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206th out of 3,151 books
—
13,808 voters
King Rat (Asian Saga #1)
The time is World War II. The place is a brutal prison camp deep in Japanese-occupied territory. Here, within the seething mass of humanity, one man, an American corporal, seeks dominance over both captives and captors alike. His weapons are human courage, unblinking understanding of human weaknesses, and total willingness to exploit every opportunity to enlarge his power...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
May 19th 2009
by Delta
(first published 1962)
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Сега знам защо тази книга е толкова популярна, защо е класика.
Защото е драматично-иронична песен за войната, мъжеството, приятелството, смъртта и дома. Защото в нея има всичко. Има страх, примирение, безразличие, има надежда и любов.
Любимият ми цитат:
Питър Марлоу се придвижи между Дънкън и корееца и прикри капитана така, че той да поизостане от хората си и да излезе отстрани. Колоната се точеше по пътя, но майката и детето не направиха никакъв знак. Когато Дънкън се изравни с тях, погледите им з...more
Защото е драматично-иронична песен за войната, мъжеството, приятелството, смъртта и дома. Защото в нея има всичко. Има страх, примирение, безразличие, има надежда и любов.
Любимият ми цитат:
Питър Марлоу се придвижи между Дънкън и корееца и прикри капитана така, че той да поизостане от хората си и да излезе отстрани. Колоната се точеше по пътя, но майката и детето не направиха никакъв знак. Когато Дънкън се изравни с тях, погледите им з...more
Jul 29, 2007
John Wiswell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
History readers, WW2 readers, literary readers, culture clash readers
The beginning of Clavell's truly epic series of culture clash novels is a curiously autobiographical book. King Rat takes us to Changi, a Japanese prison camp during World War 2, where British and American soldiers are held in dire conditions. We watch as people cling to honor, duty and any semblance of structure for their own mental health and survival. Every observation about humanity in these conditions is more interesting because Clavell himself was held in a Japanese prison camp during the...more
16 likes · like · see review
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A brutally realistic account of soldier's survival in a Japanese WWII prison camp.
Clavell doing what he does best; making history come to life with very interesting and entertaining fiction.
Back for more...
i just found out that King Rat is in part autobiographical. Clavell was apparently a POW himself. That explains are great deal. i was very much awed that a fictional book could be so incredibly detailed and convey the day to day struggle of the characters so well. JC was writing from experienc...more
Clavell doing what he does best; making history come to life with very interesting and entertaining fiction.
Back for more...
i just found out that King Rat is in part autobiographical. Clavell was apparently a POW himself. That explains are great deal. i was very much awed that a fictional book could be so incredibly detailed and convey the day to day struggle of the characters so well. JC was writing from experienc...more
Clavell is better known for his later Shogun and other Japanese history novels, but this earlier novel about the lives of Americans and British POWs in a Japanese prisoner of war camp is a classic. The title character is an American with a true gift for survival in the underground economy of the camp, and the book raises many questions about what the most ethical road is to take in an impossible moral situation.
4 likes · like · see review
This is the first volume in Clavell's "Asian Saga," and was written about the Japanese prison camp of Changi located in Singapore, where the author himself was held as a POW during the late stages of World War II. "The King" is a successful wheeling and dealing American. Using capitalistic initiative, he concocts many money-making schemes, the most shocking of which, involves breeding rats to sell as "rabbit" meat. He generates feelings of hatred or envy in others, but everyone wants to be close...more
Jul 04, 2007
Craig
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone
Shelves:
james_clavell
In King Rat, James Clavell succeeds in doing what countless other authors usually fail at: taken actual experiences from his life and distilled them into a gripping dramatic narrative.
And this praise is perhaps the most damnable understatement the book can receive -- Clavell isn't writing about "experiences," he is writing about the cauldron from which he was "reborn" -- his time in Changi, a Japanese POW camp in Malaysia during WWII.
And yet, the book is mostly comedic -- filled with the hopefu...more
And this praise is perhaps the most damnable understatement the book can receive -- Clavell isn't writing about "experiences," he is writing about the cauldron from which he was "reborn" -- his time in Changi, a Japanese POW camp in Malaysia during WWII.
