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Review
'Breathtaking. Only terms like colossal, gigantic, titanic, unbelievable, gargantuan are properly descriptive' (Chicago Tribune )
'Seethes with drama, sex, crime . . . Clavell is, as always, a matchless talespinner' (Cosmopolitan )
'A grand drama, with the glamour, mystique and perils of the Orient . . . it has such breadth and power that at the end you will want to start at the beginning again.' (Manchester Evening News )
'NOBLE HOUSE totally fulfils the function of a novel, taking me out of myself and transporting me into a majestic sweep of intrigue and excitement' (David Niven )
'Fiction for addicts . . . A book that you can get lost in for weeks. Not only is it as long as life, it's also as rich with possibilities' (New York Times )
'Seethes with drama, sex, crime . . . Clavell is, as always, a matchless talespinner' (Cosmopolitan )
'A grand drama, with the glamour, mystique and perils of the Orient . . . it has such breadth and power that at the end you will want to start at the beginning again.' (Manchester Evening News )
'NOBLE HOUSE totally fulfils the function of a novel, taking me out of myself and transporting me into a majestic sweep of intrigue and excitement' (David Niven )
'Fiction for addicts . . . A book that you can get lost in for weeks. Not only is it as long as life, it's also as rich with possibilities' (New York Times )
COSMOPOLITAN
'Seethes with drama, sex, crime ... Clavell is, as always, a matchless talespinner'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not only my favourite from James Clavell's Asian novels, but probably my favourite book ever. A massive exhausting epic of a novel, you'll feel like you were there watching it happen by the time you get to the end. A particularly good read if you happen to be on the plane to Hong Kong, it'll give you some idea of what to expect, such is the atmosphere and level of detail of the book. Amazing, absolutly amazing.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First and foremost, Noble House is a fascinating, and hugely entertaining read. Don't be put off by it's considerable length, unlike most big novels, this one has no "dips".
Set in Hong Kong, the book focuses on one week in business for a British-owned conglomerate in the 1960's. Sounds dull? Not when you throw in industrial espionage, chinese superstitions, communists takeover plots, kidnapping, murder, hostile takeovers, gambling, family problems and many, many extra-marital affairs.
However, Noble House works on so many more levels than this. Other than being entertaining, it teaches the reader a lot about Chinese society in general. It also teaches a great deal about the "real" way business is conducted, not the sterile, idealistic methods taught in business schools and colleges around the world.
It is clear that Clavell put years of research into this novel, and I would recommend it highly.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
James Clavell was a WONDERFUL Writer (yes, with a capital W) and NOBLE HOUSE was a gift he left to us!
Through his eyes we visit Hong Kong in the 1970's. Clavell, like a virtuoso connaisseur of the human condition he is, manages to interweave a multitude of stories into a continuous carpet of a city living fast, taking risks, winning and loosing but never giving up.
Heads of huge conglomerates on the verge of foundering - yet never letting go of their rival's throat; dirt-poor Chinese maids striking it rich by a sudden turn of their joss; photographer-Wo and his trophy collection; drug-running smugglers asking for favors-you-can't-refuse; cold war spy networks riddled with double and triple agents; an American stock-market runner trying his hand in raiding Hong Kong companies; ladies getting "pillowed", men getting wooed, fortunes made and lost in the 10 days these all take place. Will the Noble House survive?
To quote Balzac, behind every great fortune lies crime. To prove him right, Noble House is but a thinly veiled reference to Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd, a real company. Anticlimactically for an historic British company operating in China, it is nowadays incorporated in Bermuda - and trying to forget its opium-running past (like so many City of London companies respectable today yet founded on drugs and dead natives).
All these stories are presented masterfully, without ever loosing the reader's interest or dropping the ball of building tension. There were less than a dozen writers who could do this - starting with Homer.
My copy was so worn I had to replace it.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Through his eyes we visit Hong Kong in the 1970's. Clavell, like a virtuoso connaisseur of the human condition he is, manages to interweave a multitude of stories into a continuous carpet of a city living fast, taking risks, winning and loosing but never giving up.
Heads of huge conglomerates on the verge of foundering - yet never letting go of their rival's throat; dirt-poor Chinese maids striking it rich by a sudden turn of their joss; photographer-Wo and his trophy collection; drug-running smugglers asking for favors-you-can't-refuse; cold war spy networks riddled with double and triple agents; an American stock-market runner trying his hand in raiding Hong Kong companies; ladies getting "pillowed", men getting wooed, fortunes made and lost in the 10 days these all take place. Will the Noble House survive?
To quote Balzac, behind every great fortune lies crime. To prove him right, Noble House is but a thinly veiled reference to Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd, a real company. Anticlimactically for an historic British company operating in China, it is nowadays incorporated in Bermuda - and trying to forget its opium-running past (like so many City of London companies respectable today yet founded on drugs and dead natives).
All these stories are presented masterfully, without ever loosing the reader's interest or dropping the ball of building tension. There were less than a dozen writers who could do this - starting with Homer.
My copy was so worn I had to replace it.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Entertaining book
I love James Clavell's Asian Saga, Noble House is the book that I've just started to read.
If you have liked the others, you will like this one too. Read more
If you have liked the others, you will like this one too. Read more
Published 18 months ago by bberenguel
A good read...
If you are interested in the Far East, then this book is for you. Would have liked myself to have been the main character during that time. This is a book hard to put down...
Published 22 months ago by Varalagom
An epic with everything!
"Noble House" by James Clavell is the fourth in his collection of five independent, yet linked stories about an unparalleled business empire and dynasty based in Hong Kong. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2009 by Jack Haslam
return to an old friend
I read this many years ago when it was first published, but recently I had an opportunity to read TAi PAN again. This had to be my next book to once again continue the saga. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2009 by L. Smith
The best book i have ever read
First, if your going to start reading the Asian Saga, you must go back and read them in order. Even Shogan has little sub plots which if you read carfully Noble House you will... Read more
Published on 3 May 2007 by Matthew Brown
A brilliant, colossal epic.
Noble House is huge, totalling 1284 pages. However, unlike you might think - the story ALWAYS flows and there are no pauses! Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2004 by Keith Spiteri
A great classic
One of my favourite books of all time. Read so often my second copy is starting to look tatty!
Quite a long book with complex plots that intertwine, exciting and very well... Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2001
Gripping, compelling, and very well written novel
A long book, but very easy to get into. One of his best novels by far. Its one of those that you just want to re-read over and over again.
Published on 21 Jan 2000
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