Empire of the Sun

There are loads of quotes all over the cover on Empire of the Sun proclaiming how good it is.  That’s not particularly extraordinary, but most refer to it as something along the lines of the best novel about the Second World War, if not any war.  And while it’s good; it’s not the best novel about World War Two.  I can’t tell you what that would be.  To be honest, I’m struggling to think of any other novels about that war- I’ve just come off the back of two ten hour shifts at work and things are a little hazy.

I’ve never been that keen on JG Ballard as a rule.  I read Cocaine Nights so time ago (it’s on The List) and I loved it, but every book I’ve read of his since does seem to be very similar.  His novels essentially involve an outsider coming into close-knit community that isn’t quite as innocent as it sees and being corrupted.  And I was also sceptical.  I don’t believe that close communities are throwing drug fuelled orgies every other Thursday.  But having read Empire of the Sun, I can see where Ballard’s coming from.

It tells a (sort of) autobiographical tale of a young teenage boy who ends up in a prisoner of war camp outside of Shanghai during World War Two.  This actually happened to Ballard and having that perception and experience of that kind of community would alter your views on how they really function.  My formative years were spent in a small village in Kent.  The most sinister things that happened were one accidental house fire and a couple of nicked bikes.  There was no corruption within the village so naturally, I don’t assume it is watch all social structures are built upon.

There’s one part of the book that I found so interesting.  Reading it just after the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme it struck me particularly.  Jim likens something in his mind to the trenches of Ypres and the Somme that he has seen in encyclopaedia illustrations.  It is mentioned that these are unvisited.  And that is something that is near incomprehensible today.  They are almost tourist attractions, and so many of the sites of death of the Second World War have become the same.  We are now more actively encouraged to remember, to go and see the sights of the horrors of the past.  It’s probably a meant to be a way of stopping the horrors of the future but, let’s be honest, it’s not working.

That was another thing that hit home about the book and probably the most poignant part.  As soon as Jim leaved the Lunghua camp he wants to go back.  He is young and scared and he wants to be prepared for the next war.  He is certain that World War Three will start immediately after the conclusion of World War Two.  And while it doesn’t in the book and it didn’t- the Cold War did.  In many ways this is really just a book about a child learning the reality of the world; a reality that is just as true today as it ever was.  There is always a war somewhere.  All we can do is prepare for the next one that will involve us.

Next time a slightly lighter read, Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.