And yet, the book is mostly comedic -- filled with the hopefu...more
I refer you to Wikipedia for the basics. Honestly, it's worth a look.
This is a deeply subversive novel as witnessed by the acts of the senior British officers.
Written in good clean prose that takes a back seat to characterization and story. In fact, as you might suspect, this novel is all about character and characterization. Clavell succeeds brilliantly.
This is a deeply subversive novel as witnessed by the acts of the senior British officers.
Written in good clean prose that takes a back seat to characterization and story. In fact, as you might suspect, this novel is all about character and characterization. Clavell succeeds brilliantly.
2 likes · like · see review
Probably the best book about WWII prison camps written--and there were/are a myriad of them. This author is worth reading, always was. Many know him only for Shogun. This book struck me as probably intensely autobiographical, tho I never went and researched whether Clavell was actually an inmate of Changi prison camp during WWII. Recommended to readers of historical fiction, those interested in the WWII Pacific theater, and anyone interested in the decline and fall of the British Empire.
At one time or another I've read most or all of James Clavell's novels. KING RAT is by far my favorite. I've lost count of the number of times I've read this novel. I also own the movie version of the story on DVD; and yes, I've lost count of the number of times I've watched the movie. I like the book better.
Clavell survived as a POW in WWII. The sub-story is that the Peter Marlowe character in KING RAT is a fictionalized version of James Clavell and that the Corporal King character is a fictio...more
The story of life in a Japanese prison camp in which American and British soldiers are held. It is during WWII (obviously).
Inside the camp, the ranks of officers and enlisted men play little part in the dynamics of day-to-day life. It is a question of who can adapt to the deprivation of the camp and has the ability to acquire additional resources.
An American enlisted man becomes an unofficial king of the camp as he possesses the cunning that allows him to get more food and material from the Japa...more
Inside the camp, the ranks of officers and enlisted men play little part in the dynamics of day-to-day life. It is a question of who can adapt to the deprivation of the camp and has the ability to acquire additional resources.
An American enlisted man becomes an unofficial king of the camp as he possesses the cunning that allows him to get more food and material from the Japa...more
((NOTE: I only read the regular edition.)) Starts out with some incredible personal insights of characters, degenerates into a few silly Hogan's Heroes-esque scams in the middle, and somewhat redeems itself toward the end. One of the problems I have is that the author simultaneously throws out the ideas that the title character might be best viewed as either a greedy devil who makes things more difficult for others by hoarding what he wins/earns, OR a captured angel who smartly takes advantage w...more
Hande is nuts about James Clavell and has devoured all his books, and nagged urged me to do the same. Gathering my holiday reading in a hurry I succumbed, but since we only had a week (and 24kg of luggage) I picked up King Rat instead of Shogun or Noble House.
For those of you who haven’t read it already, King Rat is set in the notorious Changi POW prison in Singapore at the arse end of WWII, where Clavell himself was held. Changi housed about 10,000 men in unspeakable squalor amidst a brutal reg...more
For those of you who haven’t read it already, King Rat is set in the notorious Changi POW prison in Singapore at the arse end of WWII, where Clavell himself was held. Changi housed about 10,000 men in unspeakable squalor amidst a brutal reg...more
recalling it was a bit tricky, i keep interchaninging scenes from the movie, empire of the sun with the chapers from this book. found some parallelism in their story, but well, maybe my memory could be acting weird on me.
bottomline, this book created enough scenes that could actually transport you back in that particular era, and just like that, fill your senses with enough taste of that "triumph of the human spirit" that we enjoy reading about in other war themed books we have read.
bottomline, this book created enough scenes that could actually transport you back in that particular era, and just like that, fill your senses with enough taste of that "triumph of the human spirit" that we enjoy reading about in other war themed books we have read.
I REALLY enjoyed this book. I wish there was a 1/2 star designation so i could distinguish this from all my other four star books (w/out going to the very rare five star).
Without going into it too much it recreates life in a Japanese war prisoner camp in Singapore during WWII. Especially after having read Unbroken, the life created here really rings true (I think Clavell spent time in a camp? so this makes sense - he knows what he's writing about here).
The story focuses on a singular figure in...more
Without going into it too much it recreates life in a Japanese war prisoner camp in Singapore during WWII. Especially after having read Unbroken, the life created here really rings true (I think Clavell spent time in a camp? so this makes sense - he knows what he's writing about here).
