Thursday, June 3, 2010

Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard

Set in Shanghai during WWII, the novel follows a young British boy named Jim as he struggles to survive after being separated from his parents. Jim is crazy about airplanes and wants to be a pilot when he grows up. He admires the bravery of the Japanese soldiers and continues to idolize them, even after he is locked up in an internment camp where he sees up close the ugliness of war.

This story just did not grab me.  None of the characters had any depth and the plot was very poorly held together.  Spielberg did an amazing job with the movie but, for the first time in my experience, the book was not better.

Rating: 0 Do NOT Recommend