I just completed Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard.  It’s the book on which the film of the same name (from 1987) is based.  I liked the movie, which is why I wanted to read the book.  It’s the story of young British boy in Shanghai during World War II who becomes separated from his parents and endures many ordeals for the remainder of the war.  One of my remembrances of the film (and it’s been a while since I’ve seen it) is that it seemed just a tad too sunny for the subject matter.  But it was a Spielberg movie, so what did I really expect?

Anyhow, I’m happy to report that the book is much darker, as the many descriptive accounts of corpses whose faces are hungrily being devoured by swarms of flies can attest.  In fact, towards the end, I actually might have preferred less rotting corpse-talk.  Mainly I was intrigued by how the film and book differed.  Like how the camp detainees are marched to a decrepit Olympic stadium filled with rusting luxury cars and looted furniture in the book – I believe the stadium is omitted from the film, but that would have been a rather dramatic tableau on screen.  Also, in the book, little Jim’s American ‘friend’ Basie is much more of a scoundrel (although I couldn’t help but picture him as John Malkovich, who was great in that role in the film.)

So I liked this book a lot.  My one complaint is about the ending.  The potential reunification of Jim with his parents is an undercurrent throughout the book.  However, it seems like it’s almost an afterthought tacked on to the book.  I was expecting a little more elaboration and was a bit disappointed.

I also noticed that it’s labeled a novel on the cover, but is based on the author’s own experiences as a boy.  Makes me wonder how much in the book really happened – even if only half of it’s true, it makes for quite a harrowing childhood.

So, I just wikipedia’d Empire of the Sun, the book.  And apparently J. G. Ballard wrote a sequel to the book called The Kindness of Women in 1991, and get this:  that book culminates with the filming of the movie version of Empire of the Sun!!  Whoah, my mind is totally blown.  I am so reading that.  Plus Ballard also has written an autobiography called Miracles of Life, which gives the whole non-fictionalized story.  Guess I’ll add that to the pile as well.