"East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet."  That, according to Kipling.  I've only read two of the Asian Saga now, but I think a major theme of Clavell's book is testing whether Kipling is necessarily right.  In Shogun, we have a westerner who partially assimilates into Japanese culture, and while Western trade is making inroads into Japan, it is having a much less unifying influence.

This book covers the founding of Hong Kong, and centers around Dirk Straun, the Tia Pan (big boss) of the traders and the head of the Noble House, the largest trading partner.  It starts just after the first Opium War, where the British fought so nobly to preserve their right to sell opium into China for silver bullion, which they could in turn use to export tea.

Straun's ambition, beyond getting obscenely rich, is to create a lasting base for the British in China from which he could unify the cultures, joining together the best of each.  Thus, unlike the other Westerners, he believes in bathing and in basic sanitary procedures.  He also is fairly tolerant of unconventional practices (like continuing to associate with a woman he knows has been prostituting herself to Chinese bigwigs).  His ambition is genuine and noble, even though his character and his capacity to do evil is also abundantly clear.

A large difference between this book and Shogun is that while that book was immersed in Japanese culture, this one largely sticks to the British enclave and only brushes against China.  That said, the Chinese characters who do appear, especially Mei Mei and a small part by an older moneylender, are rich and devoid of caricature.  On the downside, Clavell's foray's into transcribing pigeon English are painful to read -- almost as bad as the dialect in Wuthering Heights.

The story itself is done extremely well.  Straun's overall goal is abundantly clear.  The obstacles to it are deftly dealt with, whether its impending bankruptcy, an outbreak of malaria, or just the continual rivalry between the Noble House and the Brocks, the second largest trading group.  My main complaint here is that the book feels like the story has been wrapped up, and then another major obstacle comes in as a kind of deus ex machina, which is a little odd since it also is historically accurate.  Thus, I was a little disappointed with the ending when I read it, but thinking on it, I think it is basically how the book had to end, and in its own way is quite beautiful.

If anything, I liked this book even more than Shogun.  I thought the characters were fuller and better developed.  That may be because I believe Clavell has a better handle on the British way of thinking than he did on the Feudal Japanese way of thinking.  Does that mean that Kipling was right?  As hard as Clavell tries, is it just that he understands the West and doesn't quite get the East?  I'm not sure on this.  In any case, what he has achieved is remarkable and I'm definitely looking forward to Gaijin.