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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The story of one man's experience of WWII - during and after, May 6, 1998
This review is from: Hiroshima Joe (Mass Market Paperback)
What a pity this book is out of print. This is one of the best "war" stories I've ever read. I put the word war in quotes because it's not your average war story - it's not on the same playing field as, say, Leon Uris' "Battle Cry", or "The 13th Valley"; it's more along the lines of Clavell's "King Rat", although I found this book to be much more human than "Rat". In 1952, Joe Sandingham lives in Hong Kong - but during the war, he was captured by the Japanese and placed in several of their POW camps - first in Hong Kong, then several others along the way, finally winding up in Japan. This is the story both of Joe's experiences during the war, and of his life after the war is over, which was a direct result of his time in the POW camps. The title of the book should be a dead giveaway as to one of his experiences; indeed, this book contains some of the most harrowing descriptions of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bomb that I've ever read. If you can get your hands on this book in a used-book store, by all means buy it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great achievement in historical fiction, October 13, 2003
Hiroshima Joe is a great achievement in historical fiction, which while following the story of one fascinating man, ties together the fall of Hong Kong, Japanese POW camps, the destruction of Hiroshima, post-war Hong Kong and opium addiction. However, It is also a deeply engaging personal story of pain, survival, love and dignity. The author manages to pull off a sometimes difficult structure, where each chapter alternates between wartime and post-war events in the life of the main character. And to top it all off, what a great title! As a postscript, I would take exception with two issues on this Amazon page. First, do not read the Publishers Weekly summary at the top of this page, as it gives away the whole book - including the ending! Second, two reviewers contend that the book is flawed because the main character, a homosexual, makes a sexual advance on a child. The event happens towards the end of the book, when a despondent and delusional Joe confuses the boy with a young man he loved as a soldier during the war. Furthermore, he is immediately repulsed by his act towards the boy, which sets off a deep soul searching. If anything, the author here actually contributes to dismissing the notion that all homosexuals are pederasts, rather than encouraging it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting, haunting, surprising, August 9, 2002
Like Steve Rosse, I found this book abroad. I came across it at the British Council library in Mexico City, and was also deeply effected. I think of it often, and it really came to mind after reading John Lanchester's "Fragrant Harbor" which seems very soft edged next to "Hiroshima Joe". You can really feel Hong Kong in this book--and not the usual high end of the city where you would expect to find an Englishman like Joe. He is clinging to the very edge of the respectability that his Englishness gives him, and the fact that others know how close he is to falling gives him a scary vulnerability. He has lost all face. He is an addict and a thief, and his loss of control leads him to abuse the only person he can imagine is weaker than he is--a child. Taken prisoner by the Japanese during the siege of Hong Kong, Joe never goes home when the war is over. Martin Booth so convincingly sets up Joe's past that we ache for him as he is now. Booth builds up real suspense in telling Joe's story, something that few novels manage these days when you have no doubt that the protagonist will triumph for the sake of the sequel. Joe is threatened from so many different sides that you cannot imagine how his story will end.
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