Onward Virgin Soldiers

Virgin Soldiers #2

by Leslie Thomas

Bursting with life and bawdy humour, National Serviceman Brigg is now a Regular Army sergeant defending the Empire in the beds and bars of Hong Kong.

Peace-time diversions include sensual fireworks with a pair of delicious Chinese twins and a tender, erotic affair with the lonely wife of an American serviceman.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Military Fiction, Comedy, Literature

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1972

About the author

Born in Newport, Monmouthshire, 1931, Leslie Thomas is the son of a sailor who was lost at sea in 1943. His boyhood in an orphanage is evoked in This Time Next Week, published in 1964. At sixteen, he became a reporter, before going on to do his national service. He won worldwide acclaim with his bestselling novel The Virgin Soldiers, which has achieved international sales of over four million copies.

Reviews

[Rue Baldry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Leslie Thomas' prose. I think he is an under-rated British writer. He writes uniquely apt descriptions of landscape, three dimensional & sympathetic but humorous characters, snappy dialogue and his apparently anecdotal, episodic plots all tie up together at the end.

I read The Virgin Soldiers a couple of years ago and was very impressed by it as well as enjoying it a lot. Three quarters of the way through this book I was thinking that it was good, but not as good as that book. However, the ending was excellent.

Brigg (the hero of both books) has aged and his character has developed realistically. He is still flawed but very likeable and ultimately humane and heroic. There are plenty of new characters in this book, too, of which my favourite was probably Charlie, Brigg's son.

Thomas pokes fun at the British Army in the 70s, a place of pointless regulation full of men who have never seen war. Their haphazard, unnecessary guarding of Hong Kong is contrasted with the American soldiers on leave from Vietnam. He is never anything buy affectionate about all but a few of the people, though.

Very funny except when it's touching, this is a very British story told very well.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covid-19 lockdown closed our library and I was not able to access the books that I had ordered.
Home bookshelves produced this book which I must have purchased in my earlier years. However I do not remember reading it previously as it as written some 40 plus years ago. That said, it may not appeal to many as it is a fairly bawdy tale of a British contingent of soldiers who are on a tour of duty at one of the last outposts of the British Empire - Hong Kong.
Numerous characters who would be readily identifiable in behaviour and outlook, to anyone who has been involved in military circles. Officers, NCOs and soldiers, their wives, their paramours are all included.
Some humour, some romance, some implausability and a story that is easily read.

[Huw Collingbourne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twenty years after the 1st book in this trilogy and set in Hong Kong rather than Singapore. A good book with Thomas's characteristic blend of humour, pathos and action. Not as good as The Virgin Soldiers, I thought. But a very entertaining read all the same.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not as good as the earlier The Virgin Soldiers.

[Tracey- Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very different read with some colourful characters

[Janet Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cracking read. I really like this author. Not the edition I read but there doesn't seem to be that one on here so I'm making do.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10

[Michael Kerjman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, but it ends into uncertainty wrapped into too much sadness.
Hong Kong moved on dramatically since these brave imperial soldiers had been fed there.