![]() ![]() We're often in Struan's point of view, but a great deal of the book (I'm guessing at least three-quarters) is in the point of view of others. (In the novel Noble House, a sequel taking place 120 years later, we learn that to the Chinese, "Tai-Pan" is a title given to the overseer of a whorehouse, and they are much amused by western barbarians using thinking it's a term of honor.) The Chinese have therefore taken to calling it the Noble House. ![]() "Tai-Pan" is a term taken to mean "supreme leader," and Struan is not only Tai-Pan of his own company, but THE Tai-Pan of the China traders, because his is the supreme trading company. ![]() China had gained a stranglehold on the British economy by demanding nothing but bullion in payment for tea, but once traders started smuggling in opium from India, and demanding bullion in return, the trade balance swung in Britain's favor.) ![]() (According the novel, the opium trade is what keeps the British government afloat. (They've just concluded a small war, in which they sailed upriver to Peiking and forced the Manchu emperor to sign it over.) Our hero is Dirk Struan, head of a sea-going trading company whose main business is opium smuggling. Tai-Pan one takes place in 1841, as the British take possession of the island of Hong Kong. On this return trip, I read it with my ears, and its lustre remains undiminished. (My favorite book is Red Harvest, of course, but that doesn't make it the best). I've long considered Tai-Pan (along with Shogun) one of the two best books I've ever read. ![]()
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