The Singapore Grip (New York Review Books Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Novel about the fall of Singapore during WWII
Review: An excellent novel about the plight of the British and Chinese before and during the fall of Sinapore. Meticulously researched, it fits under the genre of a non-fiction novel. Comparable in quality to Gore Vidal's "Lincoln" and Mailer's "The Executioner's Song." Simply brilliant.

Rating:
Summary: A droll & funny novel about the fall of Singapore
Review: If you were to select a subject for a droll and howlingly funny novel, it is doubtful that the fall of Singapore would be high on your list. Nevertheless, that's what you have here! The action centers on the British expat community who, intent on their usual trivial rounds of partying and copulating, are completely oblivious to the fact that the Japs are inexorably creeping down the Malay Peninsula. The novel properly darkens in tone as the city's situation becomes obviously desperate, but it maintains its ironic tone throughout. The result is an absolute masterpiece, and I don't use that term lightly.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic!
Review: This is one of my favorite historical-fiction novels with masterful story-telling on a grand scale. J.G. Farrell has succeeded in creating a realistic impression of colonial Singapore and the effects of the war on the "Gibraltar of the East." My favorite part is the one chapter that takes palce on the night of Dec. 7, 1941, the night before the invasion. Here we see Air Marshal Brooke-Popham trying to reach a decision whether to launch Operation Matador or not, Sir Shenton Thomas, the Governor of Singapore, sleeping quietly before the phone would shriek with news of the invasion; Lt. Gen. A.E. Percival, asleep too, trying to wrestle with his inner self; Lt. Sinclair watching the events in the Operations Room at GHQ; Maj. Gen. Gordon Bennett sitting quietly in his room in the Strand Hotel in Rangoon; a Private Kikuchi on one of the Japanese landing crafts heading for the Malay shores, and, ending the chapter; a young Malay fisherman starting to hear the drone of planes, heading south towards the mainland...
The story involves a host of engaging characters, both historical and fictional, and all related to each other in one way or another---set against the disastrous and fatal events that changed their lives, slowly at first, but fast and furious in the end. The situations are both realistic, sad, complex, and, at times, surreal, which draws you in ever so closer to the characters and their actions, bringing them to life.
A fine story with Farrell at his best, he writes in his usual style with which many have become familiar with, it is sure not to disappoint fans of "The Siege of Krishnapur." Full of sarcasm, brilliant wit, and tragic events, this is a classic that should be on every book shelf in every home.