Rating: 
Summary: UTTERLY COMPELLING
Review: This book is lumped into the "Asian Saga" series of James Clavell, and yes, it takes place in Asia, but bears no other true resemblance to the rest of the saga. It's shorter, of course, but it's also not an epic...it takes place in a POW camp almost entirely.The character of King, the American trader who lives high-on-the-hog through his wheeling and dealing, is fascinating in the feelings of hatred & envy he generates. Everyone wants to be close to him, not because they like him, but because he can afford to give away cigarettes, share an egg, pour coffee, etc. He has learned to manipulate the system totally to look out for #1. He makes friends with unassuming British fighter pilot Peter Marlowe, who at first acts and translator and later as partner and friend to King. His character goes through lots of development, and he is really the conscious of the camp. Although not written in the first person, we really see things through his eyes. The book is packed full of colorful characters, many sketched only briefly, yet Clavell makes us see them all, and understand them. THere are moments of high drama, where our characters are close to being caught or captured, and the plot moves at a brisk pace. I found the ending of the story to be just a tiny bit rushed, BUT it made some powerful statements. When the war ends, the fear that sweeps through the camp, first that the Japanese will take vengeance on the POWs and second, the fear of "what do we do now," is very convincing. It's not what I ever thought the liberation of a POW camp would be like, and it really made me stop and think. And the dynamics that occur when the first officers from "outside" show up to help liberate the camp are fascinating. This book is an exploration of the human spirit that is dramatic, moving, occasionally funny and always unexpected. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not my favorite Clavell book, but ...
Review: Although there is nothing patently wrong with King Rat, it is my least favorite of the first three books in Clavell's Asian Saga. The novel takes place entirely within a POW camp run by the Japanese in Singapore. The plot is engaging and I spent a couple of days eagerly flipping pages until the end, but I didn't get the sense that I had learned anything about Singapore the way that I felt I had learned about Japan and Hong Kong from reading Shogun and Taipan. In the book's defense, it is an excellent account of life in a POW camp and the ends to which people will go to survive in them, but I am hoping that King Rat is not a harbinger of things to come for the remaining books in the series.
Rating:
Summary: roWz
Review: This is the first book that I've read by James Clavell and I'll have to say I will most likely be reading more of them. I chose to read this book as a history assignment and it is perfectly historically accurate. It shows the struggles POWs went through where tobacco is such a prized possession men stoop as low as to pick others used tobacco from the ground. The plot line is slow to realize but becomes more evident as the book becomes harder to read (pages 150 on). Overall the book really makes us feel for the people that fought for us in WW2.
Rating: 
Summary: Reads like a book for 8 to 12 year olds
Review: I really enjoyed the first 100 pages of King Rat and expected good things from the remaining chapters. But the novel goes downhill as the reader is forced to learn more about Peter Marlowe, a character I suspect we're supposed to admire for his complexity. The dialogue between prisoners is forced and the sub-plots are only of marginal interest. I found myself skimming the final third of the novel, as concentrating on it was much too painful. With a 4 and 1/2 star rating, a prospective reader would think they were buying "The Brothers Karamazov". Same goes for all of the books on Amazon that suffer from 'grade inflation'. With every novel commanding 4 or more stars, what's left to differentiate the great novels?
Rating: 
Summary: below par
Review: after reading all of clavell's books, i was looking forward to King Rat. It made me uneasy. I was left with a very disatisfied feeling. Who rated this book so high? were they relatives?
I do not recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: YEAR OF THE RAT, not a review but a reaction
Review: When I started to read King Rat I was not sure what to expect. I was hoping for a cross between "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "The Great Escape." Well I was kind of right on both counts.
King Rat is an authentic novel written from Clavell's past experiences in a Japanese prison camp during the war.
In a nutshell, we have an American, called The King who, back in America was as plain as dirt and who came from humble beginnings. Well ironically, while in Prison, his rough upbringing was just the thing that made him a survivor/local hero among the other enlisted men, yet among the educated British officers he was a trouble maker who wouldn't conform to the rules of the prison. To the Rat prison was the best thing that ever happened to him.
Clavell, spent very little time on the Japanese. This novel dealt mainly with the interactions of the prisoners.
Rather that a prison/war novel I felt this was more or less a character study of class systems. King Rat illustrates to us that a down and out loser from America who couldn't get arrested before the war, can become the most important and cunning survivor during the war. Because, when it is the comes down to it, this is the rule of the jungle, dog eat dog . Just like the actual rat, we loathe them, we try to kill as many as we can, yet we can never seem to kill them all, because a rat is a survivor and can adapt to its surroundings. So in short, the Rat was King in this jungle.
Fine novel, I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Functionalism over form
Review: King Rat serves up a tale of advantage and envy in a less than desirable enviroment, the Changi prison. Changi prison becomes a microcosm of human nature and how base it can really sink when all the comforts and luxuries that so many take for granted are stripped away. A vicious Darwinism takes over as those who can survive and those who can't barely exist or worse. Is the Rat wrong to make himself (& his cohorts to a lesser extent) as comfortable as possible during his stay in Changi? That is the question the reader has to ask themselves after reading this novel. Some of the King Rat characters are referenced further in Clavell's chronicle of the Straun family & Asian business intrigue, "Noble House".
Rating:
Summary: American capitalism versus British class
Review: This, in my opinion, is the best of three books and movies about Japanese World War II prisoner of war camps. The others, also very good, are Bridge on the River Kwai and Empire of the Sun. The theme is how men survive in the horrendous conditions of POW camps. Set in one of the worst camps, Changi, near Singapore, an American corporal, called The King, thrives. He is street-smart, unscrupulous, the most powerful man among the 10,000 prisoners, and somewhat appealing in his vulnerability. The King is also honest -- at least about himself -- and the only other honest person in the book is his antagonist, the wretched, diarrhea-ridden British cop, Grey, who is attempting to rise above his lower-class origins. Most of the other British officers in the book are revealed to be vicious hypocrites. The King and his callow, worshipful friend, a British pilot named Marlowe, outsmart everyone...but then the war ends, and the real world begins again. This is a good tale on several levels: adventure, survival, an insider's look at a Japanese POW camp, and an examination of the differences between Brits and Americans. The movie rates five stars. The book is almost there.
Rating:
Summary: A chilling look at human nature
Review: King Rat is set in a Japanese prisoner camp in World War II. Most of the novel deals with the interactions among the prisoners (who are British, Australian, American, etc.) and between the prisoners and the guards. The main theme is whether or not each prisoner is morally required to help the other prisoners, or whether in this setting it's "every man for himself". The main character is someone who took every possible advantage for himself at the expense of the other prisoners. He becomes the most powerful force in the camp, but he has to sacrifice his humanity to do so. I found this book to be well written and thought provoking; I would recommend it to anyone but especially to anyone contemplating military service.
Rating:
Summary: This book was awesome
Review: Clavell is the best story teller of the twentieth century. His works are accurate, compelling, and timeless. An hour with this book "King Rat" goes by like a second. I have read Shogun, while much longer, it is also impossible to put down. Buy this book now.
|
