The Singapore Grip by J. G. Farrell
J. G. Farrell was a fine writer who accidentally drowned off the coast of Ireland in 1979 at the age of 44. The Singapore Grip is set in Singapore during the last months before Japanese forces took over the city in February, 1942. The story begins with Walter Blackett, the head of a large business empire, Blackett and Webb. He has little interest in the war (except as it offers opportunities for profiteering); his concerns are to expand his empire, to maximize his profits and minimize his taxes even if it means withholding vital supplies from the British and American armies, to suppress strikes among the workers whom he exploits on his estates, to marry his daughter, Joan, to a "suitable" young man who will advance the business, and to plan for the jubilee celebration of Blackett and Webb, scheduled for New Year's, 1942, at which a grand parade will exalt Blackett and Webb as the bringers of prosperity to the region.
Other central characters are the idealistic Matthew Webb, son of Blackett's much older partner (who dies early in the novel), Major Brendon Archer (who was the protagonist of Farrell's earlier book Troubles which I reviewed for 1001 books on July 10, 2014), Vera Chiang, whose earlier political activities make her a likely target of Japanese reprisals should the Japanese take over the city, and Joan Blackett, beautiful but selfish and scheming.
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, they began a systematic attack on Singapore. They advanced southwards along the Malay Peninsula with only ineffective resistance from British and Australian forces, and they began air raids on Singapore. Conditions in the city deteriorated. Walter Blackett, who can be seen as representing British imperial rule in the Far East, sees his business empire crumbling. Matthew and the Major become firefighters battling the constant fires started by Japanese bombs. Walter sends his wife and younger daughter to safety in Australia, Joan escapes with her fiance, a "suitable" young man, formerly a business rival, on one of the last boats to leave. Matthew and Vera begin a love affair. Finally, the city surrenders to the Japanese in February, 1942. Europeans, including Matthew and the Major, are rounded up and put in internment camps, many Chinese are massacred. We never learn what happens to any of the characters, or whether any of them survive the war.
Farrell was a fine writer, and his story is skillfully told. There are some funny bits, especially in the early parts of the novel, and a lot of vivid description. Nevertheless The Singapore Grip is a grim book, and it gets progressively darker as conditions in Singapore deteriorate. The inevitability of the Japanese takeover becomes apparent, and with it the impossibility, for most people, of escape. I suspect that the historical background is accurate--Farrell did a lot of research and, unusual for a novel, the book has a lengthy bibliography--and I am glad to have learned something about the events leading to the fall of Singapore. I recommend the book, but it is not particularly cheerful reading.
Other central characters are the idealistic Matthew Webb, son of Blackett's much older partner (who dies early in the novel), Major Brendon Archer (who was the protagonist of Farrell's earlier book Troubles which I reviewed for 1001 books on July 10, 2014), Vera Chiang, whose earlier political activities make her a likely target of Japanese reprisals should the Japanese take over the city, and Joan Blackett, beautiful but selfish and scheming.
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, they began a systematic attack on Singapore. They advanced southwards along the Malay Peninsula with only ineffective resistance from British and Australian forces, and they began air raids on Singapore. Conditions in the city deteriorated. Walter Blackett, who can be seen as representing British imperial rule in the Far East, sees his business empire crumbling. Matthew and the Major become firefighters battling the constant fires started by Japanese bombs. Walter sends his wife and younger daughter to safety in Australia, Joan escapes with her fiance, a "suitable" young man, formerly a business rival, on one of the last boats to leave. Matthew and Vera begin a love affair. Finally, the city surrenders to the Japanese in February, 1942. Europeans, including Matthew and the Major, are rounded up and put in internment camps, many Chinese are massacred. We never learn what happens to any of the characters, or whether any of them survive the war.
Farrell was a fine writer, and his story is skillfully told. There are some funny bits, especially in the early parts of the novel, and a lot of vivid description. Nevertheless The Singapore Grip is a grim book, and it gets progressively darker as conditions in Singapore deteriorate. The inevitability of the Japanese takeover becomes apparent, and with it the impossibility, for most people, of escape. I suspect that the historical background is accurate--Farrell did a lot of research and, unusual for a novel, the book has a lengthy bibliography--and I am glad to have learned something about the events leading to the fall of Singapore. I recommend the book, but it is not particularly cheerful reading.