bellatora's review against another edition
4.0
I haven't seen the movie version, but from what I gather from Wikipedia, there were definite discrepancies.
I liked the first part of this book a lot. This was Jim as a neglected child of wealthy expats in Shanghai, where it's clear from the outset that he is one of those scrappy, independent boys that are so often the heroes of kid lit. Then the Japanese invasion occurs and Jim is left to run wild as his parents and the other grown-ups he knows are captured. It's like Home Alone, if Macaulay Culkin ended up as a POW instead of outwitting bumbling burglars. This was hands-down my favorite part of the book. It's exciting, because I think it's kind of every kid's dream to run loose throughout the city, do whatever you want (including riding a bike in the house!) and eat whatever you want with no grown-ups telling you what to do. It's terrifying, because Jim is abandoned and alone and any minute some soldier could take him away or shoot him. And it's heartbreaking, because while Jim enjoys his freedom, he feels terribly abandoned and alone.
The middle section was pretty good. This was Jim as a POW. Jim is a ruthless survivor (though with moments of compassion) and it's pretty clear why Jim made it through when so many others didn't. The kid's tough and clever. Children can be good narrators of horrific experiences, because they don't tend to dwell; they view the world with an odd mix of acceptance and curiosity and Jim's no exception.
Then the last section was confusing as frack. This is the end of the war, and I honestly lost the narrative here. It was like the end of [b:Life of Pi|4214|Life of Pi|Yann Martel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320562005s/4214.jpg|1392700]. In both cases, I couldn't tell if the confusion was the result of weak writing, or an attempt to show the chaos and disorientation of the end of a long ordeal.
I liked the first part of this book a lot. This was Jim as a neglected child of wealthy expats in Shanghai, where it's clear from the outset that he is one of those scrappy, independent boys that are so often the heroes of kid lit. Then the Japanese invasion occurs and Jim is left to run wild as his parents and the other grown-ups he knows are captured. It's like Home Alone, if Macaulay Culkin ended up as a POW instead of outwitting bumbling burglars. This was hands-down my favorite part of the book. It's exciting, because I think it's kind of every kid's dream to run loose throughout the city, do whatever you want (including riding a bike in the house!) and eat whatever you want with no grown-ups telling you what to do. It's terrifying, because Jim is abandoned and alone and any minute some soldier could take him away or shoot him. And it's heartbreaking, because while Jim enjoys his freedom, he feels terribly abandoned and alone.
The middle section was pretty good. This was Jim as a POW. Jim is a ruthless survivor (though with moments of compassion) and it's pretty clear why Jim made it through when so many others didn't. The kid's tough and clever. Children can be good narrators of horrific experiences, because they don't tend to dwell; they view the world with an odd mix of acceptance and curiosity and Jim's no exception.
Then the last section was confusing as frack. This is the end of the war, and I honestly lost the narrative here. It was like the end of [b:Life of Pi|4214|Life of Pi|Yann Martel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320562005s/4214.jpg|1392700]. In both cases, I couldn't tell if the confusion was the result of weak writing, or an attempt to show the chaos and disorientation of the end of a long ordeal.
johnclough's review against another edition
4.0
This is a horrific story. In fact, it’s possibly one of the most horrific I’ve ever read. A semi-autobiographical tale set in a slice of World War Two history which, aside from the success of this novel and the film adaptation, is largely overlooked, at least in the European consciousness. Ballard massages the heart of his memories through emaciated ribs and brings them kicking and screaming back to life, with all it’s depraved, meaningless horror.
Horror being the operative word – this is not for the faint hearted. There is no shying away from the pus, the blood, the excrement and the decay; no turning a blind eye to the desperation of starvation or the crushing existential morass of imprisonment without defined end. There’s a discomforting casualness, a sort of numbed acceptance, of death and suffering; something which is fortunately so alien to the modern western mind. To top all this off, the story is told from perspective of a child. To go on the journey with Jim as the precious innocence of youth is dragged from him is genuinely harrowing.
What underpins the horror of a war story is obviously its basis in reality. While the tale is naturally embellished in some regards this is essentially Ballard’s wartime memoir. It’s a stark reminder of the potential of human evil. There is no justification that I can conceive of for death marches, starvation and the gratuitous destruction of life. Sometimes it’s worth being reminded of just how privileged a position we are to live in a time and place of relative peace – for all it’s issues, it’s something worth fighting for. What I found deeply disturbing was the inevitable parallel between the horrors of Empire of the Sun and the horrors that continue as the everyday reality for millions of people in Syria, South Sudan and elsewhere. One can’t help but think that if Europe’s leaders were to spend some time with Jim in Lunghua internment camp, some attitudes may be changed towards the refugees that flee to Europe from similar hells.
Another aspect of Empire of the Sun that links to modern conflict is the moral ambiguity of the characters. Popular conceptions of wars, especially WWII, are rife with the simplistic idea of goodies and baddies. This helps our minds get to grips with the complexity of war, and also allows us to justify the violence done in our name. It’s also profoundly misleading. The overriding message of Empire of the Sun was that in war, there is no good or bad – there’s only us and them, and survival. It’s just kids shooting each other in the name of a strip of land or an idea, or even less than that. In Empire of the Sun, it’s an American who tries to sell Jim to raise enough money to eat, while a Japanese Kamikaze pilot gives him his last morsel of food.
There is only one character who cuts through the ethical morass was Dr Ransome, who just seemed to work tirelessly and in the direst of circumstance in an utter self-sacrifice in aid of others. I actually found his unending commitment to be quite moving depiction of the work of the medical profession, which once again brought with it a shivering reminder of the even worse conditions and perhaps even greater work in our current war zones. While Dr Ransome represented the only ‘hero-figure’ in the book, to me I didn’t feel like he was a representative of the allied forces and their moral superiority. Rather I found he personified the absurdity of war and suffering. Here was a man trying to save people from starvation, infection and disease with no medical supplies. Indeed, the novel mentions that the graveyard was tactically placed right beside the medical unit. That speaks for itself.
In terms of the writing, I found that Empire of the Sun went down remarkably easily, given the subject matter. The linear structure was actually quite a relief after all the chopped up narratives I seem to be reading a lot of recently. I felt Ballard wonderfully captured the naivety of youth in his characterisation of Jim, and it certainly added to the tragedy. I appreciated, however, the use of third person rather than first person, as this allowed more of a look at the the broader picture beyond the understanding of the child. The only issue was that I didn’t feel extremely invested in any of the relationships between the characters. Jim always felt emotionally detached, and although this would be a suitable response to war, it didn’t allow me as a reader to become quite as emotionally engaged with the story.
https://jdcloughblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/j-g-ballard-empire-of-the-sun/
Horror being the operative word – this is not for the faint hearted. There is no shying away from the pus, the blood, the excrement and the decay; no turning a blind eye to the desperation of starvation or the crushing existential morass of imprisonment without defined end. There’s a discomforting casualness, a sort of numbed acceptance, of death and suffering; something which is fortunately so alien to the modern western mind. To top all this off, the story is told from perspective of a child. To go on the journey with Jim as the precious innocence of youth is dragged from him is genuinely harrowing.
What underpins the horror of a war story is obviously its basis in reality. While the tale is naturally embellished in some regards this is essentially Ballard’s wartime memoir. It’s a stark reminder of the potential of human evil. There is no justification that I can conceive of for death marches, starvation and the gratuitous destruction of life. Sometimes it’s worth being reminded of just how privileged a position we are to live in a time and place of relative peace – for all it’s issues, it’s something worth fighting for. What I found deeply disturbing was the inevitable parallel between the horrors of Empire of the Sun and the horrors that continue as the everyday reality for millions of people in Syria, South Sudan and elsewhere. One can’t help but think that if Europe’s leaders were to spend some time with Jim in Lunghua internment camp, some attitudes may be changed towards the refugees that flee to Europe from similar hells.
