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A review by dajna
Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
3.0
"I ought to go now, Mr. Maxted. It's time for the war to be over..."
No matter where or when humanity is conducting a war, we build camps. Concentration camps, refugee camps, camps for prisoner or whoever we consider being the enemy at that time.
Ballard was born in Shanghai from British parents, and were confined into the Civilian Assembly Centre (CAC) of Lunghua during WW2. In this book he turns his experience into the story of Jim, a kid that is held captive by Japanese soldiers in China. He is moved from camp to camp, he is starved and ill, he forges some unhealthy but necessary relationships. He survives, and we have our sort of happy ending.
My favourite novel in this genre is [b:La tregua|1720208|La tregua|Primo Levi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337872771s/1720208.jpg|1893457], by Primo Levi, the story of the jouney of a buch of Auschwitz survivors trying to go back home. There is also [b:When the Emperor Was Divine|764073|When the Emperor Was Divine|Julie Otsuka|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1368314069s/764073.jpg|2592921], if you want to experience Jim's war from a Japanese point of view.
They do look alike. I've been impressed when Jim's necessity for shoes mimick Primo's necessity for shoes.
I didn't enjoyed this novel as much as the other two. It fails to engage me completely. I'm new to Ballard and I'm going to try again, but I think his prose a little too heavy, too dense.
No matter where or when humanity is conducting a war, we build camps. Concentration camps, refugee camps, camps for prisoner or whoever we consider being the enemy at that time.
Ballard was born in Shanghai from British parents, and were confined into the Civilian Assembly Centre (CAC) of Lunghua during WW2. In this book he turns his experience into the story of Jim, a kid that is held captive by Japanese soldiers in China. He is moved from camp to camp, he is starved and ill, he forges some unhealthy but necessary relationships. He survives, and we have our sort of happy ending.
My favourite novel in this genre is [b:La tregua|1720208|La tregua|Primo Levi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337872771s/1720208.jpg|1893457], by Primo Levi, the story of the jouney of a buch of Auschwitz survivors trying to go back home. There is also [b:When the Emperor Was Divine|764073|When the Emperor Was Divine|Julie Otsuka|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1368314069s/764073.jpg|2592921], if you want to experience Jim's war from a Japanese point of view.
They do look alike. I've been impressed when Jim's necessity for shoes mimick Primo's necessity for shoes.
I didn't enjoyed this novel as much as the other two. It fails to engage me completely. I'm new to Ballard and I'm going to try again, but I think his prose a little too heavy, too dense.