James Clavell Trivia

1. Why does Sutra beat Sulina?

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: For tempting Marlowe

Sulina, standing in front of her window, let her sarong fall away from her naked body so Marlowe could see. Her father knew she had done this, and when Marlowe and the King left to return to the camp Sutra came into Sulina's room and beat her with a thin bamboo cane. "'This is for tempting the Englishman when I had not told thee to tempt him,' he said, trying to sound very angry."

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: Changi

"Closer, Changi lost its beauty and became what it was - an obscene and forbidding prison." Utram Road is another prison, even worse than Changi. China is... er... China! Changhai is a county in Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.

From Quiz Shogun

Answer: Hatamoto

A hatamoto was allowed to keep his swords in the presence of a Daimyo.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: Rover ate one of Colonel Foster's chickens

Even men who stole chickens were punished severely. One man was found with a stolen hen, and the men who caught him beat him to death. In Changi this was ruled justifiable homicide. Colonel Foster was an inmate of Changi who manifested PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) by being a bit too attached to his hens. When Hawkin's dog Rover got into the chicken run and ate one of his chickens, Foster's response was extreme, even for Changi. "'I want a court-martial. Hawkins the murderer and his beast, a murderer.' Colonel Foster's mouth was flecked with foam. 'That bloody beast killed my hen and ate it. He ate it and there's only feathers to show for one of my children.'"

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: It is never mentioned

His rank is Corporal, but his first name is never revealed. With some exceptions when he is referred to by his rank, he is called 'King' and referred to as 'The King'.

From Quiz Shogun

Answer: Mariko

She falls in love with Anjin-san despite the strict rules of the Japanese society and eventually dies as part of Toranaga's plan.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: 1

When the men of Changi are rescued after Japan's surrender, the liberators are shocked at the condition of the starved prisoners. "Today it was shark soup-at least, one shark had been divided ounce by ounce into soup for ten thousand men."

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: Lieutenant Grey

Colonel Brant is an Indian Army officer, a man still suffering from the defection of his beloved Sikh soldiers during the fall of Singapore in 1942. Major Barry had the King sell a Ronson lighter for him. Colonel Sampson accepted money from the King in exchange for keeping Grey occupied during a major deal. Provost Officer Grey is out to get the King from the opening sentence of Book 1: "I'm going to get that bloody bastard if I die in the attempt."

From Quiz Shogun

Answer: It is a plan of war

Although Toranaga was claiming he doesn't want to be a Shogun, he intended to declare war in order to achieve such a high rank.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: In the jail building

The King rented a cell for three dollars an hour from Griffiths, the man who 'owned' it. It was the best place to mask the smell of cooking meat. The concrete cell walls were two feet thick, and the King had some of his guests stuff strips of blanket into the cracks around the door. But the smell still got out, maddening the camp's starving men, who luckily assumed that the smell was coming from just outside Changi's wire fence.

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: Stud

Seven-card stud is played two down, four up, one down. Draw is played with an initial five-card deal, then the players discard and receive replacements for the discards. The Chinese game of pai gow is played with tiles, and pai gow poker with cards. "Peter Marlowe looked at him, his eyes flinty. The eggs were getting cold. 'What are you trying to prove, Grey? Any fool knows it's four cards face up and one down- one in the hole.'"

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: He was found with his head stuffed down a borehole

Gurble had been found stuffed into a borehole, one of Changi's stinking, cockroach-infested latrine pits. The two camp doctors conferred over the body, speculating whether the death had been murder or suicide. "'They held a quiet court of inquiry this afternoon, as soon as they knew who it was. Apparently, a few days ago this man was caught stealing some hut rations.' 'Oh, I see.' 'Either way, I'd say he deserved it, wouldn't you?'"

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: Not bad

Blow your wig: lose control Share crop: sexually easy female Dead hoofer: very bad dancer Not bad: really good. The King felt Marlowe was not appreciative enough when Marlowe used the English understated compliment of "Not bad" to describe the fried egg.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: Triangle

The play was written by Frank Parrish, and took place in London before the war. The play starred Frank, Brod Roderick, and Sean Jennison. When the final curtain fell, the audience was so spellbound by the performance that there was utter silence, and then there were cheers and ten curtain calls.

