Friday, January 7, 2011

1. The Noble House

By: James Clavell
Rated 5 ++ Stars

I just finished listening to an audiobook of The Noble House by James Clavell.  56 hours and 13 minutes of fast moving action and spies everywhere.  Russian Spies, Chinese Spies, British Spies, American Spies, Industrial Multinational Spies, and Corporate Spies.  The saving grace of this complicated story is that Clavell peopled it with characters I cared about.I loved it!

Although the story is set in 1963 and the politics is somewhat dated it is true to it's time and some of it, re: Viet Nam for instance is downright prophetic. I read this book sometime in the mid 70's back when I was still naive about what went on in the world.  Sadly this time through I found all the goings on completely believable.

Publishers Description:
The setting is Hong Kong, 1963. The action spans scarcely more than a week, but these are the days of high adventure, from kidnapping and murder to financial double-dealing and natural catastrophes: fire, flood, and landslide. Yet they are days filled as well with all the mystery and romance of Hong Kong, the heart of Asia, rich in every trade: money, flesh, opium, power.