The story focuses on a singular figure in...more
King Rat:
A story of survival
Everyone knows him as The King. That is, everyone in Shangi (A Japanese-run prisoner of war camp in Singapore). He is really just an American Corporal who has nerves of steel and the will to survive. A little while into the book he meets Peter Marlowe, a character portraying Clavell’s younger self when he spent time in the POW camp. Flight Lieutenant Marlowe is fluent in Malay; the native language of the area around Shangi. While watching him, The King realizes he cou...more
A story of survival
Everyone knows him as The King. That is, everyone in Shangi (A Japanese-run prisoner of war camp in Singapore). He is really just an American Corporal who has nerves of steel and the will to survive. A little while into the book he meets Peter Marlowe, a character portraying Clavell’s younger self when he spent time in the POW camp. Flight Lieutenant Marlowe is fluent in Malay; the native language of the area around Shangi. While watching him, The King realizes he cou...more
Over the years, I've been reading Clavell's series in story chronology. That makes it a bit tough, as I so loved Shogun that nothing else can really approach it. King Rat was the first book Clavell wrote, and it certainly feels it a bit - it's a much simpler book, characters are sometimes a little too obvious in what philosophies they represent. But the book is gripping, and the moral dilemmas are truly intriguing. It's a fast read, sometimes too fast - particularly at the end, which left me wan...more
Disappointing, which is a shame, because the concept has so much potential: American, British and Australian POWs in a Japanese prison camp in the latter stages of the Pacific War have basically been abandoned to self-governance; they can do pretty much anything they want, except leave, or get a decent meal or bath. The society they form, with rules and rivalries, seems all the more absurd, as is the central quest of "King" to be the biggest capitalist wheeler-dealer in the sandbox, and even mor...more
I highly recommend this book and give it 4 1/2 stars. It is a quick easy read and you won't be able to put it down once you start. The story is based on a POW prison camp, Changi, in Japanese occupied Malaya during World War II and what happens to the prisoners when survival becomes a constant daily struggle. The main character known as the King, an American elisted man, becomes the fittest of them all by breaking all the rules and imploying tactics of capitalism. He becomes both feared and envi...more
James Clavell's story draws you into the environment his characters are based in, which is a POW camp in WWII. The writing and story is realistic and paints a great (or in this case harrowing) picture of what life was like in these camps.
Interspersed with the main story are short sections where the lives of those left behind, wives, families etc, are described. It gives an unprecedented perspective to the main story and for me, generated not just sympathy for the main characters who have no ide...more
Interspersed with the main story are short sections where the lives of those left behind, wives, families etc, are described. It gives an unprecedented perspective to the main story and for me, generated not just sympathy for the main characters who have no ide...more
Jul 22, 2009
Tinea
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Tinea by:
Fidget
Shelves:
brain-candy
Fidget is really good at recommending books that hook. I never read enough good fiction because I have a block that prevents me from picking up apolitical books. It's a good thing I hang with this kid.
We read King Rat one after the other while backpacking, and I think the word we came up for it was "thrilling." King Rat tells the story of English, Australian, and American WWII prisoners of war in a Japanese camp. They are mostly left to fend for themselves and what unfolds is a grown-up Lord of...more
We read King Rat one after the other while backpacking, and I think the word we came up for it was "thrilling." King Rat tells the story of English, Australian, and American WWII prisoners of war in a Japanese camp. They are mostly left to fend for themselves and what unfolds is a grown-up Lord of...more
James Clavell was, if I'm correct, a prisoner of war in the Second World War and was held in a camp in Java. If he wasn't, I'm not sure how he was able to make such a clear picture of the environment at these horrid places.
King Rat is a very well written book about those men who lived in a prisoner of war camp and interestingly, their own little world, economy, and traditions in there.
Clavell writes his novel with occasional well-timed humor and very intimate descriptions of the men in the camp....more
King Rat is a very well written book about those men who lived in a prisoner of war camp and interestingly, their own little world, economy, and traditions in there.
