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Anyone remotely interested in Hong Kong should read the novel Tai-Pan. That’s some great historical fiction. No idea which parts are accurate, but it’s a fun re

Anyone remotely interested in Hong Kong should read the novel Tai-Pan. That’s some great historical fiction. No idea which parts are accurate, but it’s a fun read.

dewey 2y ago
I finished the sequel of that book (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_House_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_House_(novel)) this year, can also highly recommend it. The TV show looks cheap...but it actually aged really well and it has Pierce Brosnan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_House_(miniseries) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_House_(miniseries)). Can recommend it as well!
- FireBeyond 2y ago
  FX made what I thought was a pretty good adaptation of Shōgun. Am hoping they might turn their eyes to the rest of the "series", too.
  - finnh 2y ago
    The recent Shōgun series was surprisingly good, I really enjoyed it. Clavell famously has no idea how to end a book - they pretty much _all_ have a deus ex machina in the form of a natural disaster - but they are excellent & fun reads of the days & weeks leading up to it. ayeeya, cow chillo
    - FireBeyond 2y ago
      Hah, yes! I just realized this! (Well, Whirlwind uses a revolution). I'd never connected that between all the books.
  - pimeys 2y ago
    I've watched the FX adaptation and the original from 1980, and I have to say I like the original a bit more. Neither one of them cannot match the book, which I rank in the same level with Lord of the Rings: thick books you cannot stop reading. The television adaptations are passable, but a bit disappointing if you are a fan of the book.
inkyoto 2y ago
There is also a history book «Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age» by Stephen R. Platt who goes into events preceding the First Opium War (Macartney's mission to Qing's China in 1793) eventually leading up to the cession of Hong Kong island and the fall of the Qing. Whilst it is a history book, the way the events are narrated and how the story is presented make the book read as it were a fiction story (it is not). A great read all around.

Anyone remotely interested in Hong Kong should read the novel Tai-Pan. That’s some great historical fiction. No idea which parts are accurate, but it’s a fun read.

dewey 2y ago

I finished the sequel of that book (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_House_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_House_(novel)) this year, can also highly recommend it. The TV show looks cheap...but it actually aged really well and it has Pierce Brosnan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_House_(miniseries) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_House_(miniseries)). Can recommend it as well!

FireBeyond 2y ago
FX made what I thought was a pretty good adaptation of Shōgun. Am hoping they might turn their eyes to the rest of the "series", too.
- finnh 2y ago
  The recent Shōgun series was surprisingly good, I really enjoyed it. Clavell famously has no idea how to end a book - they pretty much _all_ have a deus ex machina in the form of a natural disaster - but they are excellent & fun reads of the days & weeks leading up to it. ayeeya, cow chillo
  - FireBeyond 2y ago
    Hah, yes! I just realized this! (Well, Whirlwind uses a revolution). I'd never connected that between all the books.
- pimeys 2y ago
  I've watched the FX adaptation and the original from 1980, and I have to say I like the original a bit more. Neither one of them cannot match the book, which I rank in the same level with Lord of the Rings: thick books you cannot stop reading. The television adaptations are passable, but a bit disappointing if you are a fan of the book.

inkyoto 2y ago

There is also a history book «Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age» by Stephen R. Platt who goes into events preceding the First Opium War (Macartney's mission to Qing's China in 1793) eventually leading up to the cession of Hong Kong island and the fall of the Qing. Whilst it is a history book, the way the events are narrated and how the story is presented make the book read as it were a fiction story (it is not). A great read all around.