Empire of the Sun and the Kindness of Women

by J.G. Ballard

Omnibus edition

Genres: History, Historical, War

Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

James Graham "J. G." Ballard (15 November 1930 – 19 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, and essayist. Ballard came to be associated with the New Wave of science fiction early in his career with apocalyptic (or post-apocalyptic) novels such as The Drowned World (1962), The Burning World (1964), and The Crystal World (1966). In the late 1960s and early 1970s Ballard focused on an eclectic variety of short stories (or "condensed novels") such as The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), which drew closer comparison with the work of postmodernist writers such as William S. Burroughs. In 1973 the highly controversial novel Crash was published, a story about symphorophilia and car crash fetishism; the protagonist becomes sexually aroused by staging and participating in real car crashes. The story was later adapted into a film of the same name by Canadian director David Cronenberg.

While many of Ballard's stories are thematically and narratively unusual, he is perhaps best known for his relatively conventional war novel, Empire of the Sun (1984), a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy's experiences in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War as it came to be occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army. Described as "The best British novel about the Second World War" by The Guardian, the story was adapted into a 1987 film by Steven Spielberg.

The literary distinctiveness of Ballard's work has given rise to the adjective "Ballardian", defined by the Collins English Dictionary as "resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in J. G. Ballard's novels and stories, especially dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments." The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry describes Ballard's work as being occupied with "eros, thanatos, mass media and emergent technologies".

Reviews

[Stephen Durrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this novel years ago and also saw Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation, but I had forgotten how engaging it actually is. Based loosely on J.G. Ballard's personal experience in war-torn Shanghai, "Empire of the Sun" has as its central character Jim, a young British boy who finds himself virtually on his own after his parents disappear when Japan closes its noose around the international concessions. After a series of adventures moving about Shanghai in search of his parents or other acquaintances, Jim eventually is interred in the Lunghua prison camp, where he spends the remainder of the war. He is astoundingly resourceful and deals cleverly with a caste of characters that ranges from war profiteers to Japanese camp guards to other prisoners from a variety of European countries. What gives the novel particular interest is how successfully Ballard is able to enter a boy's imagination and see the war through his eyes. Jim, quite taken by Japanese discipline and order, wants to become a Japanese pilot himself, and is initially both confident and happy that the Japanese will eventually win the war. Moreover, he learns very quickly that the key to survival is making himself useful to as many other prisoners as he possibly can. Since he grows up in a time of war, he sees war as normal, less frightening than the chaos of Shanghai into which he is thrown after the conflict is over. To him the prison camp, for all its starvation and death, is at least a predictable world that he can to some degree can control, and so he wonders when the next war will begin so he can return to that security of the camp. This has been called Ballard's most conventional novel, which may indeed be so, but it is filled with surrealistic moments--the flash of the atomic bomb "seen" in the far-off Shanghai olympic stadium, where prisoners hover between life and death, ice falling from the skies, and strange characters wandering the countryside more like projections from a nightmare than reality. I've read several of Ballard's dystopian novels and have never quite known where should be placed in the pantheon of 20th century British writers, or if he even belongs in that pantheon at all. Judging from this novel alone, I would not only push him through the door but place him among the higher ranks.

[SP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honest, brutal and touching story of a boy in a Japanese internment camp. For those not familiar with the impact of World War II in Asia this book is a great introduction to understanding the complexities as well as the dynamics of the European presence in the region. The descriptions of camp live are vivid and may require a break here and there to fully appreciate and digest the its cruel details.

[Lawrence Wadey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply the best and most honest and human autobiography I have read. Obviously the first volume is way better known but imo it’s the second volume which illuminates the first by detailing how such a brutal childhood plays out in later life, however normalized such brutality and privations might seem to have become at the time. I strongly recommend reading back-to-back. (Not much of a fan of other works of his).

[J. Mavibus]

Not a bad book

[Nick Roussos · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 in one! Excellent narrative, deep insight.

[Michael Sanderson-green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of Ballard books I have avoided, but my book club
Chose it so I’ve read it and it makes sense of a lot of his books. We’ll worth the read . I would recommend it

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only finished Empire of the Sun so far, decided to have a break before embarking on the Kindness of Women.

This book should get about 3.5 from me, one can't really imagine what it must be like to live in a POW camp as a child but I think this book does a very good job of describing it in horrifying detail. I want to see the film now.

As far as The Kindness of Women goes it would get a single star from me, I really do not need to read in detail about the sexual exploits of J.G. Ballard.

[Shari]

The Kindness of Women by J.G. Ballard (1993)

[Б. Т. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boys survival.War,Hiroshima-Nagasaki bomb,horrible deaths etc.All trough his eyes..I realy enjoyed reading this book,makes you enjoy simple things in life.I am now off to watch the movie.

[Jean Bell]

Wonderful, impressive.

[Ortalda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting but out of my interest

[Amy Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. It is harsh and moving and nightmarish, but compelling and amazingly written.