Rating: 
Summary: This book really makes you think!
Review: Of all Clavell's books, this has always been my favorite. I will not deny that Clavell tends to use the same story and characters in every novel (compare shogun with tai-pan and noble house). I love all his books (even gai-jin which few seem to enjoy), but King Rat is the best. It really makes you think about human nature, and what's really important in life. All these people grew up in a certain lifestyle, and suddenly and thrown together in a POW camp, and under brutal circumstances. I have done research on POW camps at this time,and the findings are not pleasant, so it really is interesting to see how people change, and what they really value. Seeing as how Mr. Clavell spent time in Changi himself, all that we see in King Rat is an extension of that, and so you can really appreciate what he endured. It for these above reasons that I truly enjoyed this book above his other great novels, and why I have read several times over.
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: The black sheep of the saga
Review: King Rat has many unique aspects amongst the other novels in the Asian saga:
- It was written first, with less connections to the rest of the series.
- It's the shortest of the lot.
- It's the most autobiographical, as Clavell spent time in that same prison.
- There is the least cross-cultural interaction. Having said all of this, this WWII POW survival story is a compelling study of what people do to survive. In a sense, we all become rats, with one as king. Much of the book studies the manipulations between folks vying for power. There are the Americans trying to enforce prison standards. There are people living off of rank to hold a grasp of dignity. And then there is the King of the title, who finds a way to transcend above the problems, living off the black market and a network of informants. We are introduced to the character that most closely resembles Clavell in this novel too. Though he reappears in Noble House, we first catch the author as the King's sidekick, a downed soldier who has to struggle with where his loyalties are. I can not recommend the series enough. Whether you go through it chronologically as written, or in the order of time periods written about, you'll find this a deep addition to the series.
Rating:
Summary: Great adventure
Review: An American corporal manages to swindle and manipulate his way to being the "King" of a Japanese POW camp. The one thing that sets this aside from Clavell's three other novels that I have read, aside from being semi autobiographical is the protagonist. The King has a rascal like charm to him that makes the character highly readable and fun. He is the underdog. Plotting and conniving to make a buck and sticking it to his superiors and relishing it. A man in the right place at the right time. He befriends a British Lieutenant by the name of Marlowe (A nice little nod to Joseph Conrad) whose honor and integrity is arguably the the conflict in the book. Finally, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the dutiful yet pitful antagonist Lieutenant Grey. Who, while morally and lawfully in the right, alienates himself by taking himself too seriously. These three make for some great tension and are the main drive of the story. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not an epic, despite this being his most personal story. However, Clavell fans will not be disappointed. The protagonist thinks two steps ahead of everyone else (I would hate to play chess with the author) and I would not be surprised if King's shrewdness was a precursor to Toranaga in Shogun. Any less qualified author would have made this story into glorified genre pulp. For those struggling for a visual reference, think Bridge on the River Kwai and Pappilon. A great read and highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: ANGER AND NOSTALGIA
Review: There we go again, after Shogun this is my second book by clavell. The best thing about the book is that the author did not try to justify the war. Japs were not the villains. Its was something bigger....situations...the situation,time was the biggest enemy. Just how mean people can get when the find themselves in bad situations. it is quiet true people can actually forget that they are fighting for the good side when it comes to saving their lifes.
Mr clavel who actually went through all this, has written the book with an emotion (cant tell axactly is it anger or nostalgia)
The book is a must read for every book lover
Rating: 
Summary: NOT AS COMPELLING AS IT SHOULD BE
Review: This is my first James Clavell novel. In a nutshell, it is a Japanese version of Stalag 17. It is the story of American, British, and Australian POW's at Changi prison camp. A place where the real world is turned completely upside down. In addition to being prisoners, the POW's find their ranks are meaningless. Devoid of societal/military rules "the strong" survive. #1 is "the King," an American corporal who runs the prison camp from the inside. The King effectively manipulates everyone in the camp from Colonels on down, through his payroll system. If you want money, eggs, cigarettes, medicine, you have to see the King. If you want to sell something, everyone knows you go through the King. Suspense is derived from the near misses of getting caught by the Japanese or the pip-squeak MP, Captain Grey. Grey's sole motivation is catching the King "breaking the rules." Much of the action is seen through the eyes of Peter Marlowe, an affable English lieutenant to whom the King takes a liking due to his command of the local language and it's value to the King in trading and conversing with the guards. The King teeters on the edge of good and evil throughout the book, never completely falling off the fence to either side. Under the circumstances, the reader tends to forgive the King's "business" dealings over this lack of compassion for the suffering around him. But when the suffering befalls Marlowe, the King reacts as a true friend and saves Marlowe's arm from amputation. The finale is somewhat ambiguous and anticlimactic. The man who was once on top, the King, is reduced to a lowly corporal again and the many officers and outranking enlisted men are quick to see the King put back into his place when they are rescued and order is restored. The books is adequate at best as there are no major conflicts or plot twists. But it is one of the few books telling the story of a Japanese POW camp.
Rating:
Summary: crazy fellow
Review: king rat was set in changi, singapore.. it's a breath taking novel by james clavell.. its my first clavell's novel and already it has left an amazing impression for me.. it focuses on our life and what we have to do to live by using your brain.. it shows the inner character of human beings.. how human beings react when they have nothing and they even eat dog's meat to fulfill their hunger.. its a bit funny too.. the book shows the king's brainstorm and how he survived and how he was fit and fine ithe camp while everybody was in a miserable condition.. it doesnt matter how you achieve ur goal or how you get the things u wanted.. but what matter is that you've got it...
its a fantastic book and it reflects the miserable POW camp during the second world war
Rating:
Summary: Join the Rat Race
Review: Writing about a POW camp during WWII, where British, American and Australian soldiers were kept for several years by the Japanese - in the infamous Changi prison near Singapore - is a daunting topic. After all, it is rather depressing and there is not that much of a plot. Clavell does very well at describing the inhuman situtation and how some - the king Rat - of the title do better than others in this kind of circumstances. The prison world dehumanizes most of them, Peter Marlowe, is one the exceptions holding on to his upper class principles as much as can be expected under these circumstance. There is a lot about the relationship of the different classes in Englands and the lack of that in the USA. There is sort of a happy ending when most of the principal characters hang on their lives until their liberated with the end of the war.
At the same time this looks like the downfall of the admired King Rat of the title, who when stripped of his power, has no friend left and dows nt seem to look forward to going back to freedom after the powerful postion he had enjoyed in the camp.
It is powerful book and especially the ending makes it a book hard to forget. It does not have the wide range of other Clavell novels but it makes up for this by creating the claustrophobic world that was Changi. Quite recommendable.
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: Right up there with Shogun
Review: King Rat is a masterpiece and quite possibly the most in depth and personal World War II book ever written. Clavell, a Japanese POW, uses his own experiences at these horrid camps to create a narraritve that will not soon be forgotten. The book surrounds the life of British militant Peter Marlowe (based on Clavell, most likely) and the manipulative and un-named "King." These men are amoung the Allied troops captured by the Japanese in the South Pacific, and the story reflects the type of society they built to survive the horrible conditions of the camp. A deep plot, dynamic characters, action, and romance make this a must-read...one of the highlights of 20th century literature.
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