King Rat

Post by **jpatokal** » Wed, 31 Dec 2003 4:38 pm

Is James Clavell's King Rat, based on his experiences at Changi Prison during WW2, available in Singapore? Neither Borders nor Kinokuniya seems to have heard about it, or even Clavell's potboilers (Shogun, Taipan, Gaijin, etc) in general...

Gippy · Post by **Gippy** » Thu, 01 Jan 2004 12:43 am

jpatokal wrote:Is James Clavell's King Rat, based on his experiences at Changi Prison during WW2, available in Singapore? Neither Borders nor Kinokuniya seems to have heard about it, or even Clavell's potboilers (Shogun, Taipan, Gaijin, etc) in general...

you can try Popular book store or its online shop, got the exact link at : http://www.popular.com.sg/jsp/product/p ... d001=20207

retailing $19.21

they carry Shogun too.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri, 02 Jan 2004 9:06 am

I was looking for the book as well. I told a friend visiting that it was worth reading but couldn't find it anywhere in town. Finally found a copy at the bookstore in Changi Airport.

Post by **jpatokal** » Fri, 02 Jan 2004 12:33 pm

Gippy, thanks! Turns out Popular lets you self-collect orders at no charge...

http://www.popular.com.sg/jsp/main_page ... g_info.jsp

...so I just ordered a copy into my nearest bookstore, it should get there in 5 days.

Gippy · Post by **Gippy** » Fri, 02 Jan 2004 1:25 pm

No problem. I buy my supplies from popular online whenever I can't find it in the physical stores. 8)

Post by **jpatokal** » Tue, 20 Jan 2004 12:20 am

So I order from Popular, wait two weeks, zippo. Log back in, order status: CANCEL. I send a mail, no answer, I try to call them, I get busy signals and/or end up in voice mailboxes. I send another rather irate mail, and I get a reply telling me that... there's no stock and King Rat is from now on permanently unavailable.

(Oh yes, they also told me they had both mailed and called me 'several times'... how come my phone and mail logs disagree?)

Guess I'm off to Amazon then...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440145465

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat, 31 Jan 2004 1:24 pm

Which is what I was going to suggest, before noticing that you'd decided to order elsewhere online.

I find that ordering from Amazon is more efficient and certainly cheaper than rummaging around in bookstores. As a result, I no longer search in physical stores first; rather, I order online right off the bat. And always at Amazon.

Bonus: I'm no longer handing over my money to snooty shop staff that seem to be pulling up their nose at me, thank you very much.

NBB

Non expat · Post by **Non expat** » Sat, 28 Feb 2004 12:33 pm

Try Ebay.......your best source. No reprint or circulated copies, of both the movies or novel are available just as yet.

get both, read the novel and then watch the DVD.

Post by **jpatokal** » Sat, 10 Apr 2004 4:04 pm

Whoo -- I finally found King Rat in Singapore! The place was both unexpected and obvious: the gift shop at the Changi Chapel & Museum, the memorial to the POW camp which is the setting of the novel.

And yes, it is quite a good book, well written and identifiably Clavellian -- although some of details in the story don't quite match the museum's description. The usual mangling of Japanese dialogue was also annoying, and this time it was compounded by mangled Malay as well.

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