James Clavell's Asian Saga

James Clavell's Asian Saga

My trip to Japan, China and Hong Kong reminded me of the books I read years ago by James Clavell: Shogun, Tai-pan and Noble House. They were highly entertaining stories, but it was so long ago that I can't remember much any more; besides, now that I've been to those places in the books, everything will take on a fresher meaning, which turned out to be precisely the case! I must admit that Clavell had a deep understanding of the Asian psyche. He exaggerated, of course, as all good story-tellers do, but he wasn't off by much. I then got Clavell's last book, Gai-jin, which took place in late nineteenth century Japan. However, by this point, I was getting Clavell'ed out, and the book seemed repetitive and boring. Three months of the same author was definitely too much.