tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post7208708221047214772..comments2023-10-06T20:40:16.011-07:00Comments on Scientist Gone Wordy: King Rat by James ClavellRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12471937819219493034noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-81830121624336655072017-06-01T01:51:44.365-07:002017-06-01T01:51:44.365-07:00I'm really glad we did this one so thanks to y...I'm really glad we did this one so thanks to you for suggesting. This book wasn't really on my radar at all so it's a gift to me to get the nudge to read it.<br /><br />I absolutely agree regarding the setting. Clavell's work is wonderfully evocative and I feel like, to the extent that it's possible, he was putting me inside that camp and inside the character's heads and coping mechanisms. I sometimes found his dialogue a bit off and wondered how he approached it. Was it wholly made up or did he attempt to recreate some of what he might have heard himself. Rendering actual dialogue smoothly can be difficult. Regardless, it was a small thing that never detracted from how his story carried me along.<br /><br />Thanks again!Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12471937819219493034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-73692023997850326962017-05-29T07:17:27.920-07:002017-05-29T07:17:27.920-07:00Wonderful review, as always, Rachel. Thought you&#...Wonderful review, as always, Rachel. Thought you'd appreciate it after I read it again this year. Had been so long since I gave this one a gander. Clavell's first chapter of his debut novel showed exactly how to build a setting and flesh it out with characters in a compelling, if horrific, manner was just text book. Getting it into the reader's head in the most economic but melodic way imaginable, in my opinion.<br /><br />I'd forgotten the "trips" outside of Changi that Clavell sent the reader on, which connected with specific imprisoned characters on the inside. Enlarged the cast of POWs in a way most don't imagine when the book's genre is introduced. It's the most unexpected aspect of this work I found.<br /><br />Anyway, so glad we could once again come together on a book-film combo, especially a title we could attach to Memorial Day. Many thanks, Rachel. :-)le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.com