Rating: 
Summary: MOVING and though provoking
Review: The book is deeply moving and thought provoking. What is really important in life? How would I develop or handle such circumstances if put to reality? What is moral or not and where is the fine line between survival and death? All of these questions are posed by Clavell... What a masterful portrayal! Clavell is such an outstanding writer! Sho-gun was my first read.. This one is a classic also!! Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful gripping story that is real
Review: This is my first review so bear with me. This book reminded me a lot of Catch-22 by Heller because of the wartime scene and its cast of characters. Though King Rat is not that humorous, Clavell still wrote a fascinating story. His style so easily reveals the key characters and what they're all about. Learning about King and Marlowe and Grey - early in the book, you know everything you need to know about them. The key is the dynamics between them - the interaction between them. I enjoyed every conversation between Marlowe and the King because I as the reader could feel the electricity. As it happens with any good story, you get so immersed in "their" (prisoners') situation, that you suddenly realize how much your view has changed throughout the story. That is good writing. I tried hard to read Clavell's Shogun - heck I went traveling to another country and still couldn't finish it - it's too long - it was a great epic but I needed answers or conclusions. King Rat is much shorter and as powerful. One other mention - the version I bought included 5 or 6 sets of 10-15 pages that discussed what happened to a few of the wives of the prisoners. You can buy either version - the story of the wives' is interesting and touching, but you're not going to get your sappy Hollywood ending in this one so it doesn't add to the story much.
Rating:
Summary: WHAT A FABLE, WHAT A LIFE!
Review: The whole time devoted to reading this book was a magic spell to me. This book must be recommended as a text book for students. Because you can see the diffrences between haves and have-nots, how they become what they are, how strong the diffrences are. In KOREA we have a similar novel "OUR DISTORTED HERO" by a famous writer. but 'KING RAT" is more vivid and has more juice. Reading this book you are going to see what your life will be like. And in the end you are going to get this result,"LIFE IS BUT A DREAM"
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully entertaining
Review: This is a truly great book. James Clavell is a master of making his audience feel as if they are immersed in the story. The relationships between people when they are placed in a desperate situation (in this case a WWII POW camp) is facinating. There is a deep insight into the main characters that isn't found in most books. This book is terrific and if you can't handle some of his larger books this is a great way to become acquainted with is writing. This is one of my favorite books of all time. I've read it more times than I can recall.
Rating:
Summary: PERFECT
Review: this book...is perfect.. it shows how the inteligence is much more better than the force or something like that....i'm really love this book,it is perfect
Rating:
Summary: A must Own! Beutifuly Written!
Review: It may take time to read. But its writing will put you where the charater is. James works still lives to this day. It is amazing! The story of how one man controls a prison, how a man is pitted by his wits to his what he can take phsycaly. If you like lititure books, then James Clavell is the best at his books. Try it out. And try out Shogun!
Rating:
Summary: A Glorious Acheivement
Review: This is the only only book that written that in my opinion supplants Clavell's own Shogun as perhaps the best historical novel ever written. Partly autobiographical, King Rat recounts the story of Phillip Marlowe, a character no doubt based on Clavell himself, and his years spent in the notorious Singapore POW camp known as Changi during WW2. What is so stunning about this novel, is that perhaps because of the very real life experiences that forged its narrative, it becomes more than mere words on paper, it becomes a very real world where the old class lines are broken down as officers and enlisted men sleep in the same mud huts, where getting an egg in your rice for dinner constitutes a great day, a transvestite becomes the sexual icon of the whole camp and the very concept of traditional ethics and morals are challenged. What makes this novel so very magical is that the depth with which the characters and their respective personalities and fates resonate with the readers, their laughter becomes your laughter, their sorrow becomes your sorrow, their joy becomes your joy, very rarely is a novel simultaneously able to so superbly entertain and make you affect your outlook on life, after the end of this short novel you will feel as if you have emerged from three years in a Singapore prison camp, and like the men in this novel, you will never be the same again.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This is the 4th Clavell book I've read, I was more than a little disappointed. I've read them in order so far, Shogun and Tai-pan for me were breathtaking, long books which I sped through. Gai-jin was more of a chore, with not much of ending. I found King Rat dull, I think the story wasn't too interesting. Other customers have commented on how harsh the prison was - too be honest, I thought it would've been worse. The King had none of the charisma of the heroes in the other books, and I found myself not really caring whether or not either him or Marlowe made it. Although a lot was made of their inner feelings, this made me feel that they were both just shallow people.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent novel dealing with a difficult subject matter...
Review: As others have noted, this is James Clavell's first novel and definitely the most difficult for him to write. It deals with the Changi POW camp that Clavell himself was imprisoned in during the latter stages of the Second World War. Clavell's pain of having to revisit the very harsh memories of Changi will leave most readers with a better understanding of human sacrifice and survival. Although part of the Asian saga, King Rat can stand alone as an excellent WW2 memoir. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: King Rat is a fairly accurate depiticion of life in a Japanese POW camp. He glosses over the harsher points of camp life, but leaves enough to give a good pitcure.
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