"Japanese POW camp Changi, Singapore: hell on earth for the soldiers contained within its barbed wire walls. Officers and enlisted men, all prisoners together--yet the old hierarchies and rivalries survive. An American corporal, known as the King, has used his personality and wiles to facilitate trading with guards and locals to get needed food, supplies, [and] even information into the camp. The imprisoned upper-class officers have never had to do things for themselves, and now they are reduced to wearing rags while the ...
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"Japanese POW camp Changi, Singapore: hell on earth for the soldiers contained within its barbed wire walls. Officers and enlisted men, all prisoners together--yet the old hierarchies and rivalries survive. An American corporal, known as the King, has used his personality and wiles to facilitate trading with guards and locals to get needed food, supplies, [and] even information into the camp. The imprisoned upper-class officers have never had to do things for themselves, and now they are reduced to wearing rags while the King's clean shirt, gained through guts and moxie, seems like luxury in comparison. In the camp, everything has its price and everything is for sale"--Back cover.
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Add this copy of King Rat to cart. $56.79, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1983 by Delacorte Press.
Add this copy of King Rat to cart. $56.79, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1983 by Delacorte Press.
If you have read other books by James Clavell, you will enjoy this book as well. This takes place during WWII in a POW Camp and is just a good read.
amesave
Oct 23, 2008
Classic story about survival
I bought this book again having read it years ago. I looked beyond the basic story of the captured soldier living in a Japanese camp who uses prisoners and guards alike to run a black-market business. Instead I interpreted the theme as a means to assist the prisoners in overcoming their misery and finding a mutual cause to either overthrow or join the enterprise.
