The Singapore Grip (New York Review Books Classics) (original 1978; edition 2005)

Can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to discovering this book. I loved it. Political, satirical, historical. Can't wait to read the other two in his Empire trilogy. ( )

A novel of manners and political argument about the fall of Singapore to the Japanese. The argument aspect involves the exploitation of Malaysia and its people by the business interests of Singapore. The comedy of manners derives from this. ( )

This is a deceptively long book. It looked around 300 pages but stretched to 570. Not that it was overlong but there were times when I wished it had been shorter. Still, it was an interesting glimpse into a life that is no longer which is probably a good thing.

It begins in the world of the rubber trading families of Singapore’s wealthy British elite in late 1941 when the city stood on the brink of invasion by the Japanese. It ends as the British surrender. The story follows the characters as their worst nightmares are realised and their world of order and control descends by degrees and despite their unbelief into anarchy and chaos.

Throughout the book, Farrell is biting in his cynicism of the British and all they stood for. The characters are comic in their tragedy and, despite them suffering several inconveniences as the Japanese invade, you have little sympathy for them.

The backdrop that Farrell has created for this narrative is rich in its descriptive power of both Singapore’s culture and government at the time. If you’ve any interest in the Asian theatres of the second world war you will appreciate this. The Japanese are described in very sparing detail which only serves to give you a better perspective on what the British knew of them which was precious little. Never was so much underestimated by so many.

If you’ve ever visited Singapore, this is worth reading. If you’re about to head over there, pack this in your hand luggage. It’s long enough to make the 15 hour flight seem shorter if you can drag yourself away from the garbage that vaunts itself as entertainment on airplanes these days.

When I first saw the two pages Farrell lists as his sources for this novel, I was a little apprehensive that I’d be getting a history lesson and in a way these fears were confirmed as I read the book. I felt that quite often Farrell manufactured a point of tension and used this to allow characters to put forward a point of view to which the reader would give attention waiting, as they are, for the resolution of the situation. Towards the end, for example, Walter seems unaware that his godown is about to be burnt down and just lectures Matthew about how times have changed for the worse. Then we quickly move on to the next chapter and a change of scene after Walter anticlimactically becomes aware at the last moment of the flames.

Having said that, though, I found Farrell’s whimsical touches, as with The Human Condition, that is the decaying dog ever managing to avoid being put down and last seen making for the captain of the last ship to safely leave Singapore, to keep my attention. I also enjoyed the description how the self-indulgent, venal Monty, wanting to remonstrate with the idealistic Matthew, got no further than “‘But . . . ’ began Monty. He was silenced immediately, however, by his own right hand which, spotting its opportunity, had raised another forkful of fish and chips and now crammed it into his mouth as soon as it opened to speak.”

Ultimately, though, I felt Farrell was more interested in the history and his theme than he was in the character who were there more as a voice for different points of view about the value of or damage done by British imperialists engaged in trade. Even the ending, open as it was, suggested some lack of interest in the fate of his characters. In the ambiguity of the title, from its sexual connotations to the one of the pursuit of self-interest rather than common interest we get a taste of the range of the book but the latter interpretation is the one which dominates.

I’m glad ‘Troubles’ got the lost Booker prize as I think it was more deserving than this one. ( )

Another excellent book by J.G. Farrell, this one is about the final days leading up to the Japanese invasion through the comings and goings of one of the families owning a rubber company.
Well researched and with very well-drawn characters, it really pulled me in.

Walter Blackett is running the colony's oldest company and while engaging in business, he is also planning the company's anniversary party. Indeed, this obsession in times of war makes a lot of the satire in the book, a group of society removed from what is happening in Europe and what is about to happen on their doorstep.
Farrell doesn't just look at the privilidged elite, but also the military men passing through to fight the Japanese in the Far East, and people from the under belly of Singapore. A lot of this is seen through the eyes of Matthew, the heir to the founder of the firm, Blackett's partner, who arrives for the first time on the island, a fresh pair of eyes, if not a very naive pair. Poor Matthew, I did wonder which character would eat him alive first, his father's partner, the partner's cold fish of a daughter or the beautiful Eurasian girl trying to flee the Japanese.

As I said, the book was well researched and the descriptions of the fair and the volunteer firefighters really captured my imagination.

But what is a Singapore grip, this is what newcomer Matthew wants to know, read to find out! ( )