Tai-Pan: The Second Novel of the Asian Saga

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And it is in this exciting time and exotic place that a giant of an Englishman, Dirk Straun, sets out to turn the desolate island of Hong Kong into an impregnable fortress of British power, and to make himself supreme ruler…Tai-Pan! It broke my heart a little bit and I cried, usually this would ruin the book for me, but this one was a masterpiece and I can't say even one bad thing about it. He brings to light the manipulations that occur behind locked doors over a glass or two of good port or brandy with results that benefit the few over the many.

You’ve sired bastards and you’re proud of them and your name stinks in the nostrils of decent people. At around 700 pages in length this isn't for the weak of heart, but it is extremely rewarding and one of those historical novels that delivers on two fronts: it not only succeeds as entertainment but education as well. Struan, as always, finds a solution to this problem after an almost too convenient opportunity appears just as all seems lost. The insistence of the Chinese in receiving only silver bullion for tea actually destabilizes the British economy as silver becomes scarce and afternoon tea became jeopardized.Throughout the novel, both men seek to destroy each other in matters of business and personal affairs.

I feel that it got a little bit messier, maybe, and a couple things got dropped entirely or never received an altogether satisfying conclusion, but it never tangled that bad.This book raises the issues of Imperial trade, the duplicitousness of Opium smuggling, the strained heirachical positioning of both Chinese and Imperial British society and touches on many of the taboos and prejudices of the British community.

It is about the foundation of Hong Kate no and a nice journey through the social life and customs of China at that time (19th century).Finally, I guess it had the same sort of slight historical liberties as Shogun did, probably, but I know nothing whatsoever of the history of China so I never noticed, and thus that too didn't bother me. Throughout Tai-pan dialogue drones, characters overlap each other in their thoughts, choice of words, and actions - and nothing all that exciting really happens in the overarching plot. Despite this, I can't help but feel quite disappointed, especially considering Shogun is one of my favorite books of all time. The arch that should have happened over the course of the book is instead rushed out in what can't be more than three hundred words.

These larger than life figures are battling on a small and large scale for what is theirs, but also for what will be their childrens and their children’s children. I will talk about the finale in the spoiler below because I feel it's necessary as it made me lower my score from barely 3 stars to a fair 2 stars, but I can say without spoiling anything that I was not wrong in my assumption.Diverso anche il tipo di personaggi: il protagonista, il Tai Pan, è un uomo che grazie alle proprie qualità eccezionali ha creato un impero commerciale, e che da solo manovra la politica inglese e quella cinese, i commercianti delle due nazioni e chiunque gli passi vicino, al solo scopo di creare Hong Kong, e di usarla come grimaldello per aprire la Cina al mondo. There is a Hong Kong hidden somewhere between two formable and foreign entities rivaling each other.