alow time to tune your minds ear to the syntax of the dialogues used but very much worth the effort.

Whatever you do...more

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Jun 27, 2009 Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

I wish there was a 3.5 stars on here, but I figured it was closer to 4 than 3 in my opinion.

Good things: The pacing, first of all. This is one book, that, despite being quite long, does not drag on and on.

The characters: although I think they could've used a little more time and development, they're certainly intriguing and I think everyone can find someone they root for here.

Bad things: Main character may seem a bit Gary-Stuish to some people. I personally don't find that to be true, but oth...more

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About James Clavell

James Clavell, born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell was a British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and POW. Clavell is best known for his epic Asian Saga series of novels and their televised adaptations, along with such films as The Great Escape, The Fly and To Sir, with Love.

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