From Publishers Weekly
Ballard's sequel to his autobiographical epic Empire of the Sun treats the subsequent events of his life, offering visceral immediacy and piercing honesty. This title was cited in PW 's 1992 "red-and-black" issue as disappointing publishers' sales expectations in hardcover.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This elegantly structured sequel to Empire of the Sun ( LJ 11/1/84) begins again with a boy's traumatic experiences in Japanese-occupied Shanghai and ends some 40 years later with his viewing a film based on his novel about those experiences. Before this "last act in a profound catharsis," however, the narrator Jim stumbles through medical study at Cambridge, trains briefly as an RAF pilot in Canada, marries, and suffers domestic tragedy. Jim both documents and participates in the violence and excess of the 1960s, but at various moments of crisis he is fortunate enough to experience the redemptive love of women. With penetrating topical commentary and abiding wisdom, this well-crafted novel should enjoy wide appeal. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/91.
- Albert E. Wilhelm, Tennessee Technological Univ., CookevilleCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews