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internetnomads's review against another edition
5.0
Make sure you take note that this is a fiction work before you start to read. It is marked that way, thankfully - there's no Frey-like bait-and-switch here. Still, I can imagine that Ballard laid eyes on many of the scenes presented here in his time in China.
When you boil this book down it is about cruelty. The background is the larger, impersonal global cruelty of war but what elevates this book is the stunning personal cruelty that takes place. It is small-scale and deliberate. I wonder how Ballard's experiences at such a crucial age shaped him. If he even saw a tenth of the horrors he wrote about, it would have some deep psychological effects - or so I think.
This book has left me with a lot of thinking to do. I wonder about children born into conflict. If war is all you've ever known, would you adapt?
When you boil this book down it is about cruelty. The background is the larger, impersonal global cruelty of war but what elevates this book is the stunning personal cruelty that takes place. It is small-scale and deliberate. I wonder how Ballard's experiences at such a crucial age shaped him. If he even saw a tenth of the horrors he wrote about, it would have some deep psychological effects - or so I think.
This book has left me with a lot of thinking to do. I wonder about children born into conflict. If war is all you've ever known, would you adapt?
_anthony_'s review against another edition
4.0
A bit of a slow burner but a very interesting tale of the author's experiences in WW2 Shanghai and a Japanese internment camp. Interesting more than entertaining and a great insight into a unique childhood.
skyrar's review against another edition
5.0
Before picking this up I’d never really considered China in relation to WWII. Seeing the war through the naive eyes of a young JG Ballard was fascinating. His limited understanding of the warring powers and lack of adult guidance made for a really unique perspective. I absolutely loved this and could barely put it down. One of my favorite books I’ve read in a long time.
dbroebuck96's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
When I last read this, I thought that while it was well-written, the actual contents were, well, boring. And upon re-reading, some of it is a bit. But therein arguably lies the point: being in a prison camp - in which the middle third is set - is boring. You would be trying to find entertainment in whatever you could, out of everyday objects or any detritus on the ground. Your daily routines would be incredibly monotonous.
Ballard was never one to be pinned down to one genre and Empire of the Sun is no exception. A blend of fiction and autobiography, drawing heavily from Ballard's childhood experiences of growing up in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during WWII, his background as a key figure of New Wave SF bleeds through into his descriptive prose, despite the book not being an SF novel itself.
The fascination Jim (our protagonist stand-in for a young Ballard) has with aircraft is presented through reoccurring motifs relating to aviation, from walking under rusting fuselages at an abandoned airstrip, to gazing up at miniature aeroplane models hanging from the ceiling of a bedroom in an empty house as he dreams of being a pilot.
In fact, young Jim frequently doesn't seem to care who wins the war, as long as it ends; that way he can join an air force when things return to normal. Why would a young child care who wins a war when they're separated from their parents, and if it means things go back to the way they were?
As a coming-of-age story, semi-autobiographical, or just historical fiction, Ballard's depiction of a young boy's world turned upside down by a war he often doesn't understand takes off in explosions of colour and vibrancy.
Ballard was never one to be pinned down to one genre and Empire of the Sun is no exception. A blend of fiction and autobiography, drawing heavily from Ballard's childhood experiences of growing up in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during WWII, his background as a key figure of New Wave SF bleeds through into his descriptive prose, despite the book not being an SF novel itself.
The fascination Jim (our protagonist stand-in for a young Ballard) has with aircraft is presented through reoccurring motifs relating to aviation, from walking under rusting fuselages at an abandoned airstrip, to gazing up at miniature aeroplane models hanging from the ceiling of a bedroom in an empty house as he dreams of being a pilot.
In fact, young Jim frequently doesn't seem to care who wins the war, as long as it ends; that way he can join an air force when things return to normal. Why would a young child care who wins a war when they're separated from their parents, and if it means things go back to the way they were?
As a coming-of-age story, semi-autobiographical, or just historical fiction, Ballard's depiction of a young boy's world turned upside down by a war he often doesn't understand takes off in explosions of colour and vibrancy.
chloebrker05's review against another edition
3.0
interesting concept (even though this is the 2nd book i’ve read about WW2 in Shanghai this year)
i found it quite hard to get into, though the story was good. unsure what it was about this book i didn’t love. it was ok. and very sad
i found it quite hard to get into, though the story was good. unsure what it was about this book i didn’t love. it was ok. and very sad
neverending_tbr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
cenniy's review against another edition
3.0
This is an abridged account of Ballard's experiences as a youth during WWII. Whilst this is fiction, it draws heavily on his own personal experiences and the atrocities he witnessed. It is from his youth that he draws a lot of the ideas in his other books that focus on conflict and dystopia or so i've been told. I thought this book would be a good place to start. A way of gaining perspective should I read any of his other books in the future.
Anyways, this is a book I have been putting off reading for years, perhaps 5 or 6, for fear that it would be too gloomy and depressing.
I finally picked it up, and honestly I enjoyed it - only so far as one can enjoy the horrors of war. However, the book drags on.
Ballard uses a lot of the same imagery throughout, and really drums home the way people can become so accustomed to the horrors of war, especially an impressionable kid like Jamie, our protagonist and narrator.
I liked this book, but I found by 3/4s of the way I was bored and just wanted to finish it, which I did. It ended up being not too dissimilar from the march to Nantao. the slog to finish this book was gruelling and hard. But it's behind me now.
Anyways, this is a book I have been putting off reading for years, perhaps 5 or 6, for fear that it would be too gloomy and depressing.
I finally picked it up, and honestly I enjoyed it - only so far as one can enjoy the horrors of war. However, the book drags on.
Ballard uses a lot of the same imagery throughout, and really drums home the way people can become so accustomed to the horrors of war, especially an impressionable kid like Jamie, our protagonist and narrator.
I liked this book, but I found by 3/4s of the way I was bored and just wanted to finish it, which I did. It ended up being not too dissimilar from the march to Nantao. the slog to finish this book was gruelling and hard. But it's behind me now.
ruutendoo's review against another edition
3.0
as my school librarian said, this is very of its time - it was interesting to see jim literally become mad and quite desensitised to the topics of death & war (especially since he was a child), & almost completely detach himself from a lot of the terrible situations in this as a way to cope. anyway i think that it was pretty good but it just wasn’t ‘my type’ of book