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A review by lpm100
King Rat by James Clavell
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Book Review
"King Rat"
5/5 stars
Markedly uncomfortable
*******
What to think of this troubling book?
1. There are far too many events here to remember the narrative arc from start to finish, and that is fine because the book is allegorical more than anything.
2. "1984" and "Animal Farm" created unlikely/impossible situations in order to be didactic. And the message was clearer, in that way.
In this book, it is a fictionalized telling of a situation that actually existed but....... it, too, presented some extremely uncomfortable truths about human nature.
I have read books history books about certain parts of World War II, but the treatment of Japanese prisoners of War was handled in a surgical and superficial way.
Those parts that did address the Japanese treatment of POWs TOLD us.
James Clavell comes at this from the opposite direction, which is to reverse engineer characters that SHOW us the suffering of the POWs from many angles.
What lessons can a reader draw?
1. Humanity has to be learned, and if you put people in a stressful enough situation they will start to lose their humanity. And the process of regaining it is not instantaneous, but only slow and laborious. ("Under the Same Sky," Joseph Kim.)
2. Among people in a stressful communal situation, there a certain type of equality. (POWs of that time probably had a relationship similar to plantation slaves.)
3. Not every society shares the Western penchant for hamstringing itself with a bunch of moral codes, and not everything is to be treated as a moral issue. Rules of engagement and treatment of POWs meant absolutely nothing to the Japanese. For the Chinese traders, money was money. No matter the source.
4. Opportunistic homosexuality is not at all new. Gay guys becoming the Queen of A Prison is also not new. (Jean Genet!)
Also, similarly to a book by Nathan McCall ("Makes Me Wanna Holler"), in prison situations a lot of time men will collectively convince vulnerable men that they ARE a woman. (pps 368-9).
5. One man's suffering is another man's bargain. The merchandise fencer ("The King") made a lot of money selling to desperate men. Men who were left behind in the war effort had a lot of moist evenings screwing the wives of POWs.
6. White ladies are popular always and everywhere. (Even the Japanese got in on the game and used food diplomacy when they saw a white looking lady that looked nice to them.)
7. Asian people are keen on eugenics, and they are unapologetic about it. It doesn't only depend on one culture. Japanese [this book, p.181], Chinese ["Sarong Party Girls"], Filipino, Native Hawaiians [James Michener's "Hawaii"]. So, if you are a white guy and want to spread your seed.... You have an easy road to walk.
8. The dog of the king thinks that he is king of the dogs. And no matter how squalid / pointless the situation, there is someone who is looking for at least one person to be beneath him.
9. The Malaysian relationship with Islam is nothing like the Middle Eastern / North African variety. The presence of pork dining/djinns on one page (p. 270), and the mention of Allah on the next was a bit.... jarring.
10. Seems like Chinese are middle men par excellence, and if there is something to be traded or some shady deal to be made... They are right in the thick of it.
11. More than one source has described the freewheeling sexual behavior of people in Island nations. Hawaii. Papua New Guinea. Malaysia.
12. These arguments about Communist Democrats and Robber Baron Republicans has been going on in the United States at least since the time of the Second World War (p.302).
13. In some way, all wars are the same: Old Men send Young Men off to die (for a war that said Old Men don't really even believe in), and after enough of them have died then the Opposing Old Men sit down and make a deal (p.488).
14. Survival of The Fittest / Social Darwinism/ law of the jungle are bad words to use in "refined" company (these days), but they are true just the same. No matter how much we pretend that they are not.
The strong survive, and the weak are their prey.
15. If you put a man in a bad situation, at some point it becomes an acquired taste.
In present times, there are so many black people in the United States who go in and out of jail because....... That's what they have come to like.
Chinese people go through one tyrannical government after another, and they keep creating the same thing because....... That's what they have come to like.
Immigrants from third world countries like Haiti / much of Latin America come to the United States and recreate their own way of life (that they were ostensibly fleeing from) because......... That is what they have come to like.
North Korea still exists, and they will be celebrating a centennial anniversary before you know it.
16. Fortunes can change overnight, and who we are is not an absolute thing.
It only depends on context.
The Nameless King in this book was somebody big and important, but only in the context of a prison. (Nameless at the beginning because his name was too important to be used.)
When the game was over, he was just somebody like everybody else. (Nameless at the end because he was just one more among thousands of other prisoners.)
17. Morality seems to be context to dependent.
Quotes
(p.220): ".... Boiled to that perfection of tastelessness that only the English call cooking."
(p.276): ".... The states. There's nothing like it in the world. Every man for himself, and every man's as good as the next guy."
(p.267): "Neither of each, neither of both."
Vocab:
skirting road
"godown"
ruddy ("bloody")
frangipani
salvarsan
combination (petticoat)
cobber
blachang/belacan
billy can
Millionaire's cabbage
rijsttafel
[kajang
satay/saté
taka
huan]=spices
pranging
"Take a powder"
baju jacket
parry and throughst
kawa (tea)
somnambulant
"King Rat"
5/5 stars
Markedly uncomfortable
*******
What to think of this troubling book?
