Chapter Ninety-three

March has been a tough month with 3 Nor'easters  that hit within a week or so of each other. Every one of them was bad enough to keep me indoors for several days at a time - excluding  how long
I was outside cleaning off my car and digging out from what the plows did. I'm lucky to live close to  a few stores that I can walk to regardless of the weather and I'm happy that I have shelves full of books that I can revisit.

Off The Shelf

Noble House - James Clavell ($7.99/$7.99, copyright 1981, 1370 pages, Paperback)
I am a big fan of Clavell's "Asian Saga" so, when I was looking for something to help me pass the time, I found this in the back of one of my bookshelves. It's 1963 and the Noble House  is close to collapse.  Ian Dunross is now the Tai-Pan and must figure out a way to pay off his debts and save his inheritance. The narrative takes place in Hong Kong (as expected) and covers about a week and a half of it's history including cold war espionage, bank failures, hostile takeovers, drug smuggling, kidnapping, and murder. Clavell has two strengths - his knowledge of the history of the area and his insight into the human condition especially the interpersonal. He's built on his previous books and created a family saga that is very intricate but interesting. I suppose that you could read this as a stand-alone book but I would recommend that you read :"Tai-Pan" first. I enjoyed it.

OK. I had to do it.

Tai-Pan - James Clavell ($7.99/$7.99, copyright 1966, 732 pages, Paperback)
This is, probably, the 5th time that I've read this book and I still enjoyed it. It's a magnificent saga of  the 1840's founding of Hong Kong by powerful British trading interests. It's the story of - in my opinion - an unforgettable fictional character, Dirk Struan, founder of The Nobel House, the leading British trading combine in China. He's locked in a life-and-death commercial and family blood feud with Brock & Sons, another powerful British firm, that vies with him for primacy in the opium trade with China. Clavell brings in pirates, a Russian scheme, and some American interests to make things interesting but he's also good with dealing with his character's personal lives. Like I said, I really enjoyed t.

Four days from now it will be April. I'm looking forward to no more snow but I'm dreading the pollen. Until then ...

Keep reading.