Another aspect of Empire of the Sun that links to modern conflict is the moral ambiguity of the characters. Popular conceptions of wars, especially WWII, are rife with the simplistic idea of goodies and baddies. This helps our minds get to grips with the complexity of war, and also allows us to justify the violence done in our name. It’s also profoundly misleading. The overriding message of Empire of the Sun was that in war, there is no good or bad – there’s only us and them, and survival. It’s just kids shooting each other in the name of a strip of land or an idea, or even less than that. In Empire of the Sun, it’s an American who tries to sell Jim to raise enough money to eat, while a Japanese Kamikaze pilot gives him his last morsel of food.
There is only one character who cuts through the ethical morass was Dr Ransome, who just seemed to work tirelessly and in the direst of circumstance in an utter self-sacrifice in aid of others. I actually found his unending commitment to be quite moving depiction of the work of the medical profession, which once again brought with it a shivering reminder of the even worse conditions and perhaps even greater work in our current war zones. While Dr Ransome represented the only ‘hero-figure’ in the book, to me I didn’t feel like he was a representative of the allied forces and their moral superiority. Rather I found he personified the absurdity of war and suffering. Here was a man trying to save people from starvation, infection and disease with no medical supplies. Indeed, the novel mentions that the graveyard was tactically placed right beside the medical unit. That speaks for itself.
In terms of the writing, I found that Empire of the Sun went down remarkably easily, given the subject matter. The linear structure was actually quite a relief after all the chopped up narratives I seem to be reading a lot of recently. I felt Ballard wonderfully captured the naivety of youth in his characterisation of Jim, and it certainly added to the tragedy. I appreciated, however, the use of third person rather than first person, as this allowed more of a look at the the broader picture beyond the understanding of the child. The only issue was that I didn’t feel extremely invested in any of the relationships between the characters. Jim always felt emotionally detached, and although this would be a suitable response to war, it didn’t allow me as a reader to become quite as emotionally engaged with the story.
https://jdcloughblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/20/j-g-ballard-empire-of-the-sun/
mimuri's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/injury detail, and War
tantalus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
calwhimsey's review against another edition
5.0
The novel recounts the experience of WW2 reality in and around Shanghai of a young boy Jim, the son of well-off British expats in China. The story has an autobiographical basis embellished with fiction. As such, it captures some incredibly valuable memories of wartime, something that needs to be read over and over again. And despite not being a factually precise memoir, it does not, in my opinion, stray far from a kind of truth — one that perhaps comprises a lot more than facts ever could.
This is an excursion into the bleak reality of a war-torn world, where the structures and certainties of peaceful time crumble away, and where everyone is left to fend for themselves. How do years of such chaos reflect on the psyche of a young, perceptive boy? The story is an account of the omnipresence of death, its acceptance as a daily occurrence, as something imminent and acutely relatable. How could a wartime child, a survivor by the grace of fellow prisoners’ kindness and self-sacrifice as much as his own innocent resourcefulness, carry on in a post-war world? How could he ever undo the ultimate demoralization the wartime years carried out on him? The novel does a tremendous job hinting at these questions in-between the lines focused on young Jim’s experiences.
This is an excursion into the bleak reality of a war-torn world, where the structures and certainties of peaceful time crumble away, and where everyone is left to fend for themselves. How do years of such chaos reflect on the psyche of a young, perceptive boy? The story is an account of the omnipresence of death, its acceptance as a daily occurrence, as something imminent and acutely relatable. How could a wartime child, a survivor by the grace of fellow prisoners’ kindness and self-sacrifice as much as his own innocent resourcefulness, carry on in a post-war world? How could he ever undo the ultimate demoralization the wartime years carried out on him? The novel does a tremendous job hinting at these questions in-between the lines focused on young Jim’s experiences.
thewargrave's review against another edition
I wanted to enjoy Empire of the Sun, as I've enjoyed other Ballard books. Unfortunately, I found it rather bland and repetitive.
aritag's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Genocide
shewasfiction's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
2.5