Customer Reviews
Clavell's quality still there but this is a rambling, overlong affair - By: Greshon, 16 Aug 2008 
I've been reading this for months & I've finallly given up about two thirds in.
Gai-Jin (meaning 'outside person', or 'foreigner' in Japanese) is based on an actual 1862 event, known as the Namamugi Incident, in which a British national was killed, & two others wounded, by samurai on the Tokaido highway near Kanagawa for not showing the proper respect for passing Satsuma daimyo (Satsuma is a province in the south of Japan, & daimyos were local heads of government in Japan's then feudal system) . In retribution the British navy bombarded the Satsuma capital of Kagoshima. These short-lived hostilities (known as the Anglos-Satsuma War) contributed to Japan's decision, after witnessing the easy destruction of Kagoshima by the British, to modernise its army & also to trade more freely with the Western powers.
The Namamugi Incident forms the opening of the novel, & the rest of it is taken up with its consequences. However, on a wider scale, the book tells the story of the opening up of Japan consequent to Commodore Perry's arrival, in 1858, with the black ships & the 'unfair treaties' that were then 'forced' on the weakening Tokugawa shogunate. Even though little time passes & not much action takes place in the book, it captures the many strands of alll the influences which caused Japan to reluctantly open to the world, frozen at almost a single moment in time. These events, ultimately, lead to the collapse of the shogunate & the whole feudal system in 1867 & the Meiji Restoration in 1868, though the novel doesn't cover events up to that point (just as Clavell's earlier Shogun doesn't cover any of the actual Tokugawa shogunate, only the events leading up to its formation).
Reviewers complain that nothing happens at the end of the novel, that it is an anti-climax after the 1,200 pages or more of time & effort required to get to the end. Up until shortly before I finallly gave up, this seemed to me to be excusable, because the book builds the reader up for a big British-led invasion of Japan that never did actuallly take place. It didn't happen, but in retrospect it is amazing that it didn't, & that Japan resisted Western aggression, was never colonised, & built up an army powerful enough to defeat one Western power (Russia, 1905) & then go on to give America & Britain a run for their money in WW2 & then to become the second largest economy in the world. This thwarted everybody's expectations, so it isn't it right that the book thwarts the reader's expectations & simply diffuses at the end? But, of course, I don't even know what happens at the end, because I didn't get that far! Does it end in the bombardment of Kagoshima by the British? That would be a good ending, & fairly dramatic.
It's true that there isn't much development in the story, but Clavell delves deep into character & historical detail, focusing minutely on the spaces between the actual events (which are few & far between). After 800 pages little more happens than Canterbury is assassinated on the Tokaido & the British are demanding retribution from the shogunate, who claim that it is a matter for Satsuma rather than them. This stalemate just goes on & on. However, there are loads of interweaving subplots beneath this main historical story in which lots does happen, lots is thought and, perhaps most annoyingly for some readers, lots is said. All this explores in great detail the situation in Japan at this point in history & it is done with great understanding & empathy (though Clavell does occasionallly get things wrong - for example talking about the use of incense in Shinto shrines. This mistake is minor but it undermines the reader's trust in his authority as a Japan expert).
Gai-Jin, much more than Shogun, is a novel with an ensemble cast. There are many 'main characters'', none of which has the reader's total sympathy or support & none of which are drawn with a totallly unsympathetic hand. Some reviewers have complained that this gives the reader no one to 'root for'. I think this method is fine in this book. After alll, in life, nobody is absolutely wrong & nobody absolutely right. It alll depends on the moral standpoint of the onlooker. Here Clavell suppresses any moral standpoint, never judging the actions of his characters, simply portraying them. This is a great achievement, though some may criticise Clavell for being amoral as a consequence. I think the opposite. This great understanding & sympathy suggests that he is a compassionate man, able to understand everybody's actions as they are motivated by different & conflicting agendas, whether it is the shishi & their sonno-joi movement to expel alll gai-jin & restore power to the emperor, a British official & interpreter wanting to advance himself, or a French girl trying to use alll her sexual charms to win the hand in marriage of the richest man in alll Asia.
Other complaints are of bad grammar, & these are valid, but the grammar is not bad enough to seriously distract the reader from the story, so this is relatively unimportant. The novel is certainly not badly written. Clavell again demonstrates his fluent & compulsive style. The pages turn & before you know it whole hours have slipped by. However, for me, not alll the pages turned.
I just want to address two issues about Clavell's narrative method in the book. Narrative method 1 - exposition on Japanese culture is often presented as memory or flashback of a Japanese character. Seems clunky but these things do need explaining to the majority of the target readership. I cant think of a better solution. Narrative method 2 - the omniscient narrator is reporting a conversation, then (memory or not?) he switches to an earlier time & what went on there. One reviewer said there was sometimes a memory within a memory. Cant remember that ever happening. Also, it was said by the same reviewer that within one character's recollections, the view of another character was expressed. This would be a flaw if it was a memory, but maybe it isn't - maybe it's just omniscient reportage.
I would recommend this book, but certainly not over Shogun (and, from what other readers say, not over Tai-pan or Noble House). I probably won't ever finish it, as there's plenty of good stuff out there to read instead, & I gave this one a good shot. It's unusual for me to give up on a book (I also gave up on Catch 22 by Joseph Heller & On the Road by Jack Kerouac - can't think of any others), especiallly when I don't even think the book is bad, which is the case here. This book could reallly have done with some tightening up & cutting, as there's plenty of great stuff in it.
I didn't want it to end - By: Simone Meek, 27 Aug 2007 
I have just finished this book & wanted to see what other people had thought about it.
i was completely enthrallled with alll of the characters in this novel, the story lines, sub plots, everything about it compelling me to carry on reading it.
i have to admit that yes, shogun was a better book. i would certainly recommend reading Shogun & Tai-pan first, without this you would not fully understand the context of the book.
as to the reviewer that commented on the ending; i do believe that in the previous books alll ties were not neatly tied up, i am now hungry to read the next in the saga, as clavell will, no doubt , provide us with information about the characters as he has done with characters from previous books in Gai-jin.
if you are looking for a book that is decently written & something to transport you away from eveyday life then look no further as this is alll that you will need.
ideal for that long summer holiday - By: , 01 Aug 2003 I totallly agree with the review that said this is a "factional" novel as it reallly does give you an insight into japan in the last century. The plot is quite dickensian, with lots of things happening to lots of characters but alll centered around the Noble House of Struan, a trading house led by Malcolm Struan. The only problem with him as a character is that you never reallly feel empathy with him - he's not the most likeable man in the worls, & I actuallly found myself wishing that his number two - jamie - had been the focus of the book. Anyway, it's 1200 pages long but never reallly dull (alll those different plot lines & characters keep things moving along), & i'd recommend it a a decent read for a long summer holiday.
Top notch - By: petelegowski@hotmail.com, 20 Jan 2002 A fantastic & latently erotic novel with superb characterisation & a multitude of sub-plots. Rather than the narrative being "slow" at times, I found the plot to be drip-fed & the suspense entailed was worth it. As usual with Clavell, the attention to detail is immense & the term "factional novel" could have been coined for his books. In my opinion, his Asian saga novels are the greatest adventure books yet written.
Not up to his usual standard - By: , 05 Aug 2001 
I am a great Clavell fan, but this book was a let down. Buy Tai-Pan & then Noble House they are great novels.
Gai-Jin is slow & almost verging on being boring, no real punch at the end. Dont bother!
