James Clavell: A Critical Companion

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.