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: Kooa

"'Kooas are about the best cigarette around,' the King said at last. 'Course they don't compare with Camels. American cigarette. Best in the world. You ever had them?' 'Yes,' Peter Marlowe said, 'but actually, they tasted a little dry to me. My brand's Gold Flake.'"

From Quiz Shogun

Answer: Translator

He is one of the first people to understand Blackthorne's words soon after his arrival in Japan.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: Marlowe made him confront the fact that he was not really a woman

Marlowe was in Sean's dressing room, enraged by the fact that Sean said he, Sean, was no longer a man, but a woman. Marlowe told the King the story of his fight with Sean that resulted in Sean slitting his wrists. "'Something in my head seemed to snap. I grabbed his arm and ripped the negligee off his shoulders and tore off the padded bra and shoved him in front of the mirror. ''You call yourself a woman?' I shouted. 'Look at yourself! Where are your bloody breasts?''"

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: How to treat cheap tobacco to make it taste better

Marlowe taught them the process for free, and the flabbergasted King couldn't believe he wanted nothing in return. "'I don't want anything', said Peter Marlowe. 'Nothing?' The King sat down feebly, wrecked."

From Quiz Shogun

Answer: Seppuku

Yabu-san was one of the persons who was forced to die in that way. He was accused of treason and without any protest he performed seppuku.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: The diet of Changi rotted his teeth

In severe cases of malnutrition such as that suffered by prisoners of war, tooth loss can occur due to the jawbone actually breaking down and thinning. Many men of Changi lost their teeth due to poor diet, as Duncan told Marlowe: "'Doc said something about the water and lack of chewable material and rice diet and calcium.'"

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: Larkin and Mac

Colonel Larkin, Major 'Mac' McCoy, and Lieutenant Marlowe formed a "unit", a group of men who join together to watch out for one another. It was very hard to survive in Changi without belonging to a unit. Three was a perfect unit number: one to guard the unit's possessions, one to forage, and one spare (in case of illness or other misfortune).

From Quiz Shogun

Answer: He acted as if he was crazy

He knew that the crazy people were somehow above the law so he distracted the attention from Toranaga.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: To allow Duncan to see his wife

Duncan's wife was Singapore Chinese, so she and Duncan's little daughter were not placed in a prison camp. They lived in severe poverty near Changi, and sometimes the two were able to wait near the wire to exchange brief glances with Duncan. Duncan needed Marlowe to distract the guard so he could go closer to the wire and leave a note for his wife to pick up when the work party had gone.

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: Threw it into the air

"Sunny took a firm grip on the string and started swinging the pup around his head on the end of the rope. He whirled it maybe a dozen times, laughing as though this was the greatest joke in the world. Then as the screaming pup gathered momentum, he gave it a final whirl and let go of the string. The pup must have gone fifty feet into the air. And when it fell on the iron-hard ground, it burst like a ripe tomato."

From Quiz Shogun

Answer: Buntaro

He was one of the greatest generals of Toranaga.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: There was better foraging on tree detail

It was rumored that the detail was going to be sent to cut down coconut trees, and the edible heart of a coconut tree was the delicacy called 'millionaire's cabbage'. When added to the many coconuts the trees would also provide, this duty was a Changi forager's dream detail.

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: In a hollowed-out beam

The compartment in the 8x8 beam was so well-crafted that at first when the guard Yoshima tried to find it, he thought that his informant was mistaken about the hiding place.

From Quiz Shogun

Answer: Yoshi Toranaga-noh-Minowara

Minowara was an ancient clan which was the predecessor of Toranaga's family.

From Quiz James Clavell's 'King Rat' , part 2

Answer: He found that some of the weights had been tampered with

In the bottoms of the iron weights there were drilled holes, carefully filled with clay. Someone was daily cheating the men out of part of their rice ration.

From Quiz James Clavell's "King Rat"

Answer: A coupling condenser

When Daven's radio was discovered and confiscated, Marlowe's unit had to use theirs to make sure the camp continued to have a source of news. When they assembled the radio from the parts hidden in false bottoms crafted into their water bottles, it did not work. Mac, the electronics specialist of the group, told Marlowe that the radio's "particular sickness" was due to one part: a coupling condenser, three hundred microfarads.

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