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Posted
21 hours ago, Jules Troy said:

When I think good Historical fiction?

James Clavell.

 

I think “Tai-Pan” is one of my favorite novels of all time and of course “King Rat” is one of my favorite movies. Reading the novel “King Rat” was riveting. I could not put it down. Emotional highs and lows abound in the novel. I remember discussing it with my Dad who made a career in the U.S. Navy. Peter   

Notes. James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell, 10 October 1921 – 6 September 1994), was an Australian (and later naturalized American) novelist, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known as the author of his Asian Saga novels, a number of which have had television adaptations. Clavell also authored such screenplays as those for The Fly (1958) (based on the short story by George Langelaan) and The Great Escape (1963) (based on the personal account of Paul Brickhill) . . . . He wrote Watusi (1959) for director Kurt Neumann, who had also made The Fly . . . . In 1960 the Writers Guild went on strike, meaning Clavell was unable to work. He decided to write a novel, King Rat, based on his time at Changi. It took him three months and several more months after that to rework it. The book was published in 1962 and sold well. It was turned into a film in 1965. In 1961, Clavell announced he had formed his own company, Cee Productions, who would make the films King Rat, White Alice and No Hands on the Clock. In 1962 he signed a multi picture contract with a Canadian company to produce and direct two films there, Circle of Greed and The Sweet and the Bitter.[13] Only the second was made and it was not released until 1967. He wrote scripts for the war films The Great Escape (1963) and 633 Squadron (1964). He wrote a short story, "The Children's Story" (1964) and the script for The Satan Bug (1965), directed by John Sturges who had made The Great Escape. He also wrote Richard Sahib for Sturges which was never made . . . . Novels The Asian Saga consists of seven novels: King Rat (1962), set in a Japanese POW camp in Singapore in 1945. Tai-Pan (1966), set in Hong Kong in 1841. Shōgun (1975), set Japan from 1600 onwards Noble House (1981), set in Hong Kong in 1963 Whirlwind (1986), set in Iran in 1979. Gai-Jin (1993), set in Japan in 1862 .

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