The James Clavell Author Discussion Thread

Silhouette Man

I see we have no specific thread on the bestselling author James Clavell, author of King Rat, Shogun and Noble House among other novels. He also did the screenplay for The Fly (1958) as well as the films and TV series based on his novels.

So here is a thread to discuss the man; his life, novels and films. -{

To get the ball rolling, are there any James Clavell fans in the House?

Thunderpussy

I only know his work from the various mini series of his Books, as with
Nobel House with Pierce Brosnan. -{ and his Daughter Michaela, played
Moneypenny's assistant ' Miss Penelope Smallbone" in Octopussy. So
He has a Bond connection.

Silhouette Man

Thunderpussy wrote:

I only know his work from the various mini series of his Books, as with
Nobel House with Pierce Brosnan. -{ and his Daughter Michaela, played
Moneypenny's assistant ' Miss Penelope Smallbone" in Octopussy. So
He has a Bond connection.

Yes, there are several interesting Bond connections. I'm writing an article on all of that (had the idea since 2007 and I've recently decided to try to write it up).

The Domino Effect

Having had an interest in POW history for practically as long as I can remember, I read King Rat when I was quite young and enjoyed it. And of course, everyone knows of his Shogun, Noble House etc. However, I only recently learned that he wrote the screenplay for "The Great Escape." I happened to be watching it a couple of months and almost choked on my Twiglets when his name came up on the screen.

Silhouette Man

The Domino Effect wrote:

Having had an interest in POW history for practically as long as I can remember, I read King Rat when I was quite young and enjoyed it. And of course, everyone knows of his Shogun, Noble House etc. However, I only recently learned that he wrote the screenplay for "The Great Escape." I happened to be watching it a couple of months and almost choked on my Twiglets when his name came up on the screen.

Thank you for your post. Yes, he had an interesting career, Mr Clavell. -{

Thunderpussy

The amount of times I've watched that film and never noticed. )
Just remembered that John Rhys-Davies ( TLD) was also in Nobel
House.

Silhouette Man

Any other James Clavell fans out there at all? -{

chrisisall

I watched Shogun when it was broadcast... it was fairly riveting but I hated the ending. Truthfully, I liked The Last Samurai a whole lot more. 8-)

Silhouette Man

chrisisall wrote:

I watched Shogun when it was broadcast... it was fairly riveting but I hated the ending. Truthfully, I liked The Last Samurai a whole lot more. 8-)

Thanks for that additional contribution, chrisisall. -{

You'veHadYourSix

Just got a hold of Noble House on dvd
Seems to be a region free dvd.
Really enjoying it, I came across it after reading
About its composer paul chichira,
Really beautiful main theme aswell.

Really cool seeing pierce do something other than bond
You can see in this sort of how he may have looked in living daylights if he'd been in it.

Pierce has been in some really great other movies also such as the fourth protocol and the long good friday, pretty sure he's bad in both aswell which is pretty badass!!

John rhys Davis is pretty awesome in this too old pushkin.

Higgins

I have read his Noble House many years ago, just right before I have met my wife who is from Hong Kong.

I am still continuously amazed how detailed he knows and describes what is going on in the minds of chinese women. I‘ve learnt that he‘s spot on with most of it.

And his knowledge about Hong Kong people in general and the spirit of the city is deep and he certainly manages to get it across to his readers.