Tai-Pan: The Second Novel of the Asian Saga

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It broke my heart a little bit and I cried, usually this would ruin the book for me, but this one was a masterpiece and I can't say even one bad thing about it. I did, and I’m glad because if there’s anything that can distract from this year, it’s a doorstopper-sized tome about Bastards Being Bastards played out against the backdrop of 1840s China (including the nascent outpost of Hong Kong) and the oceans of the world.

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. I think there is some confusion from my side on whether the whole saga is a super culturally insensitive western appropriation glorifying the poppy trade and if so, how do I admit that I really liked the story. He has a wife who hounds him from one whorehouse to the next as he tries to stay one step ahead of her iron grip. So while there is obviously massive historical context here, Clavell relies on his huge cast of fictional characters to churn up the plot and propel the story for themselves.A thriller which tells of the founding of Hong Kong in the 1840s, where Dirk Struan, the ruler or tai-pan, fights to establish himself and his dynasty as the masters of the Far East.

It felt not unlike the last Harry Potter book, where the author decided that a pure happy ending with everyone succeeding and the protagonist essentially being a God is boring, so she added half a page of "oh, and also these 5 good people died! All these aspects of Clavell come out strongly in his novels and will either drive you crazy or have you nodding in agreement.Struan and May-may’s relationship was certainly full of shit that made me a little uncomfortable as a 21st-century dude (which is really probably a good thing with historical fiction) but there was also a warmth and sweetness to it that was nice. Concessions to the barbarians will have to be made (Hong Kong) and Struan, the devil man, has the ear of the English politician Longstaff or as the Chinese refer to him Odious Penis.

As has been pointed out by others there is no grand battle to fight in this story, no Uber Villain to be brought down, no single event at all. Qui il protagonista è l'uomo forte, l'eminenza oscura che muove con le sue parole il governatore della colonia, i soldati e i commerci. The story is told through a wide array of POV characters, giving the reader a well rounded view of their motivations, passions, agendas, and blind spots that would otherwise be absent if told in a different manner. Immediately after his father's death it is shown that he has not grown at all and he is immediately being manipulated by every other character, all of which are hungry for Struan's power and wealth. Diversa la collocazione geografica, uguale la sottolineatura sulle abitudini igieniche e di pulizia degli orientali (giapponesi in Shogun, cinesi qui) contrapposte al culto della sporcizia e delle superstizioni dannose (tipo quelle su pulizia delle mani o aria fresca) di noi occidentali dell'epoca.This book is about the founding of Hong Kong as a British Colony and the best seaport in the Orient. I feel that it got a little bit messier, maybe, and a couple things got dropped entirely or never received an altogether satisfying conclusion, but it never tangled that bad. Schemes are enacted, others are discovered, moves and counter-moves, friends are enemies and enemies are friends, and sailing ships race across the South China Sea. It is the second book in Clavell's Asian Saga, and the first to feature the fictional Struan family. Although the novel features many characters, it is Dirk Struan and Tyler Brock, former shipmates and the owners of two massive (fictional) trading companies who are the main focal points of the story.