He is always at least one step ahead of them and uses his superior intellect and influence to manipulate them into doing whatever benefits him - from the artist to the plenipotentiary, everybody obeys him, whether they realize it or not. Tai-Pan is a 1966 novel written by James Clavell about European and American traders who move into Hong Kong in 1842 following the end of the First Opium War. Due to the bargain struck between Dirk Struan and Jin Qua, Gordon Chen managed Jin Qua's financial interests in Hong Kong, investing in land and money lending. g. “spiritually“), opened his eyes, and certainly not to the degree of Blackthorne’s love affair with Japan. The thing I suppose I needed most this year was a balls-out story of daring, legal piracy and hard-nosed colonialism in the service of personal riches and furthering the drug trade.

Anul 1841, Imperiul Britanic castiga insula pustie a Hong Kong-ului, exact cum isi dorise Dirk Struan de 20 de ani, Dirk fiind seful (Tai-Pan, conducatorul suprem) celei mai puternice companii comerciale din Orientul indepartat, Nobila Casa. A great protagonist, one I was glad to follow through regardless of whether I actually liked him as a person or not. It is about the foundation of Hong Kate no and a nice journey through the social life and customs of China at that time (19th century).

Not great, but good - I remember being engaged, interested enough in the subject matter, the way the plot developed. Horatio Sinclair – clerk to William Longstaff, church fanatic and harbours incestuous desires for his sister Mary. So, with ‘Shogun‘, instead of William Adams, we have John Blackthorne and in place of Tokugawa we have Toranaga. This is incredibly frustrating and hard to read at times, especially with some characters not even just speaking with an accent, but instead butchering grammar and "misspelling" words.

As a result of this victory, the British take Hong Kong for themselves and Dirk seems poised to rise to even further heights of success. This works for the most part because, according to Clavell, foreigners were pretty much strictly forbidden from going anywhere other than those two places.The true love between the two, despite the different world views and cultural differences and despite the fact that Maymay would never be accepted in European society is quite beautiful. Dirk has been involved in the complicated and profitable world of opium trading for several years and, as the book starts, sees his plan to win the first opium war with China succeed. As any 700+ page book goes, the first 100 pages are a mess of trying to understand the story setup, and the various backgrounds of the characters. Concessions to the barbarians will have to be made (Hong Kong) and Struan, the devil man, has the ear of the English politician Longstaff or as the Chinese refer to him Odious Penis.