King Rat

The Asian Saga, Book 4

By: James Clavell

Narrated by: Simon Vance

The epic novel of war, savagery, and survival in a Japanese POW camp by the #1 New York Times bestselling author and unparalleled master of historical fiction, James Clavell

Japanese POW camp Changi, Singapore: hell on earth for the soldiers contained within its barbed wire walls. Officers and enlisted men, all prisoners together, yet the old hierarchies and rivalries survive. An American corporal, known as the King, has used his personality and wiles to facilitate trading with guards and locals to get needed food, supplies, even information into the camp. The imprisoned upper-class officers have never had to do things for themselves, and now they are reduced to wearing rags while the King’s clean shirt, gained through guts and moxie, seems like luxury in comparison. In the camp, everything has its price and everything is for sale. But trading is illegal—and the King has made a formidable enemy. Robin Grey, the provost marshal, hates the King and all he represents. Grey, though he grew up modestly, fervently believes in the British class system: everyone should know their place, and he knows the King’s place is at the bottom.

The King does have a friend in Peter Marlowe, who, though wary of the King and himself a product of the British system, finds himself drawn to the charismatic man who just might be the only one who can save them from both the inhumanity of the prison camp but also from themselves. Powerful and engrossing, King Rat artfully weaves the author’s own World War II prison camp experiences into a compelling narrative of survival amidst the grim realities of war and what men can do when pushed to the edge. A taut masterwork of World War II historical fiction by bestselling author James Clavell.

©2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audio

An amazing experience

Loved it! Couldn't stop listening until the end. The story is very engaging and the narrator is a great inpersonator. I would recommend it to anyone.

Cunning & Luck & Strength

I'm not sure if it's the best idea to read/listen to multiple Asian Saga titles in rapid succession. Clavell's perception of survival and reward begins to form its own focus, providing an overwhelming reminder of just who life's inevitable winners and losers are. Some of us, as we fully digest the common themes, can gleefully assure ourselves that we are in the former group, while others (gulp...) have to admit that we might veer towards the latter.

Regardless, I have to say that King Rat is the most "real" of the Asian novels, even though I very much liked Taipan, Noble House, and Shogun. This one obviously emanates from deep within the author's own experience, clearly one that he "needed" to write at that point in his career and in distance from the early 1940s. It's a remarkable novel and a story of horrific imprisonment within the WWII dynamic that needs to be told and heard. Top rating for both the book and the narration. Highly recommended!

Brilliant!

Typical Clavell characters, intrigue and plotting. Hard to stop listening as the tension and plot is maintained throughout. Excellent natration from Simon Vance as always.

What a Book!

Now this my friends is a book, a story of a lifetime. The heartbreak is real and I suppose I too was a prisoner of the book and just as the prisoners were lost due to freedom so do I feel too.

And really got to hand it to Simon Vance on how to tell a story. Marvellous accents and punctuation. Can’t wait to find another book like this but I suppose it would be hard. It’s not called a Classic for nothing.