Clavell writes his novel with occasional well-timed humor and very intimate descriptions of the men in the camp....more
I didn't dislike King Rat, but I'm not finding Clavell to be all that relevant, either. True, he can spin a good yarn, but this is no work of massive importance. I get that he had his own POW experience that informed this book, but it comes with such a detached, cynical perspective that I'm hard-pressed to feel for anyone, even Peter, the British soldier and right-hand man to the Rat. Clavell does such a good job creating a separate world in this prison camp with its own rules and morality apart...more
I read this book when it first came out then again in 2004. Liked it very much as I do all of Clavels books. It's a very gritty story. The movie left something to be desired. This prison of war camp really existed and much of the story is based on fact. It must have been hell on earth.
How much of our beliefs, morals and humanity are we prepared to forego in order to survive? Clavell's marvelous book depicts the ugly side of the human or rather inhuman will to survive the atrocious conditions in a Japanese POW camp where more than 3 years after capture officers and common soldiers alike are selling their souls for an egg or an extra portion of rice. And the King, a mere American corporal, rules supreme with his cunning new-world business sense but bitterly hated and despised b...more
This book is a fictional account of Clavell's time in a WWII POW camp in Singapore. It is a pretty awesome book and much shorter and to the point than the rest of Clavell's novels. Not to say the length affects his other books, on the contrary, I enjoy the massive plot and character scopes of all of his books. This more follows a single, linear plot line. There are some bad ass scenes in the book even though the situation is beyond sad. Again, while the depth of Shogun or Taipan are not present,...more
I haven't ever really read any historical novels about japanese concentration camps so it was intersting. Kind of a study of ways people react when things are at their worst...some good some bad...mostly sad.
Jul 19, 2012
Evolots
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Evolots by:
Vasil Tonev
Shelves:
world-wars,
real-life-based
Клавел наистина има добри попадения изледвайки живота в един лагер на военнопленници по време на втората световна война.
Жаждата за живот и омразата към високопоставените изяжда душите на всички. Благодарение на приспособилият се към живота в лагера Цар и сечащият му като бръснач ум преживяват и всички останали. Но те са твърде заслепени от завистта си, за да оценят факта, че дължат преживяването си на Царя. С черна търговия и хитрост той винаги съумява да е на ръба между охолният си живот в лаг...more
Жаждата за живот и омразата към високопоставените изяжда душите на всички. Благодарение на приспособилият се към живота в лагера Цар и сечащият му като бръснач ум преживяват и всички останали. Но те са твърде заслепени от завистта си, за да оценят факта, че дължат преживяването си на Царя. С черна търговия и хитрост той винаги съумява да е на ръба между охолният си живот в лаг...more
Overall (with the exception of the ending) this book was a solid five stars and is second only to Shogun in my opinion. There are so many things going on in this book, and I could not stop turning the page.
The ending on the other hand was extremely anticlimactic - hence my four-star. Sofar I have read the first four books in the Asian Saga including King Rat, and all of these books have an ending that falls flat. I was so angry when I read about what happened to the King. His sudden change in st...more
The ending on the other hand was extremely anticlimactic - hence my four-star. Sofar I have read the first four books in the Asian Saga including King Rat, and all of these books have an ending that falls flat. I was so angry when I read about what happened to the King. His sudden change in st...more
This took a little while to get into, partially down to my lamentable lack of knowledge of matters military - rank and so on. Also I found it almost impossible to visualise a camp housing such an astronomical number of people. I had to watch a bit of the film just to get my bearings. But this was a superb story of suffering, near-starvation, survival and wheeler dealing. The relationship between the main characters ('The King' and Peter Marlowe) was fascinating and well drawn. I found myself won...more
I really admire James Clavell after reading this book. This, his first novel, in which he sought to exorcise the demons of having been a prisoner of the Japanese during WWII neither vilifies the Japanese nor dwells on torture and stuff like that. Which I had expected, and as a result had postponed reading the book for quite a long time. But I finally got up my nerve, and was drawn into the story, albeit cautiously at first. But "King Rat" is mainly a study of human nature, particularly of the cu...more
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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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James Clavell. (2007, November 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia....more
More about James Clavell...
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James Clavell. (2007, November 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia....more
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“And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats.”
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“Очите им се срещнаха и едно обещание бе дадено, прието и върнато.”
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3 people liked it
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