James Clavell: A Critical Companion

(Hardback)

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Until now, popular novelist James Clavell has not been recognised for his literary achievements and his contributions to cross-cultural understanding. This critical study seeks to rectify that omission. It shows how Clavell's depiction of cross-cultural encounters of Westerners with the East paves the way for modern multicultural studies. His novels about culture clash help Western readers see with Eastern eyes, by taking them into the minds and culture of the Chinese, Japanese and Iranians. The study provides close textual analysis of each of his novels in turn and shows how Clavell contrasts the manners, values and lifestyles of Easterners and Westerners in a narrative style that combines a number of literary genres and traditions to create a "blockbuster" of breadth and depth. This study analyses all of Clavell's fiction: "King Rat", "Tai-Pan", "Shogun", "Noble House", "Whirlwind" and "Gai-Jin". Each chapter discusses one novel and is divided into sections on plot and structure, character development, themes, historical foundations, genre conventions and alternative perspectives from which to read the novel. A biographical chapter illuminates the influence of Clavell's life experiences on his writing. A chapter on his literary heritage discusses the influence of a variety of genres on his fiction and shows how he weaves a multiplicity of genre threads into a subtle, complex and inviting tapestry of Eastern and Western styles. A genealogy table schematising the complex family of relationships that interlock Clavell's novels and a glossary of foreign language words used in his novels will help the reader to move easily through his canon. This work should help students and general readers to appreciate the cross-cultural aspects of the craft of Clavell's fiction.

Reviews

Macdonald analyses Clavell's books King Rat, Tai-Pan, Shogun, Noble House, Whirlwind, and Gai-Jin. Her exploration of the author's unique background brings immediacy and interest to his stories. The interrelationship of his novels, with hooks to other works, is inviting and clearly developed. The discussion should be especially appealing to teen readers because of its adult approach and vivid explanations. The chapters on specific novels provide interesting background information that enhances appreciation of story development...readers are encouraged to bring individual analysis to the work through the "Alternative Reading" section included at the end of each chapter...The value of this book and the series is the serious approach taken to these popular books. This resource provides a structure for analysis that can be transferred to other works.-School Library Journal
"Macdonald analyses Clavell's books King Rat, Tai-Pan, Shogun, Noble House, Whirlwind, and Gai-Jin. Her exploration of the author's unique background brings immediacy and interest to his stories. The interrelationship of his novels, with hooks to other works, is inviting and clearly developed. The discussion should be especially appealing to teen readers because of its adult approach and vivid explanations. The chapters on specific novels provide interesting background information that enhances appreciation of story development...readers are encouraged to bring individual analysis to the work through the "Alternative Reading" section included at the end of each chapter...The value of this book and the series is the serious approach taken to these popular books. This resource provides a structure for analysis that can be transferred to other works."-School Library Journal

Author Bio

GINA MACDONALD is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has published well over one hundred articles in periodicals and books on popular fiction, detective fiction, and popular culture. She is also co-author of a text for bilingual writing students. She has a special interest in Russian culture, contrastive rhetorics, and world literature.