1. There are far too many events here to remember the narrative arc from start to finish, and that is fine because the book is allegorical more than anything.
2. "1984" and "Animal Farm" created unlikely/impossible situations in order to be didactic. And the message was clearer, in that way.
In this book, it is a fictionalized telling of a situation that actually existed but....... it, too, presented some extremely uncomfortable truths about human nature.
I have read books history books about certain parts of World War II, but the treatment of Japanese prisoners of War was handled in a surgical and superficial way.
Those parts that did address the Japanese treatment of POWs TOLD us.
James Clavell comes at this from the opposite direction, which is to reverse engineer characters that SHOW us the suffering of the POWs from many angles.
What lessons can a reader draw?
1. Humanity has to be learned, and if you put people in a stressful enough situation they will start to lose their humanity. And the process of regaining it is not instantaneous, but only slow and laborious. ("Under the Same Sky," Joseph Kim.)
2. Among people in a stressful communal situation, there a certain type of equality. (POWs of that time probably had a relationship similar to plantation slaves.)
3. Not every society shares the Western penchant for hamstringing itself with a bunch of moral codes, and not everything is to be treated as a moral issue. Rules of engagement and treatment of POWs meant absolutely nothing to the Japanese. For the Chinese traders, money was money. No matter the source.
4. Opportunistic homosexuality is not at all new. Gay guys becoming the Queen of A Prison is also not new. (Jean Genet!)
Also, similarly to a book by Nathan McCall ("Makes Me Wanna Holler"), in prison situations a lot of time men will collectively convince vulnerable men that they ARE a woman. (pps 368-9).
5. One man's suffering is another man's bargain. The merchandise fencer ("The King") made a lot of money selling to desperate men. Men who were left behind in the war effort had a lot of moist evenings screwing the wives of POWs.
6. White ladies are popular always and everywhere. (Even the Japanese got in on the game and used food diplomacy when they saw a white looking lady that looked nice to them.)
7. Asian people are keen on eugenics, and they are unapologetic about it. It doesn't only depend on one culture. Japanese [this book, p.181], Chinese ["Sarong Party Girls"], Filipino, Native Hawaiians [James Michener's "Hawaii"]. So, if you are a white guy and want to spread your seed.... You have an easy road to walk.
8. The dog of the king thinks that he is king of the dogs. And no matter how squalid / pointless the situation, there is someone who is looking for at least one person to be beneath him.
9. The Malaysian relationship with Islam is nothing like the Middle Eastern / North African variety. The presence of pork dining/djinns on one page (p. 270), and the mention of Allah on the next was a bit.... jarring.
10. Seems like Chinese are middle men par excellence, and if there is something to be traded or some shady deal to be made... They are right in the thick of it.
11. More than one source has described the freewheeling sexual behavior of people in Island nations. Hawaii. Papua New Guinea. Malaysia.
12. These arguments about Communist Democrats and Robber Baron Republicans has been going on in the United States at least since the time of the Second World War (p.302).
13. In some way, all wars are the same: Old Men send Young Men off to die (for a war that said Old Men don't really even believe in), and after enough of them have died then the Opposing Old Men sit down and make a deal (p.488).
14. Survival of The Fittest / Social Darwinism/ law of the jungle are bad words to use in "refined" company (these days), but they are true just the same. No matter how much we pretend that they are not.
The strong survive, and the weak are their prey.
15. If you put a man in a bad situation, at some point it becomes an acquired taste.
In present times, there are so many black people in the United States who go in and out of jail because....... That's what they have come to like.
Chinese people go through one tyrannical government after another, and they keep creating the same thing because....... That's what they have come to like.
Immigrants from third world countries like Haiti / much of Latin America come to the United States and recreate their own way of life (that they were ostensibly fleeing from) because......... That is what they have come to like.
North Korea still exists, and they will be celebrating a centennial anniversary before you know it.
16. Fortunes can change overnight, and who we are is not an absolute thing.
It only depends on context.
The Nameless King in this book was somebody big and important, but only in the context of a prison. (Nameless at the beginning because his name was too important to be used.)
When the game was over, he was just somebody like everybody else. (Nameless at the end because he was just one more among thousands of other prisoners.)
17. Morality seems to be context to dependent.
Quotes
(p.220): ".... Boiled to that perfection of tastelessness that only the English call cooking."
(p.276): ".... The states. There's nothing like it in the world. Every man for himself, and every man's as good as the next guy."
(p.267): "Neither of each, neither of both."
Vocab:
skirting road
"godown"
ruddy ("bloody")
frangipani
salvarsan
combination (petticoat)
cobber
blachang/belacan
billy can
Millionaire's cabbage
rijsttafel
[kajang
satay/saté
taka
huan]=spices
pranging
"Take a powder"
baju jacket
parry and throughst
kawa (tea)